civilisation vs savagery lord of the flies essay

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Lord of The Flies': Civilization Vs Savagery as The Main Theme

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Introduction, civilization vs savagery in the lord of the flies.

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Lord of the Flies: Civilization Vs Savagery

This essay will examine the theme of civilization versus savagery in William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies.” It will discuss how the novel portrays the breakdown of social order and the inherent human tendency towards barbarism when removed from societal norms. More free essay examples are accessible at PapersOwl about Civilization.

How it works

Imagine being stranded on an island. your first instinct is to discover some nourishment, shelter, and to discover an exit plan the island. being marooned can be a critical circumstance. it can raise new difficulties and self-revelation. At the point when a group of young boys gets stranded on an island alone without any grown-ups together they should figure out how to live and make due as a gathering. Not exclusively should their principle need is nourishment and a safe house.

They should likewise stress over each other and find the stuff to cooperate. In golding’s novel lord of the flies, the differentiating abstract topics of civilization versus savagery is appeared by the utilization of symbols, the dialogue, and visual imagery. William golding utilizes numerous images all through his novel to outline the differentiating topics of civilization versus savagery. Subsequent to reading this book it led me to believe that human beings are savages by nature and are moved by primal urges toward selfishness, brutality and dominance over others.

On the island we see the contention between two primary characters Jack and Ralph who separately represent civilization and savagery. This affects whatever is left of the young boys all through the novel as they dig further and further into savagery.in this novel, the utilization of the conch speaks on civilization and order. At the point when the young men first arrive on the island Ralph utilizes the conch to combine everybody. On page 18 it is said, “signs of life were visible now on the beach. the sand trembling to a lower place the warmth haze concealed many figures in its miles of length; boys were making their way to the platform.” This demonstrates towards the beginning the conch mechanically brought everyone along and went along with them as a network.

later in the story, the lord of the flies speaks to the brutality by symbolizing confusion and mayhem. After the young men execute a pig they leave the head as an offering to the envisioned monster. At the point when Simon begins conversing with the head it reveals to him that it is the monster.

Later on, in page 185. Ralph comes across the skull of the pig. “A sick fear and anger cleared him. Furiously he hit out at the filthy thing in front of him that bobbed like a toy and returned, still grinning in his face, so that he lashed and cried out in hating. ” This demonstrates that the Lord of the flies brings the beast out of the kids this additionally demonstrates from the beginning they, actually, were their very own mammoth. Williams golding utilizes certain bits of exchange to represent the differentiating topics of human civilization versus viciousness.

In chapter 1 page 45, Piggy turns out to be the most educated of the gathering by endeavoring to keep the gathering humanized and all together. At the point when the bunch is talking with respect to building a flag fire to be spared piggy says “how can you expect to be rescued if you don’t put first things first and act proper?”. This demonstrates from the earliest starting point piggy thinks there ought to be requested and a reasonable arrangement for anything fruitful to occur on the island. Likewise around this point, the subject of viciousness through exchange starts with jack.

On page 51,in the wake of endeavoring to locate the first run through jack discloses to Ralph that he sent his gathering back while he kept on chasing without anyone else. I went on said jack. I let them go. I needed to go on. He attempted to pass on the impulse to follow down and execute that was gulping him up.I went on. I thought of myself—the franticness came at him once more. I thought I may kill. This is the start of jack’s change from cultivated to savage. As of now slaughtering turns into his principle need over everything.

Another way viciousness was demonstrated was the point at which piggy’s glasses were broken. we were informed that “Piggy cried out in terror ‘my specs!” This demonstrates to us that the young men savage natures are starting to overrule their progressively cultivated sides. Toward the start of the book jack could never have challenged contact piggy yet here he really snaps and goes for piggy who he looks down on. We can tell that piggy is startled as golding picks the words cried and dread to portray the scene. piggy seems like he is torment and is truly scared about what Jack would conceivably do to him and the loss of his sight. Piggy’s glasses have likewise come to speak to knowledge on the island with them breaking we see that the pathway to viciousness is currently totally open for the young boys. This is the essential genuine bit of brutality between the two groups on the island and it will result in about all the young boys getting to be savages.

