Lord Of The Flies Mob Mentality

Little boys from the ages of 6-12 display the effects of mob mentality to hide behind their morality. Golding’s experience in World War 2 had drastically changed his view on society and wrote Lord of the Flies to highlight the evils of society. In the book, six to twelve year old boys get stranded on an island with no adult supervision and decide to call a meeting. Ralph, the elected leader, was voted in and lays the framework for their civilized/moral society. He stood for civilization, and attempting to keep a fire up as a smoke signal so they could be found. Jack, a hunter, splits off from Ralph’s group to become another group that stands for savagery, hunting, and eventually outnumbers Ralph’s group. This leaves Ralph with no alleged allies.

It's a very important symbol because the chant is always sung after or before or after something is killed. For example, when Jack is describing the story to Ralph of how they killed the pig, and the boys started mimicking the pig and they started to chant. “The pig's head hung down with gaping neck and seemed to search for something on the ground. At last the words of the chant floated up to them, across the bowl of blackened wood and ashes. "_Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood_” (Golding PDF 52). This chant symbolizes how they are throwing away their morality and innocence in return for security and to conform to this higher power, the dangerous mob. The lyrics to the chant, “-Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (Golding PDF 52) is very inappropriate, especially for younger

The mob isn’t able to act violently separately, so they rather be brutal together. Jack invited Piggy and Ralph to come and eat meat with his newly formed tribe. Then, after they were done eating, they hosted a dance relating to the pig. “Roger became the pig, grunting and charging at Jack, who side-stepped. The hunters took their spears, the cooks took spits, and the rest clubs of firewood. A circling movement developed and a chant. While Roger mimed the terror of the pig, the littluns ran and jumped on the outside of the circle.” (Golding PDF 117). This can be interpreted as the transformation from civilization to something more primal. In this case, being civilized is to have strong morals. Violence, isn’t permissible in their own weak morals, nor is permissible in the eyes of Ralph (civilization). However, it is permissible under the rules of Jack. If Jack is the leader, then the mob will adapt to his actions. This can be viewed as a domino effect, if everyone else is being violent and uncivilized, I won’t be punished for doing so. In this case, they are being dissolute and not listening to their morals. “While Roger mimed the terror of the pig, the littluns ran and jumped on the outside of the circle” (Golding PDF 117), This shows the littluns letting go of their innocence, to conform to a bigger mentality, the mob’s dissolute