Lord of the Flies – Society
Modern Society typically includes:
people
organization
law
different ethnic groups
structure
leadership
class distinctions based upon wealth
stability
resources
houses & shelter
money
clothing
protection
In Lord of the Flies, symbolism is prevalent.
The conch shell could symbolize: power, order, civilization, authority
Piggy’s glasses could symbolize: technology, intelligence, reason, and logic
Short paper with citation from the book.
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Jason Bradley Miller
2/12/09
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is about the devolution of society. In other
words, the novel examines how the behavior of human beings regresses, or falls back
to a primitive, animalistic pattern over the course of the literary work. There is a primary
conflict centering upon the protagonist, Ralph, and the antagonist Jack. The boys align
themselves into two sides, one pledging loyalty and support for Ralph, the other
pledging loyalty for Jack and his hunters. Hunting, in essence, is a primitive, basic act of
killing animals for their value as food and sustenance. The act of taking life is evil and
base at its core. Jack’s personality traits—aggressiveness, arrogance, cruelty—
combined with his physical prowess allow him to emerge as a forceful leader in this
island culture, diametrically opposed to the pragmatic Ralph. Indeed, the two central
characters in the novel focus their energies on the conflict that they share and the result
is a total disintegration of the structure, laws, and order of the basic island society.
Although Ralph is rational, kind, and concerned with the welfare of others, he has
no choice but to clash with Jack and his lawless group of hunters. Ralph has taken the
moral responsibility for protecting all of the boys who are stranded on the island. His
primary concern is attracting attention and getting rescued. A signal fire, with its
voluminous smoke, is the logical means for attracting attention from the outside,
civilized world. Keeping the fire lit is a responsibility that is initially assigned to the
hunting tribe. As this monotonous and tiresome task yields no results and visible
success, the routine of watching the fire every minute of the day is a joyless
assignment. Responsibility is seldom fun, but necessary in order for the boys to be
rescued.
Jack’s ruthless band of hunters experience the exhilaration of killing wild boars
with weapons wielded by their own hands. Success is tangible and visible. There is
instant gratification of being successful. The hunters have a basic responsibility-to
provide food for their classmates. The physical activity is fun and athletic. In hunting in
the wild, there are no rules.
In the society, there are a few rules and very little structure, order, and reason.
One of the first rules, about needing the conch shell in order to speak, is disregarded
early in the story by Jack, who resents order in general, and dislikes Piggy from the
beginning. Any responsibility is discarded and the sole drive of the hunters is to find and
kill a pig. The conflict between the fun of hunting and the responsibility of maintaining a
signal fire and building shelters first surfaces in chapter three and is manifested in the
characters of Jack and Ralph. “They looked at each other, baffled, in love and hate. All
the warm salt water of the bathing pool and the shouting and splashing and laughing
were only just sufficient to bring them together again” (Golding 55).
While this passage is an overt reference to the emerging conflict between Ralph
and Jack, the tenuous friendship of the two is destined to end in conflict because the
two boys hold such radically different views of the world. Jack believes that food is the
most important concern of the boys on the island. While food is abundant in the form of
fruit and potentially, in fish from the sea, the myopic focus of Jack’s tribe is centered on
wild boars and the meat that they provide. Ralph’s stubborn refusal to yield from his
position on the signal fire, shelters, responsibilities, and structures of his society places
him at risk in this culture. “The virulent, global atrocities of the twentieth century were
caused by both ideological pride and nationalism. But these otherwise impressive
edifices are merely projections out from the self, which seeks to have its views
sanctified. They are mirrors, if you will, that reflect back to us our own petty prejudices.
Modern man, who can explain everything in entirely antiseptic, sanitary ways cannot, no
matter how often he cleanses himself, rid himself of the decay that comes from within”
(Fitzgerald & Keyser).
The intractable positions that both boys hold place them in stark opposition to
one another, and there is no turning back. The tasks of both boys become secondary to
the conflict, fear, animosity, and hatred of each other. It is this conflict that destroys the
civility of the island culture. This battle of wills causes the complete disintegration of
rules, order, structure, and law in Golding’s island society.
Works Cited
Fitzgerald, John F. and John R. Kayser. "Golding's Lord of the Flies: Pride as Original
Sin." Studies in the Novel. 24.1 (Spring 1992): 78-85. Rpt. in Children's Literature
Review. Ed. Allison Marion. Vol. 94. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 78-85. Literature Resource
Center. Gale. CIENEGA HIGH SCHOOL. 12 Feb. 2009
<http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=vail54778>.
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York. Penguin Group. 2006.