Civilized Regression Essay, Research Paper

Outline

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the civilized boys regress to savages in terms of their appearance to show how they regress

I. Correlate the civilized boys’ outward appearance to the savage boys’ outward appearance to

show how they regress

A. Explain outward appearance of civilized boys

1. Describe clothing of civilized boys

a. “gray, blue, fawn, jacketed or jerseys” “badges, mottoes even, stripes of color in stockings and pullovers”

b. Explain quotation as it exemplifies clothing

2. Describe grooming of civilized boys

a. “a pair of scissors and cut his hair”

b. Explain quotation as it exemplifies civilized grooming

B. Show how civilized appearance regresses to a savage appearance

1. Connect the civilized clothing to regresses to a savage appearance

a. Describe savage clothing

(1) “tattered shorts held up by his knife belt”

(2) Explain quotation as it exemplifying savage clothing

b. Connect savage clothing to civilized clothing to show the regression of civilized

of civilized appearance

2. Connect the civilized grooming to regression of savage appearance

a. Describes savage clothing

(1) “red and white paint”

(2) Explain quotation as it exemplifies savage grooming

b. Connect savage grooming to civilized grooming to show the regression

II. Correlate the civilized boys’ values to the savage boys’ values to how they regress.

A. Explain the value of the civilized boys

1. Describe the values of the civilized boys.

a. “We can’t have everyone talking at once will have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school.

b. Explain quotation as it exemplifies civilized values.

2. Describe values of civilized boys

a. “We’ll have rules”

b. Explain quotation as it exemplifying civilized values

B. Show how civilized values regresses to a savage values

1. Connect the civilized values to regression of savage values

a. Describe savage values

(1) “struck Piggy a glancing blow”

(2) Explain quotation as it exemplifies savage values

b. Connect savage values to civilized values to show the regression

2. Connect the civilized values to regression of savage values.

a. Describe savage values

(1) “Roger sharpened a stick at both ends”

(2) Explain quotation as it exemplifies savage grooming

b. Connect savage values to civilized values to show the regression

III. Correlate the civilized boys’ behavior to the savage boys’ behavior to show they regress.

A. Explain behavior of civilized boys

1. Describe behavior of civilized boys.

a. “who shoved his piece of meat over the rock to Piggy”

b. Explain quotation exemplifies civilized behavior

2. Describe behavior of civilized boys

a. “called a meeting”

b. Explain quotation as it exemplifies civilized behavior

B. Show how civilized behavior regresses to savage behavior

1. Connect the civilized clothing to regression of savage appearance

a. Describe savage behavior

(1) “pretending to beat him”

(2) Explain quotation as it exemplifies savage behavior

b. Connect savage clothing to civilized clothing to show the regression of civilized

2. Connect the civilized behavior to regression of savage behavior

a. Describe savage behavior

(1) “Kill the Pig, cut her throat, bash her in”

(2) Explain quotation as it exemplifies savage grooming

b. Connect savage grooming to civilized grooming to show the regression

Conclusion- given the choice people wear choose the wrong path

Civilized Regression

A group of proper English schoolboys become ship wrecked on a deserted island, and they take a turn for the worse. That is the main plot for the book Lord of the Flies. Ralph, a natural-born leader, quickly displays leadership qualities and is elected by the others as chief. Ralph, with the help of Piggy’s ideas, tries to have order and rules. Society’s laws and civilization’s manners quickly slip through the other boys’ fingers. Fueled by Jack, a jealous and mischievous boy, the boys begin to slack off and have fun rather than have order and be rescued. The boys start to develop a beast within them that controls their fears and emotions. They let hunting and blood shed become not only a thing for survival, but for pleasure and results in addiction. Their “old nature” conquers them, and Jack separates the boys into a tribe just for hunting and fun. Jack and all boys except Ralph, Piggy, Simon, and SamnEric, become more like animals than civilized boys. These savages kill more than just pigs. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the civilized boys regress to savages in terms of appearance, values, and behavior.