Finally, William Golding utilizes visual symbolism all through his novel to represent the differentiating topics of human civilization progress versus savagery. Before all else, Golding utilizes visual symbolism to speak to progress when Ralph utilizes the conch to join everybody together. On page 19 it is said,“At last Ralph ceased to blow and sat there, the conch trailing from one hand, his head bowed on his knees. As the echoes died away so did the laughter, and there was silence. ” As the echoes died so did the chuckling and there was quietness. This demonstrates toward the starting everybody met up in a hastily manner and were quiet with the goal that they could tune in to the discussions that they would have.

Later in the book golding once more uses visual symbolism to speak to savagery following the killing of simon. “The beast battled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the stone to the sand by the water. On the double the posse flooded after it poured down the stone jumped onto the monster shouted struck piece tore. there were no words and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws”. (page 153). This demonstrates that at this point the sole issue the young men thought about was chasing and that they would chase anything they could.this act was just the start of homicide in this story and later prompted the homicide of different young men.

In golding’s novel, Lord of the flies the contrasting literary themes of civilization vs savagery are illustrated through the use of symbols, the dialogue, and the visual imagery. Despite the fact that first and foremost, numerous things combined the young men on the island, at last, things shredded them more than they would have anticipated. Ralph here speaks to progress as he needed to implement guidelines and let everybody have an equivalent say. However, Jack who speaks to savagery as he governs over the young men and he isn’t keen on what they need to state. overall this book conveys that human beings are savage by nature and are moved by primal urges toward selfishness brutality and dominance over others.

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GCSE Study Notes and Revision Guides

Lord of the flies (grades 9–1) york notes, william golding, civilisation and savagery.

The shift from civilisation to savagery is a crucial theme, and the novel clearly traces a shift from one state to the other:

• Initially, the boys try to create a civilised society: the conch symbolises this through its links to democracy and order.
• The boys rapidly stop following civilised behaviour regarding eating and toileting.
• They become physically dirtier and more dishevelled.
• Violence increases gradually at first and then more rapidly.
• Jack and the hunters deliberately paint their faces like savages.
• The hunters chant and dance and make an offering to the beast.

As the boys become more savage, the consequences of their actions become more serious:

• Simon is murdered when the boys are in a frenzy and mistake him for the beast.
• Piggy is deliberately killed and Jack then gloats that ‘The conch is gone!’ (Ch. 11, p. 201)
• Sam and Eric are tortured and forced to join Jack’s tribe.
• Ralph is hunted like an animal by the rest of the boys, who are so focused on killing him that they destroy the island.

Finally, the naval officer brings civilisation back to the island and is astonished that the boys have descended so far into savagery.

Lord of the Flies

William golding, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

The " beast " is a symbol Golding uses to represent the savage impulses lying deep within every human being. Civilization exists to suppress the beast. By keeping the natural human desire for power and violence to a minimum, civilization forces people to act responsibly and rationally, as boys like Piggy and Ralph do in Lord in the Flies . Savagery arises when civilization stops suppressing the beast: it's the beast unleashed. Savages not only acknowledge the beast, they thrive on it and worship it like a god. As Jack and his tribe become savages, they begin to believe the beast exists physically—they even leave it offerings to win its favor to ensure their protection. Civilization forces people to hide from their darkest impulses, to suppress them. Savages surrender to their darkest impulses, which they attribute to the demands of gods who require their obedience.

Savagery and the "Beast" ThemeTracker

Savagery and the "Beast" Quotes in Lord of the Flies

Civilization Vs Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Analysis

The Lord of The Flies is a novel written by William Golding. The novel is based in the 1950s and tells the story of a group of young boys who find themselves on a deserted island. They establish rules and a system of organization, but without any adults on the island to serve as a civilizing authority, the young boys ultimately become savage and violent. Golding incorporates a number of themes throughout the novel like savagery vs civilization, this theme changes throughout the whole novel from beginning to end. At the beginning of the novel, the boys set up a democratic society to maintain order, in the middle the boys start to abandon their democratic society and their behavior becomes increasingly savage, fearful, and violent. 

