In Lord of the Flies, William Golding conveys using rhetorical devices that everyone has innate evil and when evoked, it overcomes one’s sense of civility and humanity. The author creates a scenario whereby he places a group of boys onto an uninhabited island and examines how the group are effected over time. Through the course of the novel there is a considerable change in mentality throughout the group. The change is due to the lack of a strict and functioning society and ultimately the boys have degenerated into primitivity. In addition, the boys are becoming more evil, embodying evil in their own ways.
The novel suggests that even the most civilized individuals can become violent and dangerous when placed in a situation where they must fight for survival. Additionally, the fact that the boys are children suggests that the novel is also about the loss of innocence and the corrupting influence of power. While the choices that characters make regarding self-preservation versus moral code are certainly an important aspect of the novel, it is not the only theme that the novel explores. This is evident in the way that the boys' behavior becomes more violent and primitive as they become more desperate to survive. For example, the boys become obsessed with hunting and killing animals and eventually turn on each other violently and chaotically.
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.
These boys are forced to reconstruct their own society and create their own rules without the guidance of any adults. Nonetheless, the boys are able to keep an orderly society for a good amount of time, until slowly, their savage instincts take over. Through the stranded boys, Golding suggests that the natural state of man is to be savage. What is a savage?
In today’s society more and more children are displaying immoral and savage behavior. It is more prevalent than ever before, being seen in all aspects of our lives. One of life’s big questions is, why the drastic change in behavior? In the book, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, he writes about characters who allow their immoral behavior to cause them to become savages.
Themes allowing the boys to become savage. In William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies,” the novel explores the loss of structure, the conflict of priorities, and the fear of the “beast”. All of which drives the boys into becoming more savage and violent. Golding effectively portrays how these themes change the boys' mindsets and how they choose to live on the island.
And humans have only forced others to not do bad things to others because humans are inherently good and care about the wellbeing of others. Although some may have an incentive to do harm, they still are constrained by the regulations others have implemented on them to do good. Golding chooses to represent morals through
In Lord of the Flies, Golding utilizes the characters of adolescent boys to portray the fact mankind may be conditioned by society to behave a certain way, but no matter how much man is trained by society, society can never rid the evil that lurks within man; they can simply mask it. When the boys are put in a situation where they must force society’s cemented mask off, the question of human nature begins to arise as well as a desperation to the answer to the struggle between morals and natural instinct. “What are we? Humans? Or animals?
Without a sense of direction, the children feel compelled to survive by implementing their own rules of civilization. Unfortunately, there are obstacles along the way – which results in the tragic death of a few. Through his novel, Golding uses immature kids to push the narrative
Golding reveals the need for a stable society when the boys act out the slaughter of the beast and accidentally kill one of their own. He writes, “Only the beast lay still, a few yards from the sea. Even in the rain they could see how small a beast it was; and already its blood was staining the sand” (Golding 153). Golding shows how the lack of a stable society causes the downfall of the boys and how it actively causes the downfall of the world. He implies that just as the boys become so consumed with their game that they murder another child, people let their own irrational fears drive them to war and prevent their compassion.
Golding’s novel shows the young children join together in a society. They form order which represents the “thin layer of ice,” then jealousy arises from one character and he leads to the start of “chaos and darkness” Eventually this layer breaks and the craziness hits its peak. However, what comes after this pandemonium may not have been expected. The early portions of the book are spent forming and maintaining order on this island.
The author discussed how the boys were not guided at all throughout the time of the story. They lacked an adult figure, without one, they believed there were no rules around. No way to get caught or be in trouble. He also claimed that everyone has their own inner aggressions, the cause for the boys’ case was the impact of what the whole island had in store for them. Another thing Golding discussed was the way the act of killing changes you.
William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies does not simply describe the life of a group of children stranded on an island, but rather it is a representation of the qualities of human nature. As the novel progresses, the children grow deeper into savagery, performing actions that would be often criticised in society. The absence of law and order devolves even those that attempt to recreate it, like Ralph and Piggy. In this novel, Golding uses children to answer the question whether or not humans are born inanimately good or truly evil. Golding answers this question by symbolising the main characters and their descent into savagery.
The story of Dracula written in passive voice is vastly different from the same story written in active voice. In passive voice, the sentences seemed a little long-winded, unnecessary, and did not leave a strong impression on the reader. An example of passive voice being unnecessary, “It was thought by me that a dream was being had, for no shadow was thrown upon the floor by the three women.” Rather than phrasing it like this it makes more sense to say, “I thought I must be dreaming, for the three women threw no shadow on the floor.” In addition, saying, “it was thought by me”, doesn’t flow as well as, “I thought”.
These rules hide what human nature is really like, the true face of humanity. The true, violent nature of humans can be seen when the sweet British boys turn into evil, animal-like savages. Golding allows the reader to watch as the societal mask is stripped away from the group of boys and the true face of humanity is shown. Society teaches people to be kind and civil.
