Theme of Savagery Versus Civilisation in The Lord of The Flies by William Golding Essay Example

Is it essential for humans to live in a society with rules that cause them to conform? If not, what might be the consequences of an absence of “law and order”? In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding explores the theme of savagery versus civility. Golding narrates a young group of British boys whose plane crashes on a remote island, leaving them all alone, abandoned. They are left without adult supervision to serve as a reminder of society and civilization. With this lack of an elderly presence, the boys take matters into their own hands and begin assigning roles as to who should hold power and authority over the group. While the boys’ intend to create a type of governmental society, they fall victim to chaos, which results from their more violent nature. In the novel, Golding utilizes foreshadowing to demonstrate the boys’ descent from civilization into savagery through their drastic evolution of “hunting”. 

Initially, Jack is hesitant to follow through with killing a pig but eventually fulfills the hunt, foreshadowing the group’s progression towards savagery.  When Jack, Simon, and Ralph stumble upon a piglet caught in the undergrowth in the jungle, Jack raises his knife for the kill, but pauses, “because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood” (31). Jack finds it much more difficult to bring himself to commit such an act than he had originally thought, as he is afraid of the blood that would appear after he stabs it. Instead of bringing the knife down and ending the animal's life, he holds the weapon in the air long enough for it to escape. After Jack allows the pig to run free and fails to complete the kill, he is overcome with embarrassment, and attempts to redeem himself by promising the group that “next time there will be no mercy” (31). Despite this initial fear, his intent to complete the kill is there. It is only a matter of time before he builds up the courage to do so. Jack and the hunters set out on another hunt in hopes of finding meat, eventually returning from the jungle chanting, carrying their first kill, a dead pig on a stake. Jack is overcome with excitement as he “began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling” (64). He finds himself overpowered with pride and superiority, allowing his inner evil to be released with the kill, as it was done on violence and impulse. Without much guidance or supervision, the boys are beginning to fall into a trap; in an attempt to satisfy all of their urges as they are evolving into power-hungry savages. 

As part of their ritual of hunting, the group gathers in a circle to pretend to hunt an actual person, which foreshadows the continuous increase of savagery on the island. Evolving from animals to humans, the boys create a mock kill circle pretending that Robert is the pig to generate excitement, that same excitement that was found after their successful kill. As they are following through with their ritual “Robert squealed in mock terror, then in real pain” (114). The exhilaration that the boys’ experience from this spirals out of control, to the extent where they become blinded by the joy and truly harm him. As they continue to jab and poke at Robert in the circle, they continue seeking to fulfill this “desire to squeeze and hurt[...]over-mastering” (115). They have been taken over by the violence and lose complete control over their minds and actions. Moreover, these impulses are due to Jack’s growing power and authority over the group, causing many to begin sharing his thrill for the kill. This growth of power is due to the satisfaction that Jack experiences when the group validates him, which is a clear sign of shame and insecurity, often leading to feelings of anger, which also explains his violent nature.  

The boys again fall victim to the uncontrolled, savage-like society that has been created, leading to them no longer hunting and killing animals but doing so to fellow group members Piggy and Ralph. As the boys have begun to grow significantly more apart due to Jack’s inhumane ideology, the group members Simon stumbles out from the forest, recognized by the group as the ‘beast’, which they then proceed to attack and “leapt onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore” (153). This kill demonstrates the group’s journey from civility to savagery because the innocence within these boys has been lost, as they have committed this act together as a group. The loss of childlike nature and step further towards danger allows them to act on their desires with no shame, rather than keeping in their right mind. Later on, the boys’ find themselves on the top of the mountain, watching Ralph and Jack fight over whether the conch still possesses authority over the group. Roger purposefully leans all of his weight on a lever and launches a large boulder from above where the rest of the group is standing which, “struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee[...]the body of Piggy was gone” (181). The death of Piggy symbolizes the complete loss of rationality on the island, as he represented a beacon of intelligence and maturity. Now that Piggy is no longer around to provide Ralph with ways to contend with Jack and his group, he is left to tackle the remorseless boys. As Ralph copes with the loss of his dear friend, he approaches Castle Rock during nightfall. Samneric warn Ralph that for his own good and safety, he must go and they let him know that the rest of the boys “hate you, Ralph. They are going to do you[...]it’ll be dangerous” (188). Jack and Ralph fight for power numerous times throughout the novel, yet the extreme measures Jack is willing to take to obtain authority is barbaric. Ralph then realizes he must flee across the island to safety, as Jack and the others are pursuing him, the reason being he is the last of the civilized, and killing him is the only way that they can achieve complete savagery on the island. 

Lord of the Flies by William Golding expresses the importance of a civilized society and humans' savage urges deep within. The boys’ increasing levels of hunting and movement towards savagery represent this darkness that resides in everyone. They have broken free from society and become alienated from all elements of civilization, descending quickly into a violent, savage nature. Something that can be found quite similar to this idea, and novel,  that occurred in society not too long ago, is the Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Philip Zimbardo. It was organized to stimulate everyday prison life to see how quickly people would conform to their roles. The goal of the exercise was to test whether or not “the brutality reported among guards in American prisons was due to sadistic personalities of the guards or had to do more with the environment of the prison”. It was discovered only hours after the experiment had begun that those of higher authority confirmed their roles much faster and were taking advantage of the power they possessed to control those lower than them. The mock prison was shut down only six short days after it had started due to the unearthing that “power can be great pleasure.”  Both narratives serve as a reminder that even the most civilized person has darkness within them, no societal laws can confine humans' dark nature.