At the beginning of Lord of The Flies, the boys set up rules and a system of organization. They elected Ralph as their leader and used the conch that was found at the beach to call the boys to come together for meetings on page 20 Piggy states “We can use this to call others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us” (Golding). The group of young boys also had built shelters and displayed concern for the youngest among them which shows that they are using their knowledge from back home to start a civilized community. Piggy’s glasses also play a big part in creating a civilized community because they are a symbol of survival and knowledge. The glasses created the signal fire which was used for the group’s survival, however, Jack gets frustrated when he gets blamed for letting the signal fire go out so he takes it out on Piggy, breaking piggy’s glasses. This act of assault symbolizes savagery, and the broken glasses symbolize the loss of intellectual thought on the island as things begin to fall apart.

In the middle of Lord of the Flies, The theme of civilization vs savagery becomes evident as Jack’s thirst for blood becomes apparent in chapter 4 when he is excited that they have killed a pig (Golding 97). Since this is Jack’s first time killing a pig his mind becomes obsessed with savage thoughts which lead the rest of the boys’ to lose civilization and become savage. The rest of the boys’show savagery behavior in chapter 9 when they kill Simon because he believed that the best was not real and that the“best” was a dead man wrapping in a parachute Jack and the others do not believe him and think that Simon is the best so they kill him ( Golding 219). Jack is one of the main reasons for the downfall of the boys’ civilization throughout the novel he tries to hide his true identity of being a civilized young boy with the identity of a savage and violent young boy. On page 89, Golding states, “Jack planned his new face he made one cheek and one eye socket white, then rubbed red over the other half of his face” (Golding). This mask, that Jack is creating replaces his true civilized face with a savagery one. 

At the end of the Lord Of The Flies, civilization is not restored due to the death of piggy preventing the revival of civilization. On page 290, Golding states, “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called piggy” (Golding). The civilized boys would not be the same and the thought of going back to who they once were seems very unlikely to happen. However, there is still hope as the boys go back to being civilized English boys after they meet the officer. Jack started to cry as he remembers that they are children and not savages, “The tears began to flow and sobs shook him” (Golding 290). 

All in all, Williams Golding’s novel Lord Of The Flies features many themes that change throughout the story from beginning to end, however, the most prominent theme that changes throughout the story from beginning to end is civilization Vs savagery. The characters Ralph and piggy represent civilization while jack represents savagery. Ralph tries to do whatever he can to create a civilized society and keep the group calm, while Jack continues to change the boys’ minds into cruelty and savagery. The Conch and piggy’s glasses symbolize the peace between civilization and savagery, however, when both are broken things take a turn for the worst, and savagery ultimately savagery wins over civilization. The importance of the theme civilization vs savagery that Golding was trying to prove or get at is that there is no such thing as a perfect society which means that civilization will always become savagery at a certain point.

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Essay about Lord of the Flies: Civilization vs Savagery

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The human mind is made of up two instincts that constantly have conflict: the instinct to live by society’s rules and the instinct to live by your own rules. Our civilized will has been to live morally by law and order, and our savage will has been to act out for our own selfish needs. We each choose to live by one or the other depending on how we feel is the correct way to live. In this allegorical novel, William Golding represents the transformation from civilization to savagery in the conflict between two of the main characters: Ralph who represents law and order and Jack who represents savagery and violence. Lord of the Flies has remained a very controversial novel to this day with its startling, brutal, and truthful picture of the …show more content…

