Civility and savagery are further represented through recurring symbols throughout the novel. The conflict between the novel’s main protagonist and antagonist, Ralph and Jack, represents the broader struggle of these two ideas. Considering that living without adults and rules is very fun, they even never think of the importance of keeping the fire on to attract any potential rescuers.In William Golding’s novel “Lord of the Flies,” civility, which is associated with morality and goodness, and savagery, associated with evil and corruptness, are constantly at war. … We all built the first one, four of us the second one, and me’n Simon built the last one over there. Everybody enjoys speaking and being together.
In a meeting, ralph reminds them, “We have lots of assemblies. Although they participated to work in the beginning, being so absorbed in having fun and swimming, they leave Ralph and Simon to build the shelter. The absence of adults also makes most other boys soon lose their commitment to obey the rules and do their duties. Ironically, Jack does not care about his negligence to keep the fire on so that when a ship passes by the shore, it does not notice them. We’re English, and the English are best at everything”. Jack is the first boy to support Ralph for the establishment of rules by stating, “We’ve got to have rules and obey them.
The absence of adults makes their government and rules soon ineffective. Considering they can control the fire while they are hunting, they accept the duty. Jack and his hunter group are assigned to make and keep a fire on the highest place on the island so that the smoke will attract any potential rescuers. The boys are encouraged by Ralph to have fun, but they must work together for their mutual survival. They approve that during a meeting anyone must speak using the conch and he may not be interrupted except by Ralph. Ralph establishes a system of government and rules. Ralph accommodates by permitting Jack to form and lead a hunting group, consisting of the choir boys. Since they have no adult to follow, most of them elect Ralph as their leader, while the choir boys demand Jack, who is ambitious to be the leader. When all the survival boys have gathered, Ralph ascertains they will be rescued, but Piggy suggests them to get organized because they may be stranded for some time. Ralph finds a conch shell and blows it to summon the other boys. But their plane is shot down and they find themselves stranded without any adults on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean. “Lord of the Flies” begins with some British boys’ evacuation from a war zone in England.
We know that law is the glue that holds civilization together.” We know that it is law that enables men to live together, that creates order out of chaos. Kennedy, sided with Hobbes, states “We know that we cannot live together without rules which tell us what is right and what is wrong, what is permitted and what is prohibited. This paradigm suggests that since humans have prevalent savagery, the government, which plays the role of enforcing laws, is necessary to create a settled and peaceful order. On the other hand, Hobbes and his followers, including Evolutionary biologists Thomas Henry Huxley, see humans as a naturally violent species civilized by society. According to this view, humans’ aggressive violence is promoted by recent cultural novelties, such as settled living, patriarchal ideology, or lethal technology. Rousseau and his followers, such as Evolutionary biologists Peter Kropotkin, view that humans are a naturally good species corrupted by society. Human is a naturally violent species that, without the 'civilizing' impulse, will turn to savagery.Īre humans, by nature, good or evil or the mixture of both? Numerous studies and forums have been conducted for centuries to answer it, leading to two contrasting ideas.
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