The novel Lord of the Flies has helped us realize that, “Civilization: [is] a thin veneer over barbarism” (Shanahan). This can be clearly shown through the circumstances the boys had to face. The boys were placed on an island without any parental supervision or rules. This encouraged the boys to create an anonymous identity for themselves and remove the “thin veneer” of society. This similar pattern of anonymity can be found on social media where individuals begin to disregard the laws of the country. This carelessness gives more freedom to unidentified personalities apparent on social media platforms. This is exceptionally similar to the boys in Lord of the Flies who completely lose their connection to society and savage behaviour is shown.
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This can be interpreted as a metaphor for not just someone’s physical appearance, but imperfections in terms of things one says or does as well. Those on social media use the privilege of being anonymous to obscure their identities, shame and liberation. This encourages them to use and abuse this privilege to commit illegal acts online. According to people.dsv.su.se, “Anonymity [online] can be used to protect a criminal performing many different crimes, for example slander...illegal threats...intentional damage such as distribution of computer viruses” (Palme). This supports the idea that people tend to get away with many crimes due to their lack of identity. Being anonymous on social media creates a “mask” over the user, letting them have a lot more freedom, similar to Jack who uses an actual mask to hide his shame and liberation. Later on in the story of Lord of the Flies, one can clearly see that Jack’s imperfections start to overcome him and caused him to develop bad behaviour. “He [Jack] began to dance and his laughter became a blood-thirsty snarling. He capered towards Bill...liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (Golding, 58). It is evident that Jack hides his face with a mask while hunting to obscure his identity. This represents the fact that what he is doing is so inhumane (killing pigs) that he is not able to show himself, and clearly shows him revealing his savage-like behaviour. Thus, one can clearly see that
This can be interpreted as a metaphor for not just someone’s physical appearance, but imperfections in terms of things one says or does as well. Those on social media use the privilege of being anonymous to obscure their identities, shame and liberation. This encourages them to use and abuse this privilege to commit illegal acts online. According to people.dsv.su.se, “Anonymity [online] can be used to protect a criminal performing many different crimes, for example slander...illegal threats...intentional damage such as distribution of computer viruses” (Palme). This supports the idea that people tend to get away with many crimes due to their lack of identity. Being anonymous on social media creates a “mask” over the user, letting them have a lot more freedom, similar to Jack who uses an actual mask to hide his shame and liberation. Later on in the story of Lord of the Flies, one can clearly see that Jack’s imperfections start to overcome him and caused him to develop bad behaviour. “He [Jack] began to dance and his laughter became a blood-thirsty snarling. He capered towards Bill...liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (Golding, 58). It is evident that Jack hides his face with a mask while hunting to obscure his identity. This represents the fact that what he is doing is so inhumane (killing pigs) that he is not able to show himself, and clearly shows him revealing his savage-like behaviour. Thus, one can clearly see that