Lord Of The Flies Environmental Factors

Environmental factors in Lord of the Flies It is commonly questioned if violence is something humans biologically have or if it is due to their living situation and environment. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the boys present erratic and violent behavior because they are directly influenced by their merciless environment and the severe living situation on the island. The boy’s situation would be problematic for anyone to live in for a reasonable amount of time, due to factors like the lack of water, food, and shelter on the island. Towards the end of Lord of the Flies, the boys have become savage, and lost most, if not all, of their morality. The group has split up, and the Hunters (Jack’s tribe) have constantly harassed

The creepers on the island prove to be tough terrain for walking and the darkness, and isolation of the island make the island seem lonely, and unknown. The trapped misfortune referred to as “Belgica” is a horrific example of the toll that the environment can take. After the fear set in, the men began to become depressed. The men soon heard petrifying moans and mysterious sounds coming from the hull of the ship, overcome by fear, the men quickly became immensely deranged. “Golding was also right about the corrosive effects of darkness, fear, and the specte of the supernatural.[...] Trapped in the Antarctic ice on the Belgica in 1898, ship's doctor Frederick Cook observed the effects on the crew of the ‘soul-despairing darkness’ of the polar winter. Although they had adequate supplies, the men's physical and mental state deteriorated rapidly as they were incapacitated by depression and fear.” (Learmonth and Tabakoff, 4). Fear is caused by a lot of things, the dark, unknown, tragedies, etc., but it is clear that environmental factors are to blame when facing fatal situations, at night, people are much more likely to believe that something bad will happen to them, and people are more likely to be on edge when faced with dark and treacherous environments. Fear is truly what influences savagery and mental

Most of these attacks occur during the night or when there is a common fear throughout the group, showing that environmental factors are what truly drove the boys to insanity and savagery. Multiple factors play a role in the horrible environment in the book such as feces everywhere on the island, the burnt-down forest, undrinkable salt water, lack of food, and much more. This living situation is far from ideal and would be fatal for anyone. The other factors such as fear of the unknown, fear of the dark, loneliness, etc. All of these fears are formed from the treacherous environment. Throughout Lord of the Flies, violence is a common occurrence on the island, from small acts of violence like throwing sand at each other, to unfathomable amounts of violence such as when the hunters murdered Simon and Piggy. There is no doubt that the violence in Lord of the Flies is inherently connected to the environment instead of biological