Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Essay

“Lord of the Flies,” a novel written by William Golding, contained many themes and symbols to convey the themes of the novel. The themes included civilization vs. savagery, good vs. evil, the weak and the strong, etc. The most important theme in the novel, however, was civilization vs. savagery. The novel shows the transition from proper and civilized young English boys’ to savages. Many questions arose and were discussed while the book was read about the theme of civilization vs. savagery and the symbols used to convey this theme. Golding used various objects and characters as symbols to project the many themes such as the the conch, the signaling fire, Piggy’s glasses, Ralph, Jack, etc. The symbols used to convey the theme of civilization

The boys’ encounter a “beast,” which wasn’t an actual beast but a dead pilot hanging from a tree where his parachute had gotten stuck. However, the boys’ only saw the shadow in the dark and assumed it was a “beast” because of the way it moved by the wind. The boys’ feared the beast, especially the youngest boys’ on the island. Towards the end of the novel, this fear separated the boys’ and Jack took a different path from Ralph, forming his own tribe. Jack took advantage of the fear that the boys’ felt and persuaded the boys’ into joining his new tribe by telling them that they will be protected and will always have food as well as fun in his tribe. By this time, Jack was already a savage so when the boys’ joined his tribe, they lost the little civilization they had left in them and turned entirely savage. The “beast” symbolized the fear that the boys’ felt of being on their own on the island. The “beast” was mentioned for the first time on Chapter Two. It says, ‘“He wants to know what you’re going to do about the snake-thing.’ Ralph laughed, and the other boys laughed with him. The small boy twisted further into himself. ‘Tell us about the snake-thing.’ ‘Now he says it was a beastie.’ ‘Beastie?’ ‘A snake-thing. Ever so big. He saw it.’ ‘Where?’ ‘In the woods.’ ‘He says the the beastie came in the dark”’ (33). The “beast” is first said to be a snake, then a beast that comes in the dark, which shows the things that the boys’ fear. Snakes and darkness. The “beast” might also symbolize something that’s within the boys’. Most of the boys’ believed that the “beast” was something physical rather than something inside of them. It states, ‘“Maybe,’ he said hesitantly, ‘maybe there is a beast.’ ‘What I mean is… maybe it’s only us”’ (80). Simon was the only one who wasn’t afraid of a “beast” and understood that it wasn’t something on the exterior, but on the