The Environment In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

People are not born inherently good or evil, but a product of their environment. In Willam Golding’s Lord of the Flies, several boys survive a plane crash on an island, and have to work together to survive. However, in a turn of events, this quickly takes a turn for the worse when the boys break off into different groups and all order and civilization dissipates. When the boys first arrive on the island, they try to adhere to the rules of British society, but as time goes on they descend into a state of savagery. This ultimately leads to several deaths and destruction of the island. If the boys had done what they did back home, they would be punished severely for their actions, however due to the environmental factors they should not be blamed

During the day, the island seemed like an adventure story to the boys. During the night however, they were afraid of dark and unknown parts of the island. As the boys got more afraid, they became more savage. This is a direct correlation of their environment. They are in “... conditions in which cruelty seems to flourish, … What are these conditions? Chaos is one, fear is another” (Golding, “Why”). These are kids who were thrown into a new environment with power unchecked without anything to tell them that they will be saved. This newfound fear leads to them doing things that they would not normally do. Children are also products of the people and the environment they are surrounded by. When Jack went off by himself, other people eventually joined him. These kids were not considered to be savage before, but after joining that new environment, they did. They were a “ Transparent reflection of something in society--a certain violence, a certain cruelty” (Sachs). That new tribe was their new society, and them being impressionable, they reflected it. These boys are not inherently evil themselves, but a reflection of the harsh reality they were

A Stanford experiment wanted to simulate a prison to test what would happen when somebody is in a position of power, and when somebody is vulnerable to this environment. The experiment went well at first, but by the end of the experiment “The prisoners began to suffer a wide array of humiliations by the hands of the guards, and many began to show signs of mental and emotional stress” (Shuttleworth). Just like the boys on the island, the inmates in this experiment were in an unfamiliar environment and essentially powerless to the external factors around them. The inmates in this situation showed signs of emotional distress and they knew that the experiment was going to end. The boys on the island however, did not. One child on the island, Jack, created his own tribe to feel a sense of control over what was happening and in a way, a sense of home. One day, Jack and his tribe brutally killed a pig for food and stuck its head on a spear stating “This head is for the beast. It’s a gift” (Golding, Lord192). Jack believed that there was a beast on the mountain and told many of the boys this. They were fearful of the beast so they thought that if they left it alone and gave it a gift, it might decide to leave them alone too. Jack also used this as a tool to further establish him as leader, again another way of trying to