Civilization keeps a savage part of us locked down deep inside. If we become free from society and its rules, the savageness emerges. We found a quote that describes the conflict between civilization and savagery. It states, “Man… is a tame or civilized animal; never the less, he requires proper instruction and a fortunate nature, and then all animals he becomes the most divine and most civilized; but if he be insufficiently or ill-educated he is the most savage of earthly creatures.” –Plato (427 BC- 347 BC)
Civilization
The rules and organized meetings in the story are used to keep order and it is their own form of government. In society, we use rules and a government system to keep order. The boys created their own version of the rules to fit their surroundings. In a way, they adapted society to their new surroundings. The huts that were built were a constant reminder of the homes they had left behind along with all the rules within their homes. The boys were attached to society at the beginning of the novel and used these things to protect themselves from the harshness of the real world. At the beginning, the boys were all for creating rules and keeping order as the quote from page 42 of the novel shows, “We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages.” The boys, especially Jack and Ralph were intending to instill the rules they followed at home at the island as well. On our poster, we used a picture of the Constitution to represent the rules of civilization. We also used the quote from page 42 in the novel shown above. We used these because we thought that the Constitution showed the basis of civilization and the quote showed the boys bond to it.
Savagery:
In the novel, there was a lot of savagery. The boys had killed the sow for the thrill and not for the meat. In real life, while people hunt, they do it so they can provide food for their friends and family. They are not obsessed with killing as these young boys in the