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Savagery In Lord Of The Flies

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In Lord of The Flies, William Golding displays that people are truly evil deep inside and that society is what masks their evil. The group of boys who survive the plane crash are stranded, and are left with no form of control whatsoever. Their ideals of what is right and wrong begin to fade away, and the boys start to become savage, some more than others. Without the normal routine of each day, and control over what they can do, the boys feel a sense of freedom that they have never felt before. The adolescent boys abuse this power of freedom, and focus more upon having fun each individual day rather than the long term goal of being rescued. William Golding shows that the boys’ mental state regresses to savagery due to normal society being absent …show more content…

When the boys initially set up their government, Ralph is elected as leader. Ralph is chosen because he had blown the conch shell that led all to meet together. In fact, he was even described as “There was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil.” Due to Ralph being elected leader, Jack is assigned as leader of the hunters. Jack becomes upset because he feels that he should be leader of all the boys. He was used to being leader from his past, but not in any way involved with government. He was leader of the choir boys due to his good voice, not governing ways. After multiple failed attempts of killing a pig, Jack becomes frustrated. His frustration leads to himself becoming infatuated with the idea of killing a pig. As the ideals of his previous society diminish, he starts to become more savage. Jack decides to paint his face and rush the pig, and is successful in the killing of the pig. However, Jack and his group are so obsessed with killing the pig that they forget to keep the signal …show more content…

He is chosen for his leader characteristics, and sure enough proves to be a good leader for a while. He is smart and keeps a signal fire going to help rescue the boys. However, Ralph does not exactly command the boys to do stuff but more so complains. After a while, Ralph is influenced by some of the boys and starts to become more or less of a savage. He dances in the circle of boys who end up killing Simon. Ralph does not even realize what has happened until later. Now, even one of the most civilized boys has start to become savage. The dancing in the circle is not even the worst of it. As the book progresses towards the end, Ralph has become even more savage. He tries to get the attention of the hunters, acting as if he himself was a wild pig, trying to get them to kill him. Ralph’s true evil is exhibited towards the end of the book as the society upon the island is

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Ralph is one of the oldest boys on the islands, he was elected as leader at the beginning of the book. Ralph treats all the boys with respect throughout the book even when he begins to lose sanity himself. Ralph organizes all the boys in hope to keep them alive until they get saved, he makes them build shelters, keep the fire burning, and keep them all fed. Constantly throughout the book Ralph tries to keep the boys civilized whereas Jack does the opposite.

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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.

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Towards the middle of the book, Jack starts to push Ralph more, he starts making Ralph become stricter, and enforce the rules, and in turn, leads Ralph to do things that would surprise everybody, like hitting the boar in the snout with the spear, and getting mad at Jack, and fighting him. Even stepping up in the very beginning, Ralph may not be the strongest leader, or the bet at hunting, but he has the best people skills, he wants to make sure what he’s doing is in best regards for the group, and that everyone is on board with it. Another reason why Ralph is a good leader, is because when he calls a meeting, he tries to keep it as organized as possible by only letting the person with the conch shell

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He was motivated by his desire for control over the others on the island. Jack’s loss of innocence occurred when he tried to demonstrate his abilities to kill in order to gain superiority over the others. His mindset changed when he created a new personality for himself that made him believe that he could do whatever he pleased. Killing the pigs gave him a reputation that nobody could take from him, and his thirst for blood caused him to be attributed to the downfall of the civilized practices on the

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So, the boys new societal standards are also causing the evil in them to overtake the good in them. To conclude, in Lord of the Flies William Golding shows the forces of evil overtaking good in his characters when they turn away from the morals they know are correct and start making justifications for themselves. This is seen through the boys thoughts and realizations, when they are hunting, and when the boys start falling away from their regular civilization. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies shows the unsatisfying idea that it is the natural nature of man to let the evil conquer the good in

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When Ralph had first arrived on the island he was a fair haired, curious boy who had been looking for parents. When he had realized there were none, he was to a point of excitement. In the end of the first chapter he is elected for the leader of all the boys because of his caring and leadership qualities. He also had great ideas to help get him rescued, such as the rescue fire that they had

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In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of stranded boys survive on an island with no adults, soon their sense of morality falls apart and violence takes place. The loss of morality causes the boys to break the rules and become violent. Eventually, the boys become uncivilized and stop caring about their actions. They get to a point where they disregard logical thought and resort to violence without reason. As the story progresses, the absence of morality causes violence to reign among the boys.

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Ralph made the suggestion of needing a leader for the time being, and what exactly they needed to be able to survive. As Ralph showed characteristics of a great leader, although he lacks the ability to actually lead the group of rambunctious boys. Ralph does not constantly demand for the other boys respect and to see if orders were followed through, instead he whines and complains to the boys that they are not doing all what they are told, and are not doing them right. “all at once, Robert was screaming and struggling with the strength of frenzy. Jack had him by the hair and was brandishing his knife.

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, After Ralph suggests that they should elect a leader, “‘I ought to be chief’ said Jack with simple arrogance” (Golding 22). Jack’s arrogance leads him to the conclusion that every person agrees with him and he should be chief. As a result, the boys sit in silence, shocked by his proposal. Eventually, Ralph is elected leader and Jack becomes enraged. He then holds a grudge on Ralph for acquiring the position of chief, leading to an unhealthy relationship between him and Ralph.

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Ralph symbolizes democracy. The boys elect Ralph as leader, by taking a vote on who they thought was the best fit. Ralph not only gives the other boys responsibilities but he works along with them. He is a boy who leads by example. Ralph even gives Jack control of the hunters to keep the fire going and to get the

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1044 Words | 5 Pages

The tears began to flow and sobs shook him”(Golding 202). By the end of the story, the effects that evil had on the boys was immense. The boys lost friends and lost all civilization on the island. This quote shows how Ralph, one of the only boys who is not evil, is greatly affected by many of the situations that have happened on the island, such as losing his friends, Simon and Piggy, and being hunted by Jacks and his hunters. “And in the middle of them, with a filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy”(Golding 202).

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Even though Simon warns them about the evil inside them, their actions still reflect their inherently bad human nature. As the time on the island goes by, the boys kill Simon and Piggy, along with a mother pig, and a well-timed rescue is all that prevents Ralph’s death. Even if people can act good, there is still greed, selfishness, and evil within everyone. It is only through the influence of civil society that the worst of human nature is kept in

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Ralph represents leadership, civilization, and order. He decides to build huts and find ways of being rescued while the other boys play and have fun. This is why Ralph is elected leader by the boys. Ralph also refuses to give into his savage instincts over the course of the novel while the other boys gradually

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