Lord Of The Flies Violence

In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the boys’ actions are a manifestation of the inner savagery of an individual that surfaces when the society that they belong to has fallen. This is shown on page 181 through Jack’s violence towards Ralph after Piggy’s death. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Viciously, with full intention, he hurled his spear at Ralph”(181). Jack expresses antagonism towards Ralph for a majority of the book, but here the words “viciously” and “full intention” bring an emphasis to his actions that show the contrast between the lack of restraint he shows now compared to previously throughout the book. In the world of Lord of …show more content…
This is displayed with how even Ralph and Piggy join the dance that leads to the death of Simon,“Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. They were glad to touch the brown backs of the fence that hemmed in the terror and made it governable”(152). In this scene, the use of the word “eager” to express Ralph and Piggy’s enthusiasm provides a deep contrast with the use of the imagery to describe the situation. The imagery, such as the words “demented” and “hemmed in the terror”, give off a negative connotation that displays the underlying mood of the situation. Ralph and Piggy fail to see the trouble of the circumstances and even they fall into the dance and play a role in Simon’s murder. Throughout the book, every time Jack’s tribe performs the dance and chant it is a symbol of savagery that escalates in violence each time it is executed. showing how it encourages their brutal actions. Even though Ralph and Piggy are considered an outlying remainder of the civilized group, even they were capable of murder when carried away by the dance, proving the individual’s natural capacity for brutality when violence is encouraged by others. This