Naval Officer In Lord Of The Flies Essay

At the end of the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a naval officer appears as a figure that temporarily restores order among the savage boys. The naval officer has trouble recognizing his son, Ralph because Ralph is so far gone from a world of civilization and order. Likewise, Ralph has a hard time recognizing his heroic dad even after gushing about how “my father is in the Navy (37),” since the beginning of the novel. In this scene, the naval officer represents how “grown-ups know things(200),” the adult world and an adult point of view that the island lacked. He also represents a dues ex machina. This is a Latin for “God from the machine” and is defined as someone who suddenly resolves a problem that seems to have absolutely no solution. When the naval officer appears on the beach, he catches Ralph sprinting out of the jungle while the wild boys from Jack’s tribe chase after him. They are all caught in their own world of savage destruction. However, when Ralph is saved the overall tense and catastrophic tone of the novel disappears. During the final scene, the reader is left with a tone of relief and restored hope because the boys will no longer be apart of horrid experiences.

Likewise, he highlights that all children need adults because “they aren’t afraid of the dark” (94). He also states that this is the only way to maintain a safe environment. Golding uses Jack and his tribe to highlight what would happened to a world without rules or discipline. Left to their own with an excessive amount of freedom, Jack’s tribe lost all respect for human life and lost all sense of right from wrong. The boys eventually “set fire to the island” (94) due to lack of