After several failed attempts, he finally accomplishes his goal, but with a price; he ruins the boys chances of being rescued by letting the signal fire go out and not taking it as seriously as he should. He continuously claims that, “We can light the fire again” (58); his will to be rescued is waning slowly. Ralph addresses these issues with his group expecting them to be re-motivated, but the boys have surprisingly ignored him and resumed playing. Instead of caring about being rescued, the boys start caring more about hunting and doing an interpretive dance inspired by hunting pigs, including one time with Robert “…screaming and struggling with the strength of frenzy”(101). With progressing events, the boys are becoming more and more irresponsible, and their chance of going back to civilization is fading quickly. Soon, a deadly turn of events will ignite their carelessness into something more dangerous and completely unexpected. The downward spiral towards the boys’ strategy actually started in the beginning of the book. To hunt successfully, Jack decided to use clay and charcoal for camouflage against the pigs’ awareness; this later becomes a trend for his hunters especially when “the mask compelled them” to kill (53). A new and frightening advancement to the clay paint is the pig ’s blood, which Smith 3 shows how increasingly comfortable Jack’s tribe is becoming with hunting and savagery. As soon as Jack creates his own tribe, he

Civilization Vs Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Essay

The Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding where the theme of civilization versus savagery is strongly exemplified. Throughout the novel, the theme starts to develop from the ongoing conflict between Ralph and Jack, who represent civilization and savagery. While Ralph uses his authority to establish rules and give commands that will help the boys survive and get rescued, Jack is more interested in appeasing his primal human impulses. The conflict between these two will further the theme of civilization versus savagery and affect the other boys on the island. In addition, Golding also uses symbolism and additional themes to support the overall main theme of civilization versus savagery.

Essay On Savagery In Lord Of The Flies

Lord of the Flies by William Golding shows how the world is man eat man. Golding

The Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding, established in 1954; the book is based on British boys deserted on a remote island without any adults. The novel deals with major themes such as civilization versus savagery, loss of innocence and the nature of evil. Golding uses a variety of techniques such as foreshadowing, dramatic irony, symbolism, metaphors and also characterisation to develop these themes.

Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Essay

The British Boys disembark on an island, inhabited of any adults and left to surrender for themselves. Through their journey of survival, Golding illustrated the darkness that lays within mankind. Golding was capable of using the boys feeling of trepidation of the beast but in reality there was no external beast but enteral beast; at the root of fear was themselves. The publication of Lord of the Flies by William Golding portrays this evil that exist in mankind.

Consequently, Golding is able to establish his theory that the primitive nature of savagery is more influential to the human consciousness than an instinctual sense of civilization. This theory has been supported by various aspects of the boys, especially through the eradication of logic and what is deemed necessary for survival. The demise of rationality and intelligence represents the loss of civility and order in the boys and brings about the inherent darkness in mankind. Throughout the novel, Simon has represented a Christ-like figure, as well as the inherent goodness in mankind. He was the only boy to realize that the beast was within each of them when he encountered the Lord of the Flies in the forest: “You knew didn’t you? I’m part of you? … I’m the reason why it’s

Jack Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis

Without Rules and Society we would have a bunch of people being savages and acting crazy in our life. In “Lord of the Flies” William Golding uses the change in setting to highlight the theme that man needs civilization in order to tame his inner animal instinct/savagery. When the boys first land on the island, Golding characterizes Jack as a young school boy obsessed with rules and power. After spending some time on the island, Golding’s characterization of Jack begins to change, he becomes increasingly savage.

Are we born evil and laws and rules in our society make us pure or are we born pure and the society we live in make us evil? In William Golding’s allegorical novel, Lord of the Flies he explores the two sides of mankind, the pure side and the savage side. There are many things that keeps men and women in our society away from the savage side such as laws, rules, and discipline. Golding's allegory explores the juxtaposition between civilization and savagery in response to WWll.

