Nature Versus Nurture In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

Eron Escobar
Ms. Sandoval
English 9/10
3 March 2023
Nature Versus Nurture
Like the ocean, a society crashes or flows. William Golding tests to see if a group of boys pound together or fluxes under distinct situations in his publication Lord of the Flies. After their plane crashes onto an unknown island, the boys quickly form an organized society. However, two English schoolboys, Ralph and Jack, share differing views. Additionally, their personalities heavily dissent. Their differences shift the story’s tone from blind euphoria to power-thrilled devouring of one another. As time progresses on the island, the boys delve deeper into vicious behavior and “savagery.” The boys’ circumstances and differing points of view develop into an inevitable

In this chapter, a routine schedule starts on the island. The boys obey Ralph’s established regulations – to keep the signal fire alive. However, Jack upholds an unhealthy obsession with trying to prove his power with the death of a pig. His allotted time toward the pig ultimately leads to the boys’ inability to rescue. The boys rationalize the missed opportunity, and Ralph states, “The fire was dead, the ship was gone. Could they not see? Anger instead of decency passed his throat” (Golding 65). Golding writes Jack and Ralph as two different radical extremes–Jack absorbs himself with survival, and Ralph engrosses himself with short-term solutions for rescue. The differences between Jack’s selfish ways and Ralph’s goodwill toward the majority bring an imbalance of advantages, where only Jack reaps the benefits from his achievement of killing the pig. Therefore, the imbalance led to disagreement and misunderstanding between Ralph and Jack, engendering the abandonment of

Hence, the boys’ need for worthy ideas for the island exponentially expands. Those who contribute meritable opinions amass power, and much like wealthy entrepreneurs, they obtain the ability to bend the rules at will. This practice of control appears when Jack speaks without having the conch, stating, “Conch! Conch!” shouted Jack. “We don’t need the conch any more. We know who ought to say things” (Lord of the Flies, Golding 93). Their preoccupied attention toward the island caused the boys to fall out of line with what they instituted. Rather than focusing on rule and law, they focus on material possessions and ideas holding importance to them. As a result, their established rules lack strength, and with a weak foundation comes the crumbling of their society. Adding on, they micro-aggress one another due to the varying importance of their opinions. Likewise to the conch, raising one’s hand allows one a voice. When taking away input, it makes someone feel unappreciated and unimportant, as demonstrated by Simon. These microaggressions, undefined rules, and imbalances between parties cause a rift among individuals, guiding up to their eventual