Throughout William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, he proves that human nature is savage. In this novel, a group of young boys survive a plane crash and land on a deserted island where they attempt to create a society from scratch, but ultimately fall into chaos and barbarity. In Lord of the Flies, Golding portrays the theme that one’s primitive nature is revealed when civilization is destroyed through symbolism, diction, and characterization. The boys immediately recognized the conch’s significance when they found it. The conch represents society and order. However, when “the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (Golding 260), it signifies the destruction of their society and civilized manners. It indicates the demise of their civilized instincts and exposes their animalistic instincts. Without law and order, the boys can only gradually become more brutal. Soon after the destruction of the conch, Jack “viciously, with full intention, he hurled his spear at Ralph” (Golding 261). This proves that the destruction of the last hope for their society revealed Jack’s savagery along with the other boys. “With full intention” reveals that Jack is aware of his actions and brutality, but he continues to attack Ralph anyways. If a society was still present, he would have been more compelled to think before he acts because there would be apparent consequences for breaking the …show more content…
By using symbolism, diction, and characterization, Golding demonstrates that one’s savagery is released when civilization is destroyed. The boys become more vicious when the conch, their last hope for civilization, shatters. In reading this text, readers come to realize that it is inevitable that humans will fall into barbarity when there is no society present to teach right from wrong. No matter where one comes from or what influenced them, they have the potential to be