Modern societies face increasing barbaric acts of violence, often against humanity. William Golding explores the reasoning behind conflict in a brilliant work of allegorical literature. Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, written whilst the world faced the anxiety of the Cold War, uses various literary devices and themes to portray humanity’s innate tendency towards savagery and the idea that it isn’t human nature to create and obey rules and laws, rather they exist solely as the boundary that restrains modern societies from descending into chaos.
Firstly, one of the most prominent themes in the novel is order and chaos. Golding uses a number of techniques to convey the constant battle between the two, serving as a reflection of society. One …show more content…
Events and actions such as the tribe like offering of pig’s heads to the ‘beast’, the murder of Piggy and Simon or even Simon’s discovery of the true nature of the beast partner up with the loss of order and increase in chaos to explain conflict. Golding effectively utilises similes and vivid imagery in the lines ‘Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig after it has been killed” and “The beach was swept clean like a blade that has been scoured”. Both lines are in reference to the deaths of Piggy and Simon and communicate the decay of innocence. At this stage in the novel the death of a person means only as much to (most of) the boys as the death of an animal whereas once the death of a person would first, have been avoided at all costs, and secondly have caused intense emotion and distress. Therefore Golding further continues an understanding of modern conflict through the use of theme and literary technique to communicate that in the absence of community innocence is abandoned ultimately ending in careless, but extreme, …show more content…
At first the boys on the island decide that they require fire and meat, these seemingly civilised ways of survival quickly turn into something more than simple necessity. Jack’s tribe exploits and abuses the paradise that is the island. Wildfire burns acres of wood, numerous pigs are killed for sport and in the final chapter of the book Jack’s tribe burns the entire island in attempting to capture Ralph. There are a number of lines from the novel that display Golding’s ability to combine numerous techniques to illustrate a scene and create an idea. An example of this is, “All at once the lights flickering ahead of him merged together, the road of the forest rose to thunder and a tall bush directly in his path burst into a great fan-shaped flame […] the heat beating on his left side and the fire racing forward like a tide” where similes and a combination of organic, visual and auditory imagery are used to not only build up tension but to display the devastation the boys have caused on the island. This destruction almost replicates the scenes of war the Golding would have experienced during his time as a soldier, where civilization disregards humane actions and goes to whatever lengths necessary to achieve a goal. Thus, once again Golding
Firstly, one of the most prominent themes in the novel is order and chaos. Golding uses a number of techniques to convey the constant battle between the two, serving as a reflection of society. One …show more content…
Events and actions such as the tribe like offering of pig’s heads to the ‘beast’, the murder of Piggy and Simon or even Simon’s discovery of the true nature of the beast partner up with the loss of order and increase in chaos to explain conflict. Golding effectively utilises similes and vivid imagery in the lines ‘Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig after it has been killed” and “The beach was swept clean like a blade that has been scoured”. Both lines are in reference to the deaths of Piggy and Simon and communicate the decay of innocence. At this stage in the novel the death of a person means only as much to (most of) the boys as the death of an animal whereas once the death of a person would first, have been avoided at all costs, and secondly have caused intense emotion and distress. Therefore Golding further continues an understanding of modern conflict through the use of theme and literary technique to communicate that in the absence of community innocence is abandoned ultimately ending in careless, but extreme, …show more content…
At first the boys on the island decide that they require fire and meat, these seemingly civilised ways of survival quickly turn into something more than simple necessity. Jack’s tribe exploits and abuses the paradise that is the island. Wildfire burns acres of wood, numerous pigs are killed for sport and in the final chapter of the book Jack’s tribe burns the entire island in attempting to capture Ralph. There are a number of lines from the novel that display Golding’s ability to combine numerous techniques to illustrate a scene and create an idea. An example of this is, “All at once the lights flickering ahead of him merged together, the road of the forest rose to thunder and a tall bush directly in his path burst into a great fan-shaped flame […] the heat beating on his left side and the fire racing forward like a tide” where similes and a combination of organic, visual and auditory imagery are used to not only build up tension but to display the devastation the boys have caused on the island. This destruction almost replicates the scenes of war the Golding would have experienced during his time as a soldier, where civilization disregards humane actions and goes to whatever lengths necessary to achieve a goal. Thus, once again Golding