The Biggest Factor in Making a Savage: Situation In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the boys spiral into a world of savagery as the fear of never being rescued becomes evermore daunting. The combination of being stranded, competition, and no adults makes the boys the savages they are. In the article “Lord of the Flies is a blueprint for Savagery” there are many examples, but all of them have the situation as the thing that influences savagery the most. On the island, the boy's situation heavily influences their savage behavior far more than biological factors. The situation is the biggest factor in why the Boys are so savage near the end of the book. It is clear that the situation erodes their former selves and over time the island takes over them. The turning point from boys to savagery all started with a childish dance and evolved into a murder that was impossible to rationalize for the boys. “‘It was dark. There was that-that bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain. We was scared!” “I wasn’t scared,” said Ralph slowly. “I was-I don't know what I was.’” (Golding. 156) This quote shows the savagery that takes control of them in the right situation and because of it, a …show more content…
These elements are what influence savagery more than anything. A perfect example of this is an experiment done in The Robbers Cave Experiment. Twenty-two boys were let loose in an abandoned scout park, they were given food, shelter, and water but no supervision. They were split into two different groups and there was a tournament.” ( Eleanor Learmonth ) as soon as they set eyes on each other, the insults started to fly” soon after there was an all-out war between the tribes The elements in this experiment are very close to if not exactly the same as Lord of the flies. This experiment shows how natural competition and no parental supervision can affect how savage things can