The Hunt In Lord Of The Flies

As the sun slowly slips over the horizon, an island comes to life. The stars slowly flicker out, and a bird calls in the distance. Wild pigs burst through the undergrowth, and a young boy opens his eyes on the crisp white sands. The boy is a hunter, ecstatic at the prospect of finally securing meat. Behind all this, however, lurks something darker. An intangible force that taints what many would consider a tropical paradise. It infiltrates the necessity of hunting, Throughout Lord of the Flies, the hunt evolves from an exciting pastime into something much darker. It is a symbol of the decaying humanity, civility, and morality of the boys on the island. Today, we will discuss the initial hunt, and contrast it with the violent dances in the end.

The group has slowly devolved and become enchanted with hunting and slaughtering pigs. A violent description of one of these later killings is detailed in the novel, saying: “the sow staggered her way ahead of them, bleeding and mad, and the hunters followed, wedded to her in lust, excited by the long chase and the dropped blood.” (194) They are incredibly eager to kill and brutal when they do so, unlike when they first began. Later on, this escalates even further, to the uncontrollable desire to harm other human beings. We see this in the novel when it says, “Viciously, with full intention, he hurled his spear at Ralph.” (261) Following this is a brutal chase after Ralph, resulting in his near death. We can also address, again, that the escalation of violence in the hunt is definitely a direct contributor to Ralph’s loss of power. His obsession with killing causes him to become a huge threat to Ralph, one which cannot be opposed. At first, Ralph likely didn’t expect he could become so violent. However, in the end we see that it was the reason he seemed to oppose the hunt almost from the beginning. When the final dance occurs, (in which Simon dies,) we see the contrast in power more firmly. Ralph is now the outsider, who joins in under Jack & Roger’s leadership. In the beginning, Ralph was the favoured one, who granted permission for Jack to become a hunter. When that final dance occurs, we can also see the change from the hunt being a source of division to becoming the ultimate merger. At the start of the story, each group is split into those who follow Ralph, and those who follow Jack. However, at the climax, we find that everyone is drawn together into this irresistible act of murder. It’s also ironic to see that attempted peace separates us, while violence is what brings us together. This can also be applied to real world situations. During times of peace, we find ourselves