Lord of the Flies - Civilization vs Savagery

The conflict between the instincts of civilization and savagery emerges quickly within the group: the boys, especially Piggy, know that they must act with order and forethought if they are to be rescued, but the longer they remain apart from the society of adults, the more difficult it becomes for them to adhere to the disciplined behavior of civilization. In the First chapter the boys lead by Ralph try to recreate order and a system that will improve the quality of life on the island until they are rescued, but in Chapter 2 the enthusiasm and passion to do this is directed now to there more primal needs of having fun on the beach and playing in the water, this prevents them from acting responsibly and the only ones that do concentrate on improving there chances of being rescued are Ralph, Piggy and Simon. As a result, the signal fire nearly fails, and a young boy apparently burns to death when the forest catches fire. The controls of society still linger around the boys, who are confused and ashamed when they learn the young boy is missing, a sign that a sense of morality and goodness is still guides and restricts their savage behavior at this point.

Lord Of The Flies: Group Cooperation Vs Individual Power

Jack had been behaving as noble individual since long time but soon he showed his true self when he brutally killed a pig. He killed the pig to satisfy his hunting instincts and ended up beheading the pig. The killer instincts that demonstrates his savagery are observed when it stated, “Behind them on the grass the headless and paunched body of sow lay there where they had dropped it” (129) . Here, the pig was killed mercilessly by Jack and his group. The boys indulged in extremely savagery behaviour and kills the pig just for fun. Therefore, glimpses of savagery depicted in the text could have been controlled with the group power which could have generated more power among the

Lord Of The Flies Civilization Vs Savagery Essay

This close call is what began to fuel Jacks' obsession with hunting to kill. After Jack killed his first pig and realized he could kill without negative consequences, he brutally

Lord Of The Flies Savagery Vs Civilization Essay

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel in where savagery versus civilization is seen and Analyzed, showing the raw human nature that is within us all. After the boy´s plane is shot down, they become stranded on an isolated island at the time of a nuclear war. Throughout the book the conflict between two main characters, Jack and Ralph, who represent civilization and savagery. The rest of the boys throughout the novel delve further and further into savagery as instinct, leaving behind what was symbolically civilization.

What Is The Theme Of Savagery In Lord Of The Flies

Jack starts to show just the start of his savagery within a short amount of time away from society. Golding writes, “He snatched the knife out of the sheath and slammed it into the tree trunk. Next time there will be no mercy” (31). That action of Jack shows his first break into his savage side. His anger through the action of slamming the knife and him saying “no mercy” for the next time he wants to kill a pig, all plays into how this can cause intense savagery later. Golding also writes, “Rescue? Yes of course! All the same, I’d like to catch a pig first- He snatched his spear and dashed it into the ground. The opaque look came into his eyes again” (53). Jack is showing the same intention as before, but now is expressing that a kill is better than rescue. Jack showing the “opaque” savage look in his eyes shows his taking of a bloodthirsty point of view towards the pigs. Already having a thirst for blood, Jack’s released savage with just grow and spread.

Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis

The human mind consists of two completely different instincts: the instinct to live by society’s rules and the instinct to live by your own. A civilized person lives morally by law and order and a savage acts out to their own selfish needs. Similarly, in the novel The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of confused, British boys struggle to determine what’s right and what’s wrong. As they are forced to chose between good and evil, conflicts begin to rise on the island. However, this is only the beginning of their disastrous adventure led by Jack. Jack is an egomaniacal boy who lives by his own rules and tries to get everyone else to obey them too. Hence, Jack is the predominant cause for savagery on the island and rendered it inevitable that the castaways would descend into chaos due to his aggression, entitlement, and lust for power.

Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Analysis

As humans, we have two instincts that are always at war with each other, constantly battling to be the dominant one. One instinct is our impulse to act savagely and indulge in our selfish ways. The other instinct is to be civilized and live morally by society’s laws. In Lord of the Flies, a novel written by William Golding, the author shows these conflicting ways of life through the relationship between two of the main characters: Ralph, who represents civilization, and Jack, who represents savagery. Like our two instincts, Ralph and Jack are constantly fighting to gain authority over the other boys. When Ralph gains authority he uses his authority to establish rules and protect the boys. Jack only wants to gain power and have authority over the other boys. As the novel progresses, Golding shows that even though the boys try to live civilized lives on the island, savagery is inevitable.

