Barbarism In Lord Of The Flies Essay

Lord of Flies was a novel written by William Golding which explored the notion that humans are not wholly maleficent—though they possess a streak of barbarism; later events in the novel manifested the exact notion.
The chapter opened with Ralph roaming on the island. The island can be taken as a foil to the urbane world— where cities teem with culture, advancement and secured from the different agents of nature and hunger. A constant wave of ‘heat’ surrounded the island with thousands of weeds and rocks lying around —a life threat for characters, for instance, Piggy’s knee was scratched by the thorns initially. Moreover, hunger would be another factor that would made it difficult for the characters to live well—Piggy, being a fat boy, needed a constant supply of food; he had to go to the shadowy forest for plucking fruits from trees to satisfy his appetite and due to this he suffered from painful hunger pangs. …show more content…
I think the author really wanted to invoke the notion that as soon as they entered the island, the characters became vulnerable to the nature—both external ( natural agents of weather) and internal ( inherent evilness in human). Phrase like ‘no grown-ups’ can be taken as a foreshadow of upcoming chaotic events ; it could also insinuates the lack of restraint and absence of moral laws on the characters which would take situations to their extreme.
Moreover, the title of the chapter—The Sound of the Shell— signifies the endeavor for recreation of a well- organized social system by the younger generation for survival . Ralph called the meeting by blowing through conch shell— the conch shell can be taken as a epitome of power and control as Ralph collected a gathering because of it. The suggestion of calling a meeting and casting of votes show the desire of characters for existing together without any