Lord Of The Flies: Savagery

The novel of Lord of the Flies uses the regression of main characters to show savagery and primitive human nature. “This perhaps can be best seen in the development of Jack. During the first trip into the jungle, he is unable to kill the pig with his knife, “[Jack] raised his arm in the air. There came a pause, a hiatus… The pause was only long enough for them to understand what enormity the downward stroke would be” (23); by the end of the book he is hunting human quarry” (Overview of Lord of the Flies). Jack understood what it meant to end this life; however, subsequently failing to take it, he becomes obsessed with the thought of killing. He is so violent and so obsessed that he manages to regresses to a point of actual, first completely
At the beginning of their adventure, the boys think starting a fire is a great idea, but they’re stumped about how to do it. They rely on a remaining relic of their old world. When the glasses break, that’s one more link to civilization gone. “The chief led them, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy's broken glasses”(). Dangling and broken, these glasses are being terribly misused. They are no longer a symbol of thought, reason, and smarts; they become a symbol of just how far from civilization the boys have fallen. Another symbol Golding uses is the conch. From the start of their journey, the conch is an important symbol of order and reason “secondary or primary source”. This is a big reason why Piggy struggles to use the conch due to his authoritative and civil way of thinking. It is only fitting that later the conch is destroyed and ruined to pieces “the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (163), during the death of Piggy. Another symbol of savagery and regression are the pig hunts that jack and his choir go on, specifically the hunt on the nursing sow. This pig hunt – and other ones – symbolize the capacity of man for destruction and violence. The descriptive wording by Golding paints a picture of the brutal kill of the pig. “Here, struck down by the heat, the sow fell and the hunters hurled themselves at her. This dreadful eruption from an unknown world made her frantic; she squealed and bucked and the air was full of sweat and noise and blood and terror… The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands”(120). In their savagery and violence, the sweet