Will Leach
Mrs.Bademan
½ A
Lord of the Flies Thesis Essay
In the book Lord of the Flies, William Golding, depicts the recreation and destruction a of society by a group of young boys. Throughout their journey on the island, the boys fight about how to run their civilization with two main groups of boys, each one with their own respective leader. The fighting eventually turns into complete chaos as the boys who support Jack begin to attack and even kill the remaining kids. who Mr. Golding presents the reader with an array of objects and significant events to symbolize how humans act like savages in the absence of an authoritative structure. Throughout this work, William Golding paints a clearly Hobbesian view on society, using the symbols of
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When hunting, the boys successfully kill a pig, “Ralph was full of fright and apprehension and pride. ‘I hit him! The spear stuck in—’ Now they came, unexpectedly, to an open space by the sea. Jack cast about on the bare rock and looked anxious. ‘He’s gone.’ ‘I hit him’ said Ralph again, ‘and the spear stuck in a bit.’ He felt the need of witnesses. ‘Didn’t you see me?’...He sunned himself in their new respect and felt that hunting was good after all” (128). As a result of hunting the pig, the boys experience feelings of joy and accomplishment. Furthermore, they cease prioritization of building the shelters and monitering the fire, and begin shifting that prioritization to hunting. Even Ralph, one of the most reasonably minded people in the book feels a great rush of synergy when this significant hunting moment …show more content…
The destruction of the conch shell is used to show the destruction of all authoritative structure. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist...Suddenly Jack bounded out from the tribe and began screaming wildly. “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone”(215). The destruction of the conch shell by Jack symbolizes the destruction of society. As soon as the conch is broken, the last remaining artifact of their once prominent civilization had been destroyed, and the hunters had solidified themselves as savages in the absence of