What Does Civilization Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

Subject matter such as extreme anger, violence, and even death are typically associated with novels and movies about adults. Most people do not usually relate these things to young children, but the in the dystopian fiction novel Lord of the Flies, boys as young as six years old are exposed to all of this. Changes within the characters coupled with the presence of several key symbols show how separation from civilization can corrupt the minds of young children. From examining the characters and symbols in the novel Lord of the Flies, one can see that the author William Golding is showing the immense importance of civilization and how a lack of it can result in chaos and savagery. Civilization is proved to be of extreme importance in this novel, and the lack of it has a profound effect on the boys. The boys can clearly be seen losing their sense of self, with one of the most heartbreaking examples being Percival. “‘Percival Wemys Madison. The Vicarage, Harcourt St. Anthony, Hants, telephone, telephone,

The beast that they all fear symbolizes the primal instinct for savagery, the darkest and most horrible part of man. “However Simon thought of the beast, there rose before his inward sight the picture of a human at once heroic and sick”(Golding 103). Simon is the only character to see the beast for what it truly it, a part of man. It is because of this that he is able to see the damage it could cause when given the power and opportunity, as it so often is throughout the novel. His death is further proof of this and shows that when civilization disappears, chaos, violence, and savagery lie in its wake. The boys give these darker feelings a different form as a way to better comprehend their own fear and primal instincts. As they further drift away from civilization and order, their inner beast starts to control them until they let the evil completely take