Savagery is a recurrent subject that surrounds the boys in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. The author intricately writes about the savagery of human nature, emphasizing the impact of the inhumanity on each of the boys. Samneric are twins who are alike to the point that none of the boys can tell them apart. Golding writes them more as background characters than anything else, only implying their importance. However, due to their amalgamation, the twins represent a community of togetherness and structure among the group. As savageness spreads because of a lack of civility, Samneric are divided which proves that human existence is drawn together by societal regulations and pulled apart by barbarity.

Related Topics

• The Downward Spiral
• Civilization
• In Cold Blood

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Lord of the Flies

Savagery versus civilisation: representations of power in lord of the flies leon frank-rath 10th grade.

Golding’s exploration of the human condition continues to be read, year after year, because it challenges the reader to consider notions that are fundamental to the human condition. Through a simple premise, Golding creates an environment in which readers are forced to confront the issues of power and authority. By stripping out every unnecessary distraction and reducing humanity to its simplest form, Golding accomplishes his task of opening the reader’s eyes to the flawed nature of humanity before they can put their guard up. We, as citizens of modern society, create defence mechanisms against the harsh and brutal nature of our species through our political ideologies, religious beliefs, and “justice” systems. When Golding takes away these defence mechanisms, the reader is confronted with the true nature of humanity, power, and authority. All of our current preconceptions and defences against human nature are replaced by symbols; democracy, and autocracy, the conch and the choir leader. As Golding utilises his array of literary devices to paint a picture of life without order, he effectively challenges the reader to enter the minds of the characters and consider how different we really are.

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Civilisation vs savagery

The battle between civilisation and savagery is represented in a number of Golding’s novels, most famously in  Lord of the Flies  and  The Inheritors .

Lord of the Flies

In  Lord of the Flies , the fragile civilisation created by the boys on the island fragments and the boys divide into two camps. Ralph and Piggy remain ‘civilised’, continuing to obey and uphold the rules, despite the threat from violence of Jack’s hunters, who symbolise savagery. Jack’s group don’t just act in a savage manner – they paint their faces in order to look ‘savage’, and to enhance their levels of intimidation.  Lord of the Flies  is an allegorical tale of the danger when civilisation breaks down, and savagery takes over.

The Inheritors

Civilisation vs savagery is somewhat more complicated in  The Inheritors . We might consider that the Neanderthal people are not particularly civilised, as they are a simple group, with a lack of tools, and only rudimentary knowledge. However, they are gentle and non-confrontational, even refusing to kill animals for meat. The ‘new people’ (Homo Sapiens) have an abundance of tools, but seek to dominate the other group. Despite their organised society and family groups, the new people are savage in their behaviour. Here Golding demonstrates that intelligence and strength do not equal civilisation.

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Civilization vs Savagery in Lord of the Flies Essay Example

In the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the concept of Civilization vs Savagery reoccurs and affects the characters' mental state progressively negatively.

Civilization vs Savagery starts off being a not compelling factor, and is represented by the conch and the fire. It doesn’t affect the boys much at first, because they don’t care about it. In return, that carelessness gets one of them killed by ‘the savagery’. Most boys aren’t yet aware that their survival and sanity on the island means that they can’t play all the time. The only boy who realizes this is Piggy, who, after the boys finish building the fire, argues with them all, “How can you expect to be rescued if you don’t put first things first and act proper?” (Golding 45). This demonstrates that the boys don’t listen to Piggy. They don’t care about their situation on the island, and they don’t care to learn about it from Piggy. The only thing that gets them to care is the missing boy. When they realized that he was gone “The crowd was as silent as death” (Golding 46), and suddenly they weren’t so unruly. This is a huge contrast from when they were arguing with Piggy, clamoring to take the conch from him. Their reaction to the missing boy's death is one step into realizing their circumstances, but even so, they still have yet to figure out how serious their situation is, and how easily they will go off the deep end.

