William Golding's Lord Of The Flies Essay

Words: 523
Pages: 3

After Jack’s lust for a kill had allowed a ship to pass; possibly the only chance at rescue, the boys’ human nature leads them to have an obscured sense of normal, leading them to forgive Jack. Through this one interaction, as primal instincts outweigh social conditioning, Golding displays how anyone can acquire a new normal; defined as what is socially just. (Fix this shit) When wisdom is afflicted, people’s savage ways can be exposed, overshadowing prior social conditioning. Angry at Ralph for calling him out for the fire, Jack punches Piggy, causing his glasses to break. Piggy, the source of wisdom of the island, had the vision of civilization, but as his glasses break, the boy's sense of normal is obscured. Golding emphasizes how when wisdom is degraded, this effects everyone as even Piggy cannot escape the call of nature. He confronts Jack and “looked malevolently at [Jack],” (72). Jack’s fervor for hunting and hurting led Piggy, a normally wise character, to take on his own lusts. Readers who had once expected they could have been stronger than these urges realize how they could be anyone in …show more content…
Jack fosters and promotes violence, letting the boys think this is acceptable behavior. He displays this acceptance as he “stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach,” (71) over a mere disagreement, consequently asserting his dominance. Immediately, a change is noticed in the boys as they chant, “’Kill the pig. Cut her throat,’” (75). Typically, people follow a leadership’ values, as this power already controls other aspects of life. Scared of how people react to a dictator, Golding expressed how even little boys can be influenced to go against their parents and values. As readers like to doubt they would succumb to violence, when these normal boys are so easily influenced, there is not much hope for