The civilized appearance of the boys regresses to that of savages. When they first come to the island the boys wear a typical schoolboy uniform. They wear “gray, blue, fawn, jacketed or jerseys”, and some uniforms had “badges, mottoes even, stripes of color in stockings and pullovers” (15-16). Jack’s choir wears square black hats with silver badges and long black cloaks. This shows that they are properly dressed like schoolboys. They are not naked or in underwear like later in the book. In addition, the grooming of the schoolboys is neat and clean. When the boys first arrive on the island, they have nice clean and combed hair. Ralph notices as time passes that his hair is long and would like to have “a pair of scissors and cut his hair” (101). Ralph is accustomed to having clean neat hair and wants to have it again. While time passes on the island, the boys’ appearance regresses and they become unkempt. The civilized clothing represented their attitude at the beginning. The savage appearance represents the attitude that they have acquired since arriving on the island. The savages wear hardly anything if they are dressed at all. Ripped and torn shorts or underwear is their usual dress. Savages wear “tattered shorts held up by his knife belt” (43). This was merely all they used to cover their bodies. Jack and all the other boys regresse from uniforms and cloaks to tattered shorts. The savage clothing slowly starts out as just rips, then led to no shoes, and takes off from there. When the boys first land, they have combed hair and clean teeth. Their hair is short and trimmed, but as savages they have long hair that is filthy. They paint their faces not for camouflage, but to look like warriors. Jack, who has “red and white on his face” starts this step into savagery (58). The boys no longer care about appearances or have any need for hygiene. Civilized boys turn to savages in terms of appearance.

The civilized values of the boys regress to savage values. The civilized boys know the difference between right and wrong but the savage boys choose too not to obey society’s laws. The civilized boys want to have laws and rules, and they know in order to survive they need laws. As a group, they decide that “We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school” (29). This shows that they want to have order and not chaos. “We will have rules!” is what Jack said who was the ultimate leader into the savage state (29). Even Jack nows at first that laws and rules will hold a group up. Rules for a society are like a chair. Without it you are sitting on the floor with the rest of the dirt. Also, if a chair breaks someone is going to get hurt. If rules are broken someone also is going to get hurt. As savages, they do not hold life as high as when they are civilized. When they are civilized, they are just throwing pebbles at each other for fun and as joke. Roger seems to be the henchman and punished. He forgets all of his respect for life. He is the one who pulls the lever which “struck Piggy a glancing blow” (167). Roger shows no outward remorse and seems not to care. Not even caring that you took the life of another person is a sign of regression to a savage state. Another example of savage values is Jack wanting Ralph’s head on a stick. Jack had “Roger sharpen a stick at both ends” (175). Jack said he wanted the head as an offering to the ‘beast’, but really it was a trophy saying he was the real chief. He wants everyone on the island to know that Jack was the best hunter and the only chief. In the beginning Jack accepts Ralph as chief and takes it like a man, but now he is overcome by the jealous and greed. He is greedy to have all the power on the island and wants no one to dispute it. The boys’ civilized values regress to savage values.

The civilized behavior of the boys regresses to a savage behavior. The boys behavior at first is the same as normal boys. They act civil after all, they are the English. They still share with each other and are not acting like animals. Even at the first feast when meat was a rare delicacy, they still share. Simon who “shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy” shows good and civil values by sharing (68). Sharing is a civilized behavior and wouldn’t be considered as a savage one. Next, organized meetings are a civilized behavior. Meetings show a sense of democracy and planning. Savages run wildly around and are told to do things like in a dictatorship. Ralph, who often “called a meeting”, especially shows civilized behavior by letting everyone talk at these meetings (18). Obviously in the beginning of the time on the island, they did show civilized behaviors. An example of savage behavior is dancing around fires like Indians. Dancing alone is not savage, but “pretending to beat him” is because civil people do not run around fires acting like they are killing a pig (69). This is more like a satanic ritual then a bonfire. In addition, gruesome chants is a sign of savage behavior. Most boys there age have songs about playing ball or some other activity, but chants of “Kill the pig! Cut her throat! Bash her in!” sounds like a cry for a psychologist. Chants like these sound like a secret jungle tribes. Civil boys play games and do not get excited about shed blood. This behavior also sounds like something from a group of Satanists. The boys’ behavior regresses from civilized to savage.

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the civilized boys regress to savages in terms of appearance, values, and behavior. The boys choose to take the wrong path and not have order an laws. They are on the island for just a short time, and they forget their morals and values. It is like when you have two dogs and you only feed one. Which one would win? The one that is fed. The boys were not ‘fed’ any values and were told to act to act good. Therefore, the evil side which is ‘fed’ consistently wins. In a group depending on each other like the boys did, people are influenced easily. Jack influenced the others got the ball rolling for regression into savagery. He sets a mood of violence and mayhem. Given the choice, people (especially young boys) tend to do what is easier. In this case it is being evil. Being good is much harder than being evil because you lack reminders and controls that you would normally have. Evil won out over good.

Civil Regression

Jacob

Pre-Collage Writing 2

March 19, 1998