Civilization vs Savagery carries on becoming relevant, represented by Ralph and Jack's fights and the fire. It also begins to have a greater impact on the characters mental state because of fear of the beasty and high tensions. The tensions between Ralph and Jack are tight, and they’re extremely upset with one another: “They were both red in the face and found looking at each other difficult.” (Golding 52). Jack's growing need to hunt represents the crumbling of civilization into savagery, and Ralph wanting to build shelters shows his want to build up civilization. Their desires clash, causing them (or Civilization vs Savagery) to fight. Adding on to Ralph and Jack's tension is the death of the fire: “The fire was out, smokeless and dead; the watchers were gone.” (Golding 68). There were no watchers making sure the fire didn’t go out because Jack had taken them to go hunting. The fire is the boy's only landline to civilization, so letting it go out just so Jack could hunt is a direct attack on civilization. This of course makes Ralph and Jack fight again. Jack is fully representing savagery, so now in the concept of Civilization vs Savagery, Savagery is winning.

By the end, savagery has beaten civilization, in a final show of the shattering of the once all important conch, and loss of fire. All the kids have been impacted negatively by the victory of savagery, some kids having died or gone mad. The loss of fire is Jack's fault because, “From his [Jack’s] left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses.” (Golding 168), Jack stole Piggy’s glasses. Piggy’s glasses are the only way to make fire, fire being the only way back to civilization. The conch’s destruction is caused by a rock that the tribe attacked Piggy and Ralph with, and the conch being gone means to Jack: “There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone-” (Golding 181). What Jack attributes to Ralph’s tribe is civilization. Which means that the conch being shattered is equivalent to civilization being shattered, unable to be repaired. Savagery has completely won on the island, and everything that represented civilization got conquered.

In short, the idea of Civilization vs Savagery in the Lord of the Flies by William Golding was repeated and had great negative effects on the characters mental states.

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Civilization vs Savagery: LoTF Essay by Ariana Flores

What makes an individual or a culture uncivilized? Some people may say lack of order, while others could say not socially advanced. However, what does someone consider to be savage? Stripping families from their home lands? Not allowing the conservation of one's culture? Physically abusing others? They all can be seen as unacceptable acts by those in the “civilized” world, and yet they are all acts that were perpetrated by supposedly “civilized” colonists as they [describe what they did]. However, killing for no reason and screaming threatening chants are no great deeds either. Readers of Lord of the Flies by William Golding, view the boys on the island the same way colonists view the “savages” they colonized.

In the scene where the boys on the island portray the killing of a pig, the “beast” emerges from the forest. This beast is no beast at all, but fear disguising Simon as a monster. "At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, no movements but the tearing of the teeth and claws (153)."  Here, the reenactment has turned into an execution of the "beast". The boys do not try to make peaceful contact or communication with the foreign living being in front of them. The vulnerability of the "beast" as it comes out of the forest is not taken into account by the boys, that maybe the "beast" has feelings and is scared. The adjectives get more intense as the scene goes on, using words like demented, dark, blind, urgent, unbearable. The intensity of the adjectives reaches a climax right before the “beast” is killed and when the boys turn into animals. Their fear blinded their better judgment, and enabled them to look further than the rumors of the beast. This caused them to kill one of their own, who was on his way to them to clear the air about the suspicions of the beast in the first place.

This behavior in the novel also happens in the real world. European pioneers encountered Native Americans, and much like the boys on the island killing the beast, almost destroyed all of the Native Americans. “[...],European conquest shattered many Native communities through forced relocation, warfare, broken treaties and foreign-brought diseases. Most Native communities were completely wiped out,” says Indian Youth.org. Europeans came into a new territory, claiming it as their own without thinking of the lives already present there. With this mindset, they did everything in their power to get rid of anyone who didn't look like them or embrace their culture while degrading them in the process.

