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5 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Claim
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CLAIM: GOLDING’S WORK, “LORD OF THE FLIES,” IMPLYS THROUGHOUT THE NOVEL THAT THE NATURE OF HUMANS IS DIONYSIAN AND UNCIVILIZED. WE CAN INFER THIS BECAUSE OF THE WAY THE BOYS ACT ONCE CIVILIZATION IS TAKEN FROM THEM, AND THEY ARE ISOLATED.
BECAUSE OF THE PLANE CRASH, THE BOYS ARE NOW ISOLATED FROM SOCIETY. THEREFORE, THEY DON’T HAVE TO FOLLOW THE LAWS AND MORALS OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD—HUMILITY, KINDNESS, GENEROSITY. SINCE IT’S JUST THEM ON THE ISLAND, THEIR TRUE COLORS SHOW AND SO DO THOSE OF HUMAN NATURE—SELFISHNESS, HARSHNESS, AND INSUBORDINATION. |
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Pride/Selfishness and supplemental reading
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PRIDE/SELFISHNESS
-Pride and Selfishness go hand in hand because one who is selfishness is only selfish because they believe they are better than others, or in other words, they are proud. -Selfishness is a negative quality, which links it to dionysianism. The boys show lots of selfishness in this novel. -Jack wants to hunt more than be rescued -He hunts for the good of his hunters, instead of getting the whole group of boys rescued. -All the boys show pride, because none of them want to listen to Piggy. -They think their ideas are better than his. -Homer also demonstrates that human nature is selfish in The Iliad -Agamemnon won’t give Chryseis back to her father because he wants to keep her for himself (selfishness). -Agamemnon thinks he deserves her more than her own father (pride). -This is just another example of pride and selfishness as basic characteristics of human nature. |
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Harshness/Cruelty and supplemental reading
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-Harshness is a Dionysian trait
-The boys turn harsh and violent once they are out of the eyes of society, on an island. -They don’t have to obey the consequences of violence, since there is no one to enforce them, so they can do whatever they want. -This is when violence begins, like the deaths of Simon and of Piggy -Freud also says that harshness/violence is part of human nature in civilization and it’s discontents when he says that man is wolf to man. -means it’s basic human nature for humans to be cruel to each other. |
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Insubordination and supplemental reading
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Insubordination as a trait of dionysianism-they are insubordinate to two authorities-Ralph and society
-insubordinate to society because they’re now isolated and again, don’t have to follow the rules -Loss of Ralph as Chief -Jack asserts himself as a new chief in Chapter 8 and defies Ralph’s authority. This denial of authority leads to many more problems, such as tension that arises between the two tribes. -Overall, none of the boys listen to Ralph once things get nitty-gritty. -The breakup of the group was somewhat of the boys last hope for living well while waiting for rescue. -Greek Gods were more like humans, and had the traits of humans. They didn’t seem very “holy,” like how our society thinks of God. -Prometheus is insubordinate to Zeus when he steals fire and gives it to the mortals, after Zeus says he doesn’t want to give the mortals divine gifts. |
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Conclusion
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• Overall, the main belief about human nature in Lord of the Flies is shown through the boys using the tool of isolationism.
• Once the boys are no longer in tact with society is when their true behavior is exposed—selfishness, cruelty/harshness, and insubordination. |
