Lord Of The Flies, An Analysis :: essays research papers

People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures. When the children become stranded on the island, the rules of society no longer apply to them. Without the supervision of their parents or of the law, the primitive nature of the boys surfaces, and their lives begin to fall apart. The downfall starts with their refusal to gather things for survival. The initial reaction of the boys is to swim, run, jump, and play. They do not wish to build shelters, gather food, or keep a signal fire going. Consequently, the boys live without luxury that could have been obtained had they maintained a society on the island. Instead, these young boys take advantage of their freedom and life as they knew it deteriorates. The boys spark the onset of tragedy when the pig hunt evolves as more than just an activity. Jack and his band of hunters love the thrill of the chase. They spend much of their day searching the pig runs enjoying the brutality they cause on other living beings. This amusement is taken too far when Jack introduces face paint into the game. The face paint takes away the identities of the boys and transforms them into nameless savages. They hide behind the paint â€Å"liberated from shame and self-consciousness† (Golding 64). Jack’s mask overpowers the rest of the boys and they go off to hunt despite some discontent. Eventually, the painted warriors ready a fortress at one end of the island. This tribe brings nothing but death and destruction to the island. Moreover, the newly formed group of warriors even develop a dance that they perform over the carcass of the dead pig. They become so involved in this dance that that warriors kill one of their own kind. By chance, Simon runs from the forest towards the group that is already shouting â€Å"‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’† (152).