Life’s a Beast
When a group of children are deserted, their survival instincts kick in. However, as time passes, they become less and less civilized, ending on the edge of humanity and savagery. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies can be psychoanalyzed using Freud’s theory of literary criticism, which suggests that Golding, subconsciously, drew from his own past experiences and beliefs when developing Lord of the FLies. Jack and Ralph represent Golding’s unique point of view on society’s affect on people, and Golding’s own desires and struggles. By developing Jack and Ralph so differently throughout the story, Golding suggests that society is the one thing keeping people from becoming savages, using his own desires as inspiration for the …show more content…
Golding agrees with Freud, in this respect, that society is what keeps humans civilized; that society is what separates the modern human from his barbaric progenitor. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is the first to attempt to establish a form of government. He assumes the leadership role and goes on to assign roles to other children such as Jack. From that point on, Ralph was a symbol of life before the island, as throughout the story his goal is to be rescued, to enter back into civilization. “Hasn’t anyone got any sense? We’ve got to relight that fire. You never thought of that, Jack, did you? Or don’t any of you want to be rescued?” (Golding 102). Golding uses him to illustrate a way back to normalcy for the boys, and highlight the avenue to darkness. Ralph is their link to the “old life”, yet they choose Jack---they choose bestiality. As he spends more time on the island, Ralph loses more and more littluns’, and even begins to lose himself in the pull of the “darkness”. “Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering” (Golding 115). Golding is trying to show that, without society to conform them, humans will always revert back to their primitive
When a group of children are deserted, their survival instincts kick in. However, as time passes, they become less and less civilized, ending on the edge of humanity and savagery. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies can be psychoanalyzed using Freud’s theory of literary criticism, which suggests that Golding, subconsciously, drew from his own past experiences and beliefs when developing Lord of the FLies. Jack and Ralph represent Golding’s unique point of view on society’s affect on people, and Golding’s own desires and struggles. By developing Jack and Ralph so differently throughout the story, Golding suggests that society is the one thing keeping people from becoming savages, using his own desires as inspiration for the …show more content…
Golding agrees with Freud, in this respect, that society is what keeps humans civilized; that society is what separates the modern human from his barbaric progenitor. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is the first to attempt to establish a form of government. He assumes the leadership role and goes on to assign roles to other children such as Jack. From that point on, Ralph was a symbol of life before the island, as throughout the story his goal is to be rescued, to enter back into civilization. “Hasn’t anyone got any sense? We’ve got to relight that fire. You never thought of that, Jack, did you? Or don’t any of you want to be rescued?” (Golding 102). Golding uses him to illustrate a way back to normalcy for the boys, and highlight the avenue to darkness. Ralph is their link to the “old life”, yet they choose Jack---they choose bestiality. As he spends more time on the island, Ralph loses more and more littluns’, and even begins to lose himself in the pull of the “darkness”. “Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering” (Golding 115). Golding is trying to show that, without society to conform them, humans will always revert back to their primitive