Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a story about boys stranded on an island during the Cold War. In order to survive, the boys must decide whether they want to follow the format of civilization or to become savages, and disregard life as they once knew it. The characters must choose whether they want to stay in or break free from the ways of civilization. Going uses characterization, symbolism, and tone to display the influence of society and the natural instinct of evil within the boys. Civilization is in a never-ending war with savagery. In the book, a conch symbolizes civilization. A boy named Piggy, finds this conch and explains the best fit, “‘We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They'll come when they hear us—’” (Golding 22). Piggy’s first response is to call a meeting. He wants to form an assembly to figure out what to do next. The boys continue to call meetings until the end of the book when the conch is smashed, demonstrating civilization is lost. …show more content…
Early on in the story, a kid named Roger throws rocks at other children, but he intentionally doesn’t hit them, because “Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them...Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life...Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins” (Golding 78). Later on, Roger embraces the absence of accountability and purposely pushes a boulder at a boy named Piggy, killing him. At first, Roger couldn’t bring himself to hurt other people, because he understood it was morally wrong, but then he gave into savagery and he had no regard for any morals