Lord Of The Flies Theme Essay, Research Paper

Lord of the Flies shows that even properly raised British boys have a bad side. At the beginning of the story the boys held meetings and said they did not want to become savage like. As the book progresses all of the children start to show signs of inhumanity. By the end of Lord of the Flies all of the characters have revealed their crudeness except the dead boys, Piggy and Simon. I believe they would have turned wild too because everyone has a savage in them and it could be released at any time given the right situation. In society people are brought up with rules and taught to have manners. They are so used to behaving that when they are turned loose they can be trusted to keep themselves under control. That concept is displayed in Lord of the Flies when Jack says, We ll have rules! he cried excitedly, Lots of rules!…. (33) The boys on this island have been expected to follow societies ways for so long that they do it automatically, but the idea of having rules will only work for short periods of time. Then the unsupervised group will begin to break up and develop roles for themselves. When that happens everything starts to get out of hand. As a rule children with irresponsible parents find themselves getting into trouble. There are many examples of corruption in kids who run free. In today s system we have children who are pressured into killing, doing drugs, and following others. The leader those children follow is not always the best person. On the island Jack is the driving force of the hunters. Others follow him and leave positions in their community. Ralph perceives what is happening and wants to stop the downward spiral. He tries to have Samneric keep the fire going so they have a chance of being rescued. Samneric are also drawn in by Jack and become hunters too. While the children are off hunting a ship passes by because there was no fire. When Jack returns to announce that they have killed a pig, Ralph yells, You and your blood, Jack Merridew! You and your hunting! We might have gone home– (70) Jack and the hunters believe they are right because they are killing to survive. Ralph, on the other hand, realizes the only way to survive is to get home and back to civilization. Ralph sees all of the boys turning to uncivilized ways. At first the down grading of their society is made obvious by face painting and hunting. Then the hunting becomes some ritual along with the need for meat. During one of the rituals Simon is mistaken for the beast and is killed. Everyone pretty much blows this off as an accident. In our world a lot of situations are ignored the first time. For instance, a man accused of rape might get a year in jail. After his time he will leave and a lot of times he will commit the same crime. Most of the boys on the island learned nothing from killing Simon. Eventually Jack outcasts Piggy, Ralph and the little ones that were left. Ralph and Piggy make the decision to go to Jack to try to talk some since into him. Ralph shouts, Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up? (180) After that outburst Piggy was knocked off of a cliff and fell to his death. Once again the savage came out in them and they did not think much of Piggy s death. Ralph is then left alone to fend for himself. In trying to save himself he begins to turn merciless too. Ralph s reasons for becoming barbarous were different than Jack and the hunters, but there is really no difference. In life if your group becomes heathenish you are likely to become equal to them for fear of being outcast. If your circle of friends turns on you then you are also prone to take measures to protect yourself. A lot of protection for yourself against violent people comes in violent actions forced back on them. So in the end you are no better than the ones who are against you just because you think you are right.

All of the evidence from life and the book Lord of the Flies comes together to produce a few thoughts. The thought that every one has a savage in them and the thought that the maker is often the breaker. Jack wanted rules in the beginning, but in the end he destroyed rules. Every person has the capacity to make and break rules. Just think, if proper little British boys are savage inside then so are you.