Roger's Savagery

William Golding’s dystopian novel Lord of the Flies, depicts the attempts of a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island to establish an ordered society. Through the boys’ gradual unwinding, Golding shows his readers a glimpse of the evil that lies within even the most cultivated human beings when the facade of civilisation is stripped away. While Ralph, the leader of the community, manages to retain most of his humanity, his ineffective leadership and a deteriorating sense of purpose contribute to the destruction of the society. Roger, on the other hand, started off cruel; he soon descended into savagery. However, Jack’s loss of innocence has the greatest impact on the boys, as the savage authoritarian's distorted ideals …show more content…
Roger was also said to have been "a fugitive boy whom no one knew, who kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy". Roger was a part of Jack's choir and was known as his right-hand man. The first signs of his cruelty were visible, was when Roger was throwing the stones at the boys, even though he had missed them. The stones continued to grow throughout the novel until it got to the point of Piggy's death. Golding symbolises the stones as the increase of savagery and the decrease of civilisation. "They crept forward, Roger lagging a little"; by saying this Golding clarifies that Roger was still timid stayed behind making sure to only have the attention of himself. "Roger edged past the Chief, only just avoiding him with his shoulder"; Golding shows Roger at his worst as he begins to dominate Jack as chief. Roger symbolises mankind's sadistic instincts, the supposed desire to hurt others. Roger in the end became worse than Jack and resulted in more murders. He also put fear into the rest of the …show more content…
Initially Jack is described as a natural leader. As the novel, progresses Jack shows his dictatorship in more than one way. It was clear from the get go that Jack and Ralph did not prioritise the same things. He begins with showing his dominance to all of the other boys. Jack also cares more about hunting than the fire. When Jack lets the fire burnout, it is clear that Jack's priorities are clearly not the same as Ralphs and would sacrifice getting saved for hunting and meat. Jack soon descended into savagery and seized leadership over Ralph. When Jack stole Piggy's glasses which held the power to light the fire it was clear that there was no stopping him and he would not stop until he had killed every last one who did not follow him. "Grab them!"; this symbolises Jack's new born authority. Jack symbolises the human love of dominance and power. Jack played the biggest part in the devastation, due to his sadistic ways and lack of