Order vs. chaos In the book “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding (Essay Sample)

Order vs. chaos is a constant conflict throughout all societies in the world. In the book “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding there is a constant battle of order vs. chaos. The boys stranded on an island alone, with no adult figures, are faced with the choices of order and chaos. Some boys choose chaos and some choose order. The theme of order vs. chaos can be shown through characterization, symbolism, and conflict throughout the whole book.

Throughout the book, the character Ralph has helped convey the theme of order vs. chaos. At the beginning of the book, Ralph was chosen to be the chief he had to make a decision on what to do. Ralph said, "So we’ve got to decide if this is an island. Everyone must stay here and wait and not go away.”(page 21) With this decision, Ralph is making sure that everyone stays safe while he and two other boys go out and adventure. Ralph in the beginning wanted to keep the order by having just a few people go out and search instead of the whole crew. After investigating and finding out that they were on an island Ralph suggested that they make a signal fire. The suggestion of fire had “At once half of the boys were on their feet. Jack clamored among them, the conch forgotten... Ralph was on his feet too, shouting for quiet, but no one heard him.”(page 38) Jack causes chaos by running toward the mountain at the sound of fire while Ralph tries to quiet down everyone. Ralph wants to keep the order of things and have people stay together and logically think about how they should approach making such a big signal fire. When the tribes were starting to get separated there was the tribe of fun and games while there was Ralph's who was going to be about keeping the fire going and getting rescued. These two groups separated those who would choose order and those who would choose chaos. When at an assembly Jack said, “Who’ll join my tribe and have fun?” “ I’m chief,” said Ralph tremulously.“And what about the fire? And I’ve got the conch-” (page 172) Ralph wants the kids to stay on task of getting rescued and to not die on the island. Ralph wants to keep the order of the single group with a solid leader who is crazy and disorderly. 

The theme, order vs. chaos, can be shown by the different symbols throughout the book. The conch through the book was a symbol of order and authority. Whilst the boys were choosing their leader in the beginning they knew nothing about each other so choosing a leader had to be based on power. In the book, it says, “But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch.”(pages 19-20) The boys knew nothing about Ralph, however, they did know that he held the conch which they thought was a signal of authority. Throughout most of the book, Ralph has the conch and through that, he tries to stay orderly and not go insane. When Jack and his tribe stole Piggy’s specs near the end of the book Ralph and Piggy tried to orderly and civilly get his specs back. They brought the conch in hopes of getting people out of the trance of chaos that had taken over them. They hoped to get people back until "The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist”(page 209) With the breaking of the conch brought the destruction of order together on the island. Piggy died when the conch broke and Sam and Eric joined Jack’s tribe, fearful of what might happen to them if they had stayed with Ralph. With the breaking of Jack’s tribe became very chaotic by trying to hunt down Ralph and kill him because he was the last person who still wanted order on the island. Piggy’s specs also helped convey the theme of order vs. chaos. Piggy was the most logical thinking person in the group and his specs were a representation of him and responsibility. When the specs were stolen the order of the island and logical thinking of the boys started to decline. The stolen specs led to Piggy's death, then to the breaking of the conch, and then the hunt for Ralph. Through the conch and Piggy’s specs the theme, order vs. chaos, is shown throughout the book.

When the boys first got to the island they tried to avoid conflict because they just wanted to be rescued. However, through the book, there is a tension that starts growing between the boys. This tension grows because some of the boys including Ralph and Piggy.