Time In Isolation Can Change People: Literary Analysis

Time In Isolation Can Change People When travelers board a plane, there is always a voice in their head saying: “What if this plane would malfunction, or fall out of the sky?” In the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the phenomenal story begins with a group of British schoolboys when they crash land on an uninhabited island. The boys must find food and water to survive as well as make important decisions while they wait for rescue. The main problem is, the more the boys’ isolation progresses the more disconnected from the civilization they become. The author, William Golding, does an outstanding job depicting the theme, civilization versus savagery, using the plot, setting, and characters of the story. The author uses the plot to show how the characters turn from civil boys to becoming savages. In the beginning of the novel, the characters create rules for their group. “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can
hold it when he is speaking” (Golding 33). This conch, that Ralph found, will help the plot mature and keep their civilization in order. The boys, with Ralph as their new leader, now have to find sources of food and water. One character, Jack, is obsessed with killing a pig for food, and with much trouble finally murders one. “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (Golding 69). The quote clearly shows the gang started to act differently than when they arrived on the island. The group begins to show signs of savagery due to the amount of time spent isolated. They also no longer respect the rules of the conch. “Sit down! Shut up! Take the conch! Sod you!” (Golding 89). As time passes on, Jack gets fed up with Ralph’s leadership, and along with others, splits up into another group. “The two savages murmured…” (Golding 141). The author now refers to Jack’s group as savages because of their actions and their distaste for rescue. They boys have now spent a large amount of time on the island and have become savages because they have not interacted with a functional civilization. In addition, the author proves the theme civilization versus savagery throughout the whole novel using the island as the setting.
At the beginning of the novel, Ralph explains to the group that he did not see any houses, smoke, footprints, boats, or people on the island (Golding 32). The boys then realize they are utterly alone on the island and far from civilization where it will be a challenge for the characters to remain civilized. The beginning of the novel shows how the boys decide to create a civilization on the island by making shelters to create some sort of a home (Golding 52) and finding pools to bathe and swim in (Golding 65). The boys attempt to create their own civilization even though they are isolated. Although, as time passes, the group loses interest in the shelters or staying clean, and they slowly become savages, ending up burning down the island’s forest (Golding 197). Their ultimate actions, using setting, have proved the theme of civilization versus savagery in the
novel. The author also uses the characters as well as the plot and setting to portray the theme of civilization versus savagery. When the boys first crash land on the island, they decide to create rules (Golding 33). The characters decide it would be good to create and abide by simple rules in order to keep everyone well behaved. This resembles the thought of a civilization where people live by rules and regulations, although, in the middle of the novel, Jack the antagonistic character decides he does not like the rules. “Conch! Conch! We don’t need the conch anymore” (Golding 102). Jack demonstrates signs of savagery, by breaking the rules and ignoring the significance of the conch. This is one of the author’s clear points, showing how the characters do not abide by rules and move closer to savagery. Toward the end of the novel Jack has become obsessed with the killing of pigs. At one point, he severs the head of a pig and pushes its head down the pointed end of a stick (Golding 136-137). This important event, the author writes, shows how drastically Jack has changed since the beginning of the novel. He has changed from a civil prefect to a barbaric savage because of the isolation on the island. William Golding through his brilliant use of plot, setting, and character, succeeds in portraying the theme of civilization versus savagery in Lord of the Flies. The irony in the story develops in the end, when Ralph, on the beach, meets the officer while running for his life. The officer calmly affirms their fun and game, but the reality was that the savages almost killed Ralph.