Lord of the Flies Literary Analysis

Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding, reflects upon the very core of human beings. Golding described human beings as innately evil. He also showed readers that all it takes to bring humans’ true nature out is by being in an unknown environment that is free of laws. Being surrounded by mysterious creatures in an unknown land, the stranded boys are left for dead. In the small world without adults, the boys slowly corrupt in to follow their instinct to satisfy their immediate desires. By being in a microcosm of society with no rules or restriction, the boys begin to seek absolute power. By setting the novel in an island without adults, Golding shows how civilization can quickly deteriorate into savagery. The theme of peace and democracy is thoroughly described in the story when the boys camped out near the beach. At the beginning of the book, it was evident that the boys had an instinct to live peacefully and by the rules in order to avoid chaos. Though some boys created trouble for others, they all obeyed the orders of the leader. The boys voted for a leader democratically in order to prevent a person from having too much power and by this process, we could see that the boys wanted to be fair in who gets to be the leader. To the boys, the beach symbolizes a second home that can keep them safe from the intimidating island. It was a place where they can catch sight of a ship without interruption and it gave them a higher chance of being rescued. The beach also represents safety and a place where rules protect the boys. All the boys have a sense of civilization in them at the beach and avoid making “wrong” actions. Even the troublemaker Jack said that they’ve “got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best at everything. So we’ve got to do the right things.” (Page 59-60) This line from Jack shows that everyone wanted to be “civilized” and developed. They didn’t want to be “savages” since