William Golding's Lord Of The Flies Essay

Anybody is capable of performing the most savage acts? In the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of boys are stranded on an island without knowing if they could get rescued. It was written after the terrible actions during World War 2 and highlighted the hidden evil and savagery of any regular civilian. Through symbolism, irony, and character development, Golding communicates that brutality exists in everyone. When the boys got stranded, they were ripped away from society. They lost all communication with the outside world and civilized people. The freedom that came from this sparked Ralph’s mood, “This is our island”. It’s a good island, too. Until the grownups come to fetch us, we'll have fun" (Golding 42). We see that due to the lack of rules, the boys felt they could disobey any laws.

Golding states, “Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger's arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins” (Golding 74). The authority the boys were molded to follow has been eradicated as soon as they landed on the island. Later in the story, we see Henry evolve into a vicious murderer, torturing many and working as Jack’s right-hand man. Without these rules, the boys descend into cruelty and ruin, as if they had it in them the whole time. Additionally, Golding uses symbolism represented through the conch and the fire to demonstrate the brutality inside everyone. The fire acted as a beacon of rescue and hope for a second chance at survival. However, as time passes, the fire becomes a raging storm, eating up the hope and resilience the boys had and leading them to savagery. It acted as a symbol of death and destruction right as they were about to get saved, returning those feelings of an earlier hope for rescue. Golding expands by describing, “The feeling of beginnings of all power was set free below them” (Golding