Savagery In Lord Of The Flies

The novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, takes place in the 1950’s on a deserted island, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. A plane carrying a group of boys crashes after trying to escape from war back home. While being stranded on the island for only a couple of hours, a few boys realize that living without adults means there needs to be civility and order to survive. However, as the time spent on the island progresses, the boys begin losing their connection with society and proper behavior. Throughout the novel, the boys often have to choose between savagery and rules. The theme of Lord of the Flies demonstrates the struggle of having to choose between good and bad, wrong and right, and even in some cases, savagery and civility.

Jack and his tribe are now stationed at the Castle Rock and are heavily guarding it so no one from Ralph’s group can get in. While Jack and his boys are focused on advancing their territory and tribe, Ralph and the few boys that are still left with him (Piggy, Simon, Sam and Eric, and some littluns) are focused on building shelters, keeping the signal fire alive, and surviving. However, all of the boys have something in common - they’re all fearful of the beast. None of them are sure who or what the beast is, but they know that it is almost a greater power on the island. One day, Simon finds himself stumbling up the mountain after just fainting. As he climbs, he notices something flapping in the wind. Upon further inspection, he discovers a dead parachutist tangled in his parachute that landed only a few days ago. He decides to tell the other boys that the beast does not exist and all they feared was the shadow of a corpse. However, when Simon shuffles down the mountain, the parachute drooping over him, the boys take one look and know it is the beast. In response, they all jump onto Simon stabbing him over and over. Simon’s limp body ends up being washed away by the ocean waves. This event in the book definitely represents Jack and the boys of his tribe’s breaking point in terms of