Lord Of The Flies Savagery Essay

The Power of Savagery
FQ: What does Golding suggest about the nature of “Savagery”?
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 -George R.R. Martin. In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the absence of rules brings out the inner savagery of all the boys who are marooned on an island. 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? According

Humans are naturally fearful. As the boys are talking about beasts, they regret calling an assembly so late. Ralph, the selected chief, says, “I’ll say here and now that I don’t believe in ghosts...I don’t like the thought of them. Not now that is, in the dark”(90). Ralph is afraid to talk about scary topics in the dark and therefore tries to end the meeting. He knows that in the dark, bad things can happen because one is more vulnerable with the lack of light. He also acts instinctively when he is driven by fear. When Ralph is hunting the boar, he becomes scared as it charges towards him. This causes him to lose his civility as, "[Ralph]found he was able to measure the distance coldly and take aim. With the boar only five yards away, he flung the foolish wooden stick”(113). In this instance, Ralph is under pressure and is forced to hunt the boar. Before, he was more focused on maintaining a fire and criticized Jack for hunting. However, in this case, Ralph's inner savagery is brought out as he strikes the boar. He is forced to attack since he fears death. He does not have much control over this situation and is acting instinctively. In addition, all the boys on the island fear beasts. Even though none of the beasts that the boys talk about are real, they are still able to increase their fear of the beasts through the talk of them. When the boys have meetings to talk about the beasts that they have

Ralph is a key example of this since he was once very civilized, but turns savage in the end. In the beginning, he demonstrates the values of a good leader as he, "held up the conch for silence"(23) and tells the boys, "So we've got to decide if this is an island. Everybody must stay round here and wait and not go away"(23). Ralph uses his newfound power to organize others and benefit everyone. However, as time passes and his natural instincts take over, he begins to act savage. Golding shows this when Ralph gives in to groupthink as he participates in killing Simon. Ralph and Piggy "found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. They were glad to touch the brown backs of the fence that hemmed in the terror and made it governable"(152). Even though Ralph realizes that this group is full of savages, he decides to join in regardless. When everyone else joins Jack's group and he is by himself, he "screamed, a scream of fright and anger and desperation... the screams became continuous and foaming. He shot forward, burst the thicket, was in the open, screaming, snarling, bloody. He swung the stake and the savage tumbled over"(199). Ralph's fear takes over and he becomes completely savage, as he fights for his life. Ralph starts out as a civilized leader, but over time his natural instincts kick in, he too turns