What does it mean to be human?
There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs.” This quote by George R.R. Martin perfectly describes the theme in William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”, civilisation and adult supervision are the only things suppressing children’s natural instincts towards savagery. Firstly Jack discovers barbaric instincts he never knew he possessed because he never had the opportunity to act upon them before. Next Ralph struggles to maintain order and civilisation but even he gets caught up in the frenzy of savagery. Finally Roger, who already displayed a tendency towards violence discovers all the destruction he can cause when he is not restrained …show more content…
Soon after their arrival on the island Ralph is too busy having fun creating a signal fire that he does not notice it getting out of hand and the fire kills a young boy. All the boys are having a great time and Piggy is the only one who notices they made a huge mistake, “Beneath the capering boys a quarter of a mile square of forest was savage with smoke and flame.” (Golding 44). Ralph gets elected chief almost immediately after their arrival on the island and he had not yet realized all the responsibility that came with being in charge. He had good intentions but got carried away in the fun laughing and shouting even standing on his head. In anyone else these actions might have been acceptable but Ralph had already declared himself chief and he needed to be an example. When he should have been watching out for the other boys he was having fun and in result the fire spread to a whole section of the island and a little boy died because of it. Ralph agrees the hunters need to get food for everyone to survive but he disapproves of their obsession with hunting until he joins them and has an amazing time. Ralph throws his spear at a pig and, “he stunned himself in their new respect and felt that hunting was good after all.” (Golding 124). Ralph earns the respect of all the older boys when he hits the pig because he has participated in what they like to spend all their time doing. Their praise gives Ralph the false idea that he is doing the right thing which shows how Ralph’s perspective changes over time. At first he dismissed the hunting as a silly act because that is how it would be seen in their old lives. All the boys slowly began to let their lives revolve around hunting which Ralph notices and like a good leader he does what his people want. Their enjoyment is infectious and dangerous because it changes
There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs.” This quote by George R.R. Martin perfectly describes the theme in William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”, civilisation and adult supervision are the only things suppressing children’s natural instincts towards savagery. Firstly Jack discovers barbaric instincts he never knew he possessed because he never had the opportunity to act upon them before. Next Ralph struggles to maintain order and civilisation but even he gets caught up in the frenzy of savagery. Finally Roger, who already displayed a tendency towards violence discovers all the destruction he can cause when he is not restrained …show more content…
Soon after their arrival on the island Ralph is too busy having fun creating a signal fire that he does not notice it getting out of hand and the fire kills a young boy. All the boys are having a great time and Piggy is the only one who notices they made a huge mistake, “Beneath the capering boys a quarter of a mile square of forest was savage with smoke and flame.” (Golding 44). Ralph gets elected chief almost immediately after their arrival on the island and he had not yet realized all the responsibility that came with being in charge. He had good intentions but got carried away in the fun laughing and shouting even standing on his head. In anyone else these actions might have been acceptable but Ralph had already declared himself chief and he needed to be an example. When he should have been watching out for the other boys he was having fun and in result the fire spread to a whole section of the island and a little boy died because of it. Ralph agrees the hunters need to get food for everyone to survive but he disapproves of their obsession with hunting until he joins them and has an amazing time. Ralph throws his spear at a pig and, “he stunned himself in their new respect and felt that hunting was good after all.” (Golding 124). Ralph earns the respect of all the older boys when he hits the pig because he has participated in what they like to spend all their time doing. Their praise gives Ralph the false idea that he is doing the right thing which shows how Ralph’s perspective changes over time. At first he dismissed the hunting as a silly act because that is how it would be seen in their old lives. All the boys slowly began to let their lives revolve around hunting which Ralph notices and like a good leader he does what his people want. Their enjoyment is infectious and dangerous because it changes