William Golding's Lord Of The Flies: Character Analysis

One could not view a group of boys marooned on an island warring with each other a conventional story. The main motif throughout the story is the loss of innocence and humanity. For the group of boys present throughout “Lord of the Flies”, the journey they took was not one of normal circumstances, nor was the behavior accompanying their predicament. At the beginning, they attempted to adapt with some normalcy. They searched for an authority figure, which became Ralph due to his possession of the "magical" conch. Through finding an authority figure, they gained the desire to build a society with a structure similar to that of which they had just left. This tendency toward structure demonstrates that part of the human mind that is always striving for

That’s a reef out in the sea. Perhaps there aren’t any grownups anywhere’” (Golding 1). Piggy, considered to be the most insightful of the group, resorted to what he has always known to be normal.To him, the presence of grown ups was an absolute certainty. In the book, it is stated that a man with a megaphone was directing each group onto a different plane to evacuate the area. In this section of the novel, it is made apparent that the society they had always known has disappeared. The shift toward unexplored psychological territory is represented when, “He [Ralph] became conscious of the weight of clothes, kicked his shoes off fiercely and ripped off each stocking with its elastic garter in a single movement…... He undid the snake-clasp of his belt, lugged off his shorts and pants, and stood there naked, looking at the dazzling beach and the water.” (Golding 5). The removal of his clothing represents Ralph releasing himself from the binds of society. Wearing clothes is something that society conditions us to do. Coverage is considered a norm and is expected at all times. This simple action, one that each boy does, represents a large change in the behavioral expectations on the