Lord of the Flies by William Golding is set on an island located in the midst of the Pacific or Indian ocean. A group of children crashes here and is required to work together to survive with no adults in sight. They thus decide upon a leader and an order, yet this begins to collapse as reason fades from the group and a newly found savagery remains. The havoc that envelops the island slowly develops across the story as the children lose focus on their priorities, and suddenly they all turn to brutal ways. This story in a sense is the representation of a collapsing world, a world with no order, no reason, and ultimately, a world filled with savages. One of the major lessons that is included in the story is that without reason and order, a civilisation
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A group of the boys were designated to tend to the flames to signal any potential saviours, yet they ignored this order completely and ultimately lost an opportunity to be rescued.
“‘ I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts - then you go off hunting and let out the fire-’ He turned away, silent for a moment. Then his voice came again on a peak of feeling. ‘There was a ship-’” (115) This passage illustrates the fall of order in the group. If there is no order, then there are no rules. And without rules, people are free to do anything they’d like without punishments. An opportunity to be rescued revealed itself, but due to the ignorance of the ‘hunters,’ the opportunity died out similarly to the flame. This was the first major passage in the novel in which the fall of order was evident, and it also displays that their group is slowly collapsing as they …show more content…
This represented the fall of reason as Piggy was the only intellectual individual in the group who understood the significance of reason. “The chief led them, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy's broken glasses” (168). The events that followed after this passage were filled with absolute brutality and savagery from Jack and his followers. Also, the author hints at the savagery when he states “he made stabbing motions with his spear.” Jack’s group were happy to have stolen and even destroyed a piece of such significance, demonstrating their lack of any civilised nature. After Piggy’s specs were destroyed, any reason that was left behind was also destroyed, and this was demonstrated by the chaos spread by Jack. Piggy was the only character during the novel who remained in a civil state, which was symbolised additionally as he was the only character whose hair did not grow. Whilst the rest of the boys’ hair length grew significantly throughout the story, Piggy’s remained the same, illustrating that Piggy was the only unchanged member since the beginning of the crash. Moreover, his spectacles were used as a tool to light the fire, yet the fire symbolised potential rescue, meaning that Piggy metaphorically represented the tool to
A group of the boys were designated to tend to the flames to signal any potential saviours, yet they ignored this order completely and ultimately lost an opportunity to be rescued.
“‘ I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts - then you go off hunting and let out the fire-’ He turned away, silent for a moment. Then his voice came again on a peak of feeling. ‘There was a ship-’” (115) This passage illustrates the fall of order in the group. If there is no order, then there are no rules. And without rules, people are free to do anything they’d like without punishments. An opportunity to be rescued revealed itself, but due to the ignorance of the ‘hunters,’ the opportunity died out similarly to the flame. This was the first major passage in the novel in which the fall of order was evident, and it also displays that their group is slowly collapsing as they …show more content…
This represented the fall of reason as Piggy was the only intellectual individual in the group who understood the significance of reason. “The chief led them, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy's broken glasses” (168). The events that followed after this passage were filled with absolute brutality and savagery from Jack and his followers. Also, the author hints at the savagery when he states “he made stabbing motions with his spear.” Jack’s group were happy to have stolen and even destroyed a piece of such significance, demonstrating their lack of any civilised nature. After Piggy’s specs were destroyed, any reason that was left behind was also destroyed, and this was demonstrated by the chaos spread by Jack. Piggy was the only character during the novel who remained in a civil state, which was symbolised additionally as he was the only character whose hair did not grow. Whilst the rest of the boys’ hair length grew significantly throughout the story, Piggy’s remained the same, illustrating that Piggy was the only unchanged member since the beginning of the crash. Moreover, his spectacles were used as a tool to light the fire, yet the fire symbolised potential rescue, meaning that Piggy metaphorically represented the tool to