Lord Of The Flies Essay

Lord of the Flies Essay
In William Golding’s ‘Lord of the flies’ a group of British School boys are stranded on a deserted island when their plane crashes. The freedom of having no adults or rules is taken advantage of as the boys behaviours slowly turn from being civilised school boys, to dangerous savages. They go from living in a society with rules to an uncivilized society where jealousy and evil over powers. The beast they were hunting turns out to be the inner darkness inside each boy and was capable of savagery actions when the opportunity aroused.
When the boys first arrived on the island they acted civilised and proper. Fear of the unknown and fear of not being rescued soon led them to try and live by the rules they knew. When Ralph took the first step of leadership and blew the conch to call an assembly, the school boys obeyed and came together. Not knowing what else to do, the boys tried to follow the steps of their role models and put rules into place. Rules such as ‘Hands up, like at school’ were put in order by Ralph, the selected chief. Even though there were no adults on the island, the boys still acted civilised because of the fear of what adults might think or say to them. An example of this is when Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. He did not dare to throw the stones directly at Henry because he feared an adult’s reaction. The boys’ old civilised lives were still intact and parents, policemen and the law still had control over the boys’ decisions/actions.
Throughout the book, the boys’ progress away from civilisation and towards savagery is tracked through the use of symbolism. Piggy’s glasses symbolise the ability to see and understand things clearly. Piggy is the most intelligent, rational boy in the group and without his glasses he loses his ability to see. When Jack smacks Piggy, and breaks one of the lenses “Piggy’s glasses flew off and tinkled on the rocks. Piggy cried out in terror…” it foreshadows and symbolizes Piggy’s death. It shows that the boys are slowly starting to also lose sight of what they need to do and the fact that they need to get rescued. The more damaged the glasses become the closer the boys become to savagery. Near the end of the book Jack steals Piggy’s glasses and they are dangling and broken. “He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broke glasses.” The glasses were no longer a symbol of reason and intelligence; they’re a symbol of how far from civilisation the boys have come. The way I see it is, no glasses means no Piggy, no Piggy means no Ralph and no

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