William Golding was born in England in 1911, only a few years before some of the greatest conflicts in history began. Golding witnessed the horrors of both World Wars personally, through his time in the Royal Navy. Experiencing these atrocities altered Golding’s view on humans, and eventually impacted how he portrayed humanity in his novel Lord of the Flies. William Golding’s negative outlook on humans, that they are inherently savage and brutal, is a result of his experiences in World War II. This is demonstrated in Lord of the Flies through Piggy and Ralph's roles as democratic leaders, Jack's portrayal as a totalitarian leader and the behavior of the boys due to the lack of societal restrictions on the island.
Shortly after arriving on the …show more content…
Allowing each boy to “hold it when he's speaking” would remove any elements of chaos within their small group, and allow everyone to contribute to their survival (Golding 33). Furthermore, they begin to implement elements from their daily routines, such as using “hands up like at school" and voting for their leaders (Golding 33). Ralph and Piggy are eager to “create a democratic, civil society on the island and to keep order on the island” while there is still an opportunity, something that will ultimately benefit them and allow them to return home safely and promptly (Koopmans 1). They attempt to facilitate basic rules that all the boys are used to in order to prevent chaos. In this way, they resemble the democratic leaders of World War II and how in times where order and chaos were prevalent, figures such as Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt focused on maintaining fundamental societal practices. However, their attempts are futile and are ultimately unsuccessful. Challenging their authority often and creating his own separate tribe, Jack represents elements of communism. By enticing the younger boys to join him and promising them …show more content…
While doing so, however, he discovers an evil in himself that alters his behavior drastically. Jack, representing totalitarianism, defects, creating his own tribe with his own set of rules that will allow him to express himself and his innate behavior. Soon after establishing his new group, he makes a mask that allows him to embrace his natural evil. As Jack’s “laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling”, his personality changes and the mask, “a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid,” is to blame (Golding 64). Although the boys have only been isolated from civilization for a short time, Jack’s inner brutality is already beginning to emerge and display itself. Incorporating “incipient evil within Jack” allows Golding to “reverses the sanguine premise” of most stories that create villains in the form of “mysterious forces of the outside world” (Friedman 1). Instead, the villain of Lord of the Flies is the boys themselves, and their inner savagery. Golding makes this savagery within Jack obvious in order to disprove the common optimism of the time period in which the book takes place. As many believed that people were born good, Golding portrays his pessimism in Jack’s behavior. The behavior that is triggered by Jack’s mask alters him, and allows the young boy to be “liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (Golding 64). No longer
Shortly after arriving on the …show more content…
Allowing each boy to “hold it when he's speaking” would remove any elements of chaos within their small group, and allow everyone to contribute to their survival (Golding 33). Furthermore, they begin to implement elements from their daily routines, such as using “hands up like at school" and voting for their leaders (Golding 33). Ralph and Piggy are eager to “create a democratic, civil society on the island and to keep order on the island” while there is still an opportunity, something that will ultimately benefit them and allow them to return home safely and promptly (Koopmans 1). They attempt to facilitate basic rules that all the boys are used to in order to prevent chaos. In this way, they resemble the democratic leaders of World War II and how in times where order and chaos were prevalent, figures such as Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt focused on maintaining fundamental societal practices. However, their attempts are futile and are ultimately unsuccessful. Challenging their authority often and creating his own separate tribe, Jack represents elements of communism. By enticing the younger boys to join him and promising them …show more content…
While doing so, however, he discovers an evil in himself that alters his behavior drastically. Jack, representing totalitarianism, defects, creating his own tribe with his own set of rules that will allow him to express himself and his innate behavior. Soon after establishing his new group, he makes a mask that allows him to embrace his natural evil. As Jack’s “laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling”, his personality changes and the mask, “a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid,” is to blame (Golding 64). Although the boys have only been isolated from civilization for a short time, Jack’s inner brutality is already beginning to emerge and display itself. Incorporating “incipient evil within Jack” allows Golding to “reverses the sanguine premise” of most stories that create villains in the form of “mysterious forces of the outside world” (Friedman 1). Instead, the villain of Lord of the Flies is the boys themselves, and their inner savagery. Golding makes this savagery within Jack obvious in order to disprove the common optimism of the time period in which the book takes place. As many believed that people were born good, Golding portrays his pessimism in Jack’s behavior. The behavior that is triggered by Jack’s mask alters him, and allows the young boy to be “liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (Golding 64). No longer