Morality In William Goulding's Lord Of The Flies

When people are born, they cannot be good or evil; however, without the lessons and rules taught by society, humans are inclined towards greed and savagery. William Goulding’s novel, “Lord of the Flies,” explores ideas regarding the inherent nature of human beings. Initially, Ralph and the other boys desperately try to maintain law and order, but since they were taken away from the world of adults and given freedom to do as they please, most of them succumb to uncivilized impulses. For example, many of the boys found their power to destroy and kill thrilling, despite this going against their morals. When Jack and his hunters kill a pig for their first time they exclaim “look! We’ve killed a pig,” (76) with pride. The main reason why Jack and his hunters are so overjoyed is

Due to Jack’s increasing obsession with hunting pigs, his clear dislike for anyone who disagrees with his thoughts and the fact that he is slowly gaining more support from the other boys, leads me to believe the novel will end with Jack murdering Piggy, symbolizing complete detachment from morality since Piggy symbolizes civil thought. If I were to rewrite this conclusion I would have Jack realize the importance of order, make a compromise with Ralph, and peacefully have the group rescued from the island. In my opinion, Ralph is the one of most compelling characters in this novel. Although Ralph symbolizes order and civilization during certain points of the book he struggles to overcome savage desires. Despite being angry with Jack for letting the fire go out, when Jack and his hunters tell the rest of the group about their hunt Ralph sits quietly and is filled with envy. Being the leader of the group, Ralph wants to focus on being rescued; however, he also harbours uncivilized