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Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Essay

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No one is truly born evil, they become evil when civilization loses its impact on them and that's what William Golding demonstrates to us. In the novel Lord of the Flies you don’t see William Golding showing immediately how the group of boys that are stranded on the island are evil you see a descent. The boys all started civilized but eventually when they don’t maintain order their society goes bad. Transition Making rules for the boys is a smart move, but that's the easy part going through with them is the hard part. Transition The theme civilization versus savagery is conveyed through the main characters Piggy and Roger.
William Golding contends in his novel “Lord of the flies” that the dangers of evil which lurk inside all of us savagery …show more content…

Civilization, specifically in the frame of the novel, comes from keeping order and following rules. In the novel everyone starts civilized but only Piggy stays civilized and civilization is portrayed through him. Piggy is a perfect representation of that because he is the only one trying to maintain order because he believes that's the only way they will survive. We see that in the beginning of the novel when piggy and Roger find the conch he says, “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us-.”(Golding, 16) This shows how piggy is very intellectual for seeing the potential in the conch which not many people would see. Also for realizing the first thing they should do is gathering everyone and have a meeting. Showing how he believes to succeed they need to come together as one society under one rule. Even when Piggy gets stuck on the island you see how he is one of the only kids to actually process how they are stuck and need to formulate a plan unlike the other kids who are struggling to process it. He is the one that suggested they should take everyones name down. This shows how piggy is a civilized human being who believes that everyone should be taken care of each other especially the littluns because if not helped they could get lost or even worse

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He cares about the good for society. Piggy is unique from the rest of the boys because he is the only orphan on the island. Being an orphan, he has to think for himself, and makes decisions that benefit his “Auntie” assuming she is old, and himself. Causing Piggy to have the unique ability to think, and have the voice of an adult. In chapter 11, Piggy holds up the conch in front of Jack’s tribe and says, “Which is better—to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?”

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In William Golding’s book Lord of the Flies, one of the characters in the book named Piggy proves himself to be the most civilized person in the book. In the beginning of the book Piggy is only aware of Ralph and himself surviving the car crash which is why he tells Ralph “We got to find the others. We got to do something”(12) The quote indicates Piggy is a civilized person because he is doing the responsible thing by looking for other survivors.

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Piggy is always talking about him aunt bringing in a female opinion on an island full of boys, by doing this it makes him more mature. “ “I'm scared of him” said Piggy “ and that's why i know him. If you're scared of someone you hate him but you can't stop thinking about him. You kid yourself he's alright really an’ then when you see him again; it's like asthma an’ you can't breathe. I tell you what.

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This displays how Piggy is sagacious and knowledgeable, by giving accommodating propositions in a time of desperate need when the rest of the boys are quite lost and do not quite know what to do, for he is the only one smart enough to dare and bring up such an idea. Suggesting rational solutions and helping the boys find a way by using his intellectuality, to create smoke, exhibits his insightful collaboration in order to get rescued. Another example that demonstrates Piggy is incisive is when he declares, “You have doctors for everything, even the inside of your mind. You don’t really mean that we got to be frightened all the time of nothing? Life…is scientific, that’s what it is.

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Piggy has a really hard time trying to be powerful and lead the group, but his actions and the actions of the other boys show that he can’t hold power over a group, and they show why Piggy has a hard

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As the adult voice on the island, Piggy, has always grown up around adults, he was never able to participate in children’s activities, due to his medical problems, this is why he was often around adults, but was never able to participate and have any authority in the adult’s conversations and activities. Piggy’s auntie never let him do anything ‘on account of (his) asthma’ (pg13), or ‘ass-mar’ as it was often referred to by the rest of the boys. Piggy is one of the few children to take control, he is a smart person, but had no social skills, because of his aunt, who he lived with. Piggy represents the smart side civilization, he is the only one that knows how to pronounce ‘asthma’ and knows what asthma is, he also knows what the conch is,

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The hidden savagery of humans that is dormant because of civilization is presented in Lord of the Flies through its symbolism, repetition and diction. The struggle for power and control on the island led to the exposure of savage nature that is present in the boys who were forced into a lawless place. Throughout the novel reason and logic are abandoned, causing the boys to act on whims and be controlled by their instincts rather than control themselves. Civilization has dampened human’s savage ways, but believing that there are no consequences could lead to the downfall of humanity and the return of the primitive ways society believes it has abandoned. Golding wrote Lord of the Flies to expose the hidden savagery that humans possess and how if humans aren’t careful they will become the savages

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All throughout the book Piggy is faced with many challenges where most people would act in a bad manner, although Piggy is always responding very appropriately and does not act wrongly against the other. All these examples show how Piggy

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Evil is Within Everyone Without thinking, the laws and social rules we abide by every day are actually a fragile barrier keeping the worst of human nature from overtaking modern society. In the allegorical novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a plane full of British school boys is shot down over an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. They are stranded without adult supervision or means to communicate with the outside world. This creates the perfect setting for Golding to explore the best and worst of human nature. It is in this setting that Golding illustrates what can happen when laws and rules vanish and human instinct reigns.

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A theme that arises around Piggy is the realists in the world are unheard when other people are overwhelmed by an inner evil. In the beginning, Piggy tries to make his name known but Ralph does not care and he calls him the one name he does not want to be called, which is Piggy. Piggy is seen as weak by the other boys because he is fat and has asthma. An example of Piggy being an unheard realist is when he is trying to get the attention of the boys and it is very hard when he finally gets their attention he tells them they need to build shelters and get rescued and points out that no one paid any attention to the ‘littluns’. Throughout the book, Piggy is a reminder of being rescued.

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How Savagery Takes Over George R.R. Martin once said, “There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs.” William Golding demonstrates that every person has savagery inside of him in his novel, Lord of the Flies. In this novel, Golding shows us that civilization is lost and savagery begins when the urge to kill takes hold of us. William Golding’s character development of Jack and motif of weapons help develop his point.

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Piggy says, “I said I didn’t care as long as they didn’t call me Piggy; an’ I said not to tell and then you went an’ said straight out-.”

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William Golding once said, “ it was simply what seemed sensible for me to write after the war when everyone was thanking God they weren’t Nazis. I had seen enough to realize every single one of us could be Nazis.” Golding’s meaning by this statement was to show people that everyone has the potential to show evil; the evil that fueled Nazis’ cruel acts, such as killing the innocent, ` is within all of mankind. In William Golding’s, Lord Of The Flies, the idea of a beast within mankind is proposed in a shocking way. On an uncharted island during World War Two, a plane full of young British boys crashes lands, an island where they are pushed to their limits, killing one another and killing pigs in cold blood.

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Piggy is characterized by his weight and easy to ridicule, but is much more complex under the surface. Through all insults thrown at him, Piggy stays good natured, he works primarily what is best for the group rather than his own desires. Piggy lacks social skill, which is partially why he isn’t chief, which leads to more criticism from the others. Because of his lack of social skill, Piggy doesn’t have much of a voice in the group and relies on the conch to have a say in discussions. A large part of Piggy’s character is his lack of self esteem, supported by his comment, “I don’t care what they call me...

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Throughout the novel of Lord of the Flies, William Golding provides a profound insight into human nature. Golding builds on a message that all human beings have natural evil inside them. To emphasize, the innate evil is revealed when there’s lack of civilization. The boys are constantly faced with numerous fears and eventually break up into two different groups. Although the boys believe the beast lives in the jungle, Golding makes it clear that it lurks in their hearts.

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