Cooper
H English II P. 4
7 August 2013
Although many people are innocent and pure-hearted, there will always be a savage deep inside. When the savage inside exploits to a similar external environment, it can release the true darkness of man. In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the savagery is exemplified on the pig’s head, which symbolizes the true beast inside everybody. The savagery inside the boys continues to grow, as the sow’s head starts to progress in the novel. The pig’s head is a classic symbol of all the boys’ loss of innocence and, like the savagery of the boys, continues to grow throughout the novel.
The Lord of the Flies, or sow’s head, did not appear at the beginning of the novel, nor did the boys’ savagery. But when the beast did get mentioned, the boys get a little corrupt. When the boys have their second meeting, Jack shouts, “ ‘We’ll have rules!’ he cried excitedly. ‘Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks ‘em-’,” (Goulding, 33). Jack was very happy to have rules due to the lack of savagery he had. The rules he enforced represent his civilized side, without the beast or hunting. This represents all of the boys, as they do not yet believe in the beast and all still enforce the law. But, when a little boy says he saw a beast, Jack replies, “... There isn’t a snake thing. But if there was a snake, we’d hunt and kill it. We’re going to hunt pigs to get meat for everybody. And we’ll look for the snake too-” (Goulding, 36). When fear starts to strike the boys, their savagery inside starts to show. Jack, hearing the story of the beast, has already started to think about hunting and killing. Civilization on the island starts to corrupt and break into chaos once the beast, or Lord of the Flies, is even mentioned. When a conversation of the beast is brought up, Simon says, “ ‘Maybe there is a beast....maybe it's only us,'" (Goulding, 89). Simon is implying the Lord of the Flies, which is the true beast of the island.