Lord Of The Flies Civilization Vs Savagery

Human nature makes human beings one of the most psychologically sophisticated creatures known to man. Like the moon, every man has a dark side. It represents darkness, negative emotions, and in effect, represents insanity and ferocity. However, these extreme emotions and characteristics are countered with positive traits, like order and civilization. Although these opposing traits are difficult to coexist, Civilization vs. Savagery is a theme universally used in literary work to show bipolar impulses that exists within all of us. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies exhibits a perfect example of this theme, in which the heads of civilization and savagery are directly pitted against each other. This novel is about a group of boys who are stranded
on an uninhabited island without adult supervision and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves. Among those boys are Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and Roger. Ralph was initially elected as the group’s leader, with Piggy as his counselor. However, Jack also wanted to lead, and so one-by-one, he starts to slowly lead the other boys into his control and down a path of primeval survivalism and away from civilization. In William Golding’s allegory, Ralph and Piggy represents order and civilization, whereas Jack and Roger represents unbridled brutality and savagery.