Theme Of Savagery In Lord Of The Flies, By William Golding

Prior to making the lightbulb, Thomas Edison claimed, “Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are all savages.” After a plane crash, a group of boys become stranded on an island. The conditions on the island force a couple of the boys to turn into savages. They steal from kids on the island, attack others, and kill innocent kids. In The Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the savageness of Jack and the use of face paint to portray the change of the boys from civilization to savagery when introduced in the wild environment. In doing so, Golding presents the idea that everyone has a beast inside of them when introduced to the right environment. In Lord of the Flies, Jack’s action show how an insufficient amount of rules
One significant scene that depicts the change of civilization to savagery is when Jack puts on the face paint for the first time. When Jack puts on the face paint, he feels like a completely different person: “A rounded patch of sunlight fell on his face and a brightness appeared in the depths of the water. He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself, but at an awesome stranger” (Golding 63). With Jack struggling to catch a pig, he tries on face paint to blend in with the surroundings. He looks at his reflection in a coconut and does not see himself, he sees a stranger. He feels like a completely different person and that he can accomplish anything he wants. After applying the paint, he finally catches a pig for the tribe and he starts to think he should lead the tribe. Jack is able to hide is insecurities behind the mask and no longer see himself in his reflection. He sees someone who belongs on the island and who can lead the people stranded on the island. This starts his quest to overthrow Ralph for chief. Another use of face paint in Lord of the Flies, Jack uses face paint to hide his identity while raiding Ralph and his tribe. Jack and his tribe use face paint to raid ralph and take Piggy’s glasses, “we’ll raid them and take fire… we’ll put on paint and sneak up” (Golding 136). Jack orders two people in the group to apply face paint because they planned a raid to steal piggy’s glasses. Jack uses face paint to hide his identity and unleash the wild in him. It starts with hunting, but then Jack starts to use it all the time. The face paint represents change to savagery because Jack believes he can do whatever he wants with it on and he feels like a complete stranger while wearing it. The face paint allows Jack to feel powerful, and allows him to hide is true self from the others. The paint allows Jack to hide behind a mask along