Savage was a term used to describe the Native Americans. It is a word that was also incorporated into Lord of the Flies. In this scene, Ralph is furiously trying to avoid being caught by Jack’s tribe. “A smallish savage was standing between him and the rest of the forest, a savage striped red and white, and carrying a spear (195).” This depiction of a feral, small mammal of some sort is a complete one eighty compared to the seemingly innocent boys who crash landed on the island. Jack’s society has turned into a group of boys who smear the blood of animals on their faces, kill for sport, and who kill anyone who doesn’t agree with their ways. In other words, being brought up civilized does not mean that children stay civilized without the guidance of an adult at an age where they're malleable. The “savage” nature will be forced away when the children would be brought back to society. However, the after effects would still be traumatic and possibly cause the children to question what's right and what's wrong after Roger mercilessly killed Piggy in front of many witnesses, who did not necessarily protest, because Piggy did not agree with the conceptions of the new tribe under the leadership of Jack.

This representation of a savage correlates with the European perspective of Native Americans. National Humanities Center.org encourages students to watch 1990 Academy Award winner, Dances with Wolves as opposed to 1992 adaption of James Fenimore Cooper’s 1826 novel Last of the Mohicans . The novel was based on the earliest meetings of Europeans and Native Americans. “ Besides a sympathetic white hero in line with Cooper’s own Natty Bumppo, it starkly contrasts “good” Indians (the ever-so-noble Lakotas) and “bad” Indians (the villainous Pawnees, with their roach-cuts and face paint making them look like English “punks” on a rampage).” The painting of faces, and spears are something commonly associated with the “savage”/ “bad” Indians. Familiarity struck with this portrayal, which fit the description of Jack’s tribe. However, the Iroquois Confederacy is what the current Democratic Republic is based off of here in the United States. European philosophical ideas that Locke and Rousseau published were established from Native American ideas. The Europeans called Native Americans savages while they were the ones who published Native Americans ideals, captured Native American land, and took Native American lives?

Overall, biased information can change lives. Decisions based on prejudice won’t necessarily benefit the human race as a whole. Claiming things that aren’t your own, also does not benefit one or more groups in the situation. This is something learned since childhood. However, sometimes it takes people a long time to learn one lesson, and they often have to learn it the hard way.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies . New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.

Dippie, Brian W. "American Indians: The Image of the Indian, Nature Transformed, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center." American Indians: The Image of the Indian, Nature Transformed, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center . National Humanities Center, May 2008. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. < http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nattrans/ntecoindian/essays/indimage.htm >

"Chp 4: Ennobling `Savages', Native America in European natural-rights philosophy, "Exemplar Of Liberty"." Chp 4: Ennobling `Savages', Native America in European natural-rights philosophy, "Exemplar Of Liberty" . N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. < https://ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/EoL/chp4.html >

"Traditions & Culture." Traditions & Culture | Running Strong . N.p., 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. < http://indianyouth.org/american-indian-life/traditions-culture >

Comments (2)

I think your work did a good job portraying the human ability to portray others as savages. It was interesting to see the comparisons between a reader's perspective of the boys from Lord of the Flies and a colonist's perspective of the Native Americans. Another really good real-life example of this comes in European colonization of Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries. Not only were Europeans taking away a lot of native culture, they also portrayed the African people as primitive and savage. This became part of writing and art. Even some of the most innocent works of the time, like Tintin or Babar, would feature stereotyped "savages". It's an interesting look into how media like books influence public understanding, which you discussed with your "Last of the Mohicans" example.

• Yes, it convinced me that readers view the boys as savage just as the colonists viewed the Native Americans as savage.
• You mentioned that our form of government is based off of the Iroquois Confederacy in order to point out the hypocrisy of the situation. Another way this connects is how the boys on the island vote and select a leader. This shows their civility and the connection to the adopted governmental system.

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Civilazation versus Savagery in The Lord of the Flies

2019, Civilazation versus Savagery in The Lord of the Flies

it is an essay on Civilazation versus Savagery in The Lord of the Flies

Related Papers

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