Lord of the Flies Essay

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, begins with a relatively simple plot: a group of boys who are stuck on an island. But as the novel begins to unravel, characters begin to shift, personalities begin to adjust, and the island that was once thought to be an adult-free paradise soon becomes a burning hell. The scariest part of the book may be how realistic it really is.
In Lord of the Flies, there is a constant struggle between savagery and civility. In the beginning, when the boys are merely a day's memory away from civilization, the rules of the adult world are not difficult to follow. However, as the time on the island grows longer, they seem to realize that what they do on the island cannot be punished by anyone but themselves. It becomes evident that its up to themselves to have control, and some aren't capable of doing so.
There are only two characters who remain fair and righteous until the end- Ralph and Piggy. Ralph is voted leader in their very first assembly. From then on, he attempts to restore and maintain order on the island. From rules like no talking without the conch and going to the bathroom in specific areas to designated jobs for all the boys, he does his best to try to mimic the adult world he so desperately wants to be back in. Even when his power begins to crumble and he starts to lose control, Ralph refuses to give in to the human instinct that so many of the others have allowed. Doing so would have been easier. It would have saved him a lot of trouble. But the very idea of civility is not to do what's easy, or what everyone else is doing. It's about maintaining order in the most difficult times- something very few people have the ability to do.
Piggy is also able to stay true to himself throughout the novel. Even though, once again, the easiest thing for him to have done would have been to lash out at others when they picked on him, Piggy keeps his sanity through the most difficult times. He is the most intelligent character on the island; he understands the importance of rules and dies with them when he and the conch are both crushed by the same rock.
Opposing Ralph and Piggy are the two antagonists of Lord of the Flies- Jack and Roger. Jack starts of as a fairly reasonable boy. In fact, in the beginning, he isn't much different from Ralph. But from the start, he has a hunger for power. He isn't happy when Ralph gets voted as cheif, but he tolerates it for a time. Eventually though, his inner brutality comes out, and he starts his own group of savages away from the rules

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