Civilization Vs Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Essay

“Which is better, to have laws and agree, or to hunt and kill?” (164). The Lord of the Flies, a fictitious novel by William Golding, focuses on a stranded group of British boys stuck on an uninhabited island, attempting to establish a way to govern themselves, which ultimately ends in a disastrous way due to the different goals of the two opposing factions: the Civilized and the Savage. Golding is heavy on symbolism, and uses it to reinforce the two themes recurring throughout the book: Civilization vs. Savagery, and the loss of innocence. One of the biggest symbols that reinforces the two themes is the Island itself. The island symbolizes paradise and the innocence of the boys, which is later destroyed due to the ongoing battle of the instinct to live by the rules, and do what is good for the
“‘You got your small fire all right,’ … as they watched, a flash of fire appeared at the root of one wisp, and then the smoke thickened. Small flames stirred at the trunk if a tree and crawled away through the leaves and brushwood, dividing and increasing” (44). With the uncontrolled fire destroying the island, and possibly taking the life of one of the littluns, fear spreads amongst the boys as they are exposed to the evils of nature and the death of an innocent. The characters take this fear differently. There are some, like Piggy, Ralph, and Simon, who still see the fire as a priority, and attempt to keep it going but in a safer, more controlled way. And then there are others, like Jack and Roger, who no longer see keeping the fire going a priority as it took the life of one of the boys, and start focusing on other things to satisfy their immediate needs, such as satisfying their hunger with hunting the livestock available on the island for meat. The incident with the fire is what causes a rift between the boys in the