The Beast Within Lord Of The Flies Analysis

The Beast Within Although humanity may seem polished and orderly when controlled by societal law, a savage instinct resides deep within that can be unleashed in the absence of the overriding power of government. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of boys is forced to resort to these primal instincts after their plane crashes onto an island and leaves no adult survivors. Without the presence of authority to enforce order, the boys begin to lose sight of being rescued from the island, shifting their focus to killing pigs and appeasing island spirits; they even make a sport out of killing each other. These events reflect how horrific humans can become without authority keeping them intact. The dangers within humanity, which are restrained in the presence of societal law and order, reveal themselves in instances such as when the boys kill Simon with their bare hands, when Roger kills Piggy by rolling a boulder at him, and when a naval officer finally finds …show more content…
Simon being brutally torn to pieces reflects the ruthless violence that humans are capable of without law and order; Roger killing Piggy with a boulder conveys how society’s rules restrain humans from committing too much evil because of the consequences that follow; the naval officer’s arrival on the island demonstrates that in the presence of authority, the dangers within humanity are suppressed. The boys break down and weep when the officer arrives because they are finally aware of the raw savagery that humans are capable of and that lies within the boys themselves. This idea of primal destruction frightens the boys, who are much too young to have committed the evil, ruthless deeds that took place on the island. Societal law and order bridles this dark underbelly of humanity, but when this group of young, impressionable boys are stranded without authority, the carnal urges that hide within all humans are