Preview

Civilization vs. Savagery Essay Example

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1222 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Civilization vs. Savagery Essay Example
Civilization vs. Savagery.
Civilization today has become almost completely reliant on technology. Almostthe entire planet is connected by phone lines, roads, air travel, or the internet. Peopleconverse with others thousands of miles away through modern connections, watch livebroadcasts of news in foreign lands or talk on wireless phones by use of satellites. We aregoverned by laws designed to protect us. We live in heated homes with fresh water andelectricity. We commute to work by car or mass transit. We live by rules, values, andideals that keep the peace. Our world is organized, convenient and technologicallyadvanced. What would happen if suddenly our civilization disappeared, leaving us withonly the things we were wearing, the ideals we were raised with, the things we could findin nature and our instincts? This is exactly what happened to the boys in Lord of the Fliesby William Golding. Ralph, Piggy, Jack and the other stranded students find themselveson a deserted island.
Golding's motives for choosing the island setting for the novel, Lord of the Flieswas to have the characters isolated, where the laws of their governments could not reachthem.The boys on the island represented a microcosm of world society. Golding chosechildren because they have not yet been fully conditioned by society to understand rightfrom wrong and thus are guided by their instinct and what is inherent within them.Golding uses a great deal of symbolism throughout the novel.Different charactersprovide different symbols.Jack is a symbol of savagery and anarchy.Golding relates theinherent evil with Jack to the evil and cruelty of the larger world, which we all share. Theconch shell becomes a powerful symbol of civilization and order, Piggy’s glassesrepresent the power of science and intellectual endeavor in society, Roger representsbrutality and bloodlust at their most extreme, the beast stands for the primal instinct ofsavagery that exists within all human beings, The Lord of the Flies a
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Black Hearts By Jim Frederick: An Analysis
    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Black Hearts By Jim Frederick: An Analysis

    Jim Frederick’s book “Black Hearts” explores the harrowing account of soldiers from 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 502nd Infantry Regiment during their deployment in 2005-2006 through Iraq’s “Triangle of Death”. The story is one of failed leadership at all levels, resulting in broken bonds between brothers, drug abuse, and ultimately the rape and murder of an Iraqi family. The soldiers’ descent into complete isolation was brought on by not only dire combat situations, but also a complete disregard for their mental health by higher. This essay will compare and contrast the roles of SSG Eric Lauzier and SFC Jeff Fenlason, and how their leadership had a positive or negative effect on their subordinates.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lord of the Flies: Flames of Determination Essay Example
    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Lord of the Flies: Flames of Determination Essay Example

    Being a part of a group of children having to adapt after being trapped on a island with no surrounding civilization is an unimaginable situation. However, William Golding shows just how terrifying it can be in his novel, Lord Of The Flies, by his use of symbols to represent hardships. The main symbols, which best portrays characteristics are the fire and the conch; symbols leadership and confidence.…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Conch Symbolism
    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Conch Symbolism

    In William Golding novel Lord of the Flies, a group of young boys crash land in a deserted tropical island with no adults or supervision. Throughout the novel many symbols are revealed to the reader. The conch, beast, and Piggy's eyeglasses are the most important symbols that are expressed in this novel. These three symbols show how the children adapt to their environment and find their own ways to survive. They also assist in the development of each character’s personality and traits.…

    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Golding Use Biblical Allusions In Lord Of The Flies
    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How Does Golding Use Biblical Allusions In Lord Of The Flies

    “Language fits over experience like a straight-jacket” William Golding believes. In Golding’s book Lord of the Flies language and communication is the key to survival for the boys that crash land on a deserted island. At the beginning several English boys crash land on a deserted island, then with a central symbol found, the conch, they elect a leader for the group. Jack and Ralph want different things so the group splits into two later, in the novel. Jacks group hunts while Ralph’s group is hunted. Several boys die, and when Ralph is the last good-hearted one on the island a navy ship comes and reluctantly rescues the boys. Lord of the Flies depicts savagery and destruction of marooned British boys. Golding wrote this book as a post-war humanistic, allegorical book with analogy to the Bible. Through biblical references in settings, symbolism, and overall meaning, Lord of the Flies becomes a religious allegory.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies Comparing the Symbols Importance
    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Lord of the Flies Comparing the Symbols Importance

    In Lord of the Flies, symbolism describes the environment of the island, and how it changes from time to time; there are numerous ways to express beliefs, thought, and many other. Symbols may appeal to a reader's emotions and can offer a way to express a thought, communicate a message, or explain the meaning in depth. In this book, it is described that most of the symbols’ value decreases as Jack starts to take over the group, therefore, it represents that it is easier to be evil than it is to be good . The conch, Piggy’s glasses and the beast represent the symbolic of the destruction and savagery that grows on the island.…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Civilization Vs Savagery Quote
    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Civilization Vs Savagery Quote

    Italo Calvino stated in his essay, “The Literature Machine”, that “A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.” Perhaps he is saying that after a reader finishes a “classic”, they are left to make their own assumptions about what it means. This can be seen in almost all books that are considered to be “classics”.…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    What Is The Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies
    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages

    What Is The Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies

    In the novel Lord of the flies William Golding uses boys stranded on an island as symbols. Each boy is symbolic of a different facet of society as the book wears each boy/ facet of society begins to crumble and the darkness of a mans heart begins to slowly seep in to their souls. The darkness of a mans heart is never explained in the novel however it can be interpreted as the evil that lives inside all of us. This evil is evidenced throughout the novel. It begins subtly and culminating in the horrific murder of Piggy at the hand of his peers.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    What Does Jack Merridew Represent In Lord Of The Flies
    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What Does Jack Merridew Represent In Lord Of The Flies

    Although one cannot be sure of Golding’s motives for choosing the island setting, it was probably because it works best to have the characters isolated, where the laws of their governments cannot reach them. Also, why did Golding choose children instead of adolescents, or adults? Most likely because children have not yet fully conditioned by society to understand right from wrong, and thus in this ignorance, most of them are guided by their instinct and what is inherent within them. If older, more knowledgeable characters were chosen, the events of the novel may not occur as they do. In the beginning of the story Jack, still conditioned by the previous society he had been apart of; could not bear to kill a pig that was caught in the brush. As the plot progresses he becomes less and less attached to any societal norms. Near the end, he feels no shame about the deaths of Simon and Piggy, nor his attempt to kill Ralph. Lord of the Flies has more than one “theme” or meaning, but the overall and most important one is that the conditions of life within society are closely related to the moral integrity of its individual members. The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human…

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lord Of The Flies Allusions
    • 130 Words
    • 1 Page

    Lord Of The Flies Allusions

    Lord of the Flies by William Golding is the story of a group of children who crash land on a tropical island during the time period of World War II. Throughout the novel, Golding uses Biblical allusions and irony to show the disintegration, loss of society and humanity. Some of the Biblical allusions that Golding uses alludes Simon to Jesus, the Lord of the Flies to Satan, and the island itself to the Garden of Eden. Golding’s use of irony appears several times; first when the fire destroys the boys civility but then ends up being what allows them to be rescued; again when they feared an imagined beast; and lastly in the way Piggy is widely disliked and mistreated, even though his spectacles are crucial to the group's survival.…

    • 130 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    William Golding's Lord Of The Flies: Allegory
    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages

    William Golding's Lord Of The Flies: Allegory

    In Lord of the Flies William Golding uses allegories to illustrate the human psyche. Different characters are used to represent different parts of an individual 's mental structure: the impulses of the Id, the rationality of the Ego, and the moral understanding of the Superego. Golding carefully describes each character 's actions to coincide with each part of the psyche. Jack, Piggy, Simon, and Ralph are characters in the story that represent the psyche.…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lord Of The Flies Human Nature Analysis
    • 2497 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Lord Of The Flies Human Nature Analysis

    Human nature is a double-sided coin. On one side there is the incredible capacity to love and care for others, the willingness to put one’s own needs aside and lay down for the good of his fellow man. But on the other. On the other side, there always remain the horrendous capacity for destruction despite any attempt to bury it within. William Golding exemplifies the darker aspects of human nature in his book Lord of The Flies. He accomplishes this by using characters like Jack, Ralph, and Simon as tools to convey deeper symbolic messages. Golding uses his characters allegorically consistently throughout his novel. Through them he conveys viewpoints on the political viewpoints, as well as the physical representation of many of mankind’s inherent…

    • 2497 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Civilization Vs Savagery
    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Civilization Vs Savagery

    Wars of mass destruction allow countries to perform acts of terror and justify them by claiming they have ‘right’ on their side. An author by the name of William Golding, who is a World War II veteran, is appalled by different countries’ abilities to propagandize these acts and brainwash soldiers into thinking killing fellow man is fair. This brainwashing influences William Golding to believe human nature in its natural state is savagery. William Golding in his critically acclaimed novel, Lord of the Flies, exemplifies the theme, civilization versus savagery, by the utilization of a stranded island, lack of supervision, and the transformation of characters from good to evil.…

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gun Safety: The Right To Bear Arms
    • 240 Words
    • 1 Page

    Gun Safety: The Right To Bear Arms

    Gun Safety has been a big topic that people are speaking of all the time. The Second Amendment says that citizens have the right to bear arms. That amendment was created for militias as America had become free and they didn’t want any surprise attacks from Britain incase they tried to take America back, now America and Britain are close allies. Everyday on the news there’s always a shooting and maybe it’s because guns are easy to access. I do not think that civilians need guns. Now some might argue that the police are corrupt and that they don’t want to rely on the police to do something that they can handle but that is their job. If guns are banned than their needs to be higher protection against smuggling as criminals will obviously not…

    • 240 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies Characters
    • 1582 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Lord of the Flies Characters

    The Island attempts to demonstrate that humans are born good at heart and that evil is an external force present in the world which tempts once innocent people. Lord of the Flies takes the opposite view: that evil comes from within. Golding's message is that human nature has a wicked side and that without punishments to keep it in check society would degenerate into a barbaric anarchy. Lord of the Flies illustrates this theme through the story of a group of boys stranded on an island who must overcome not only the natural difficulties presented by the island but also the difficulties presented by their own inherent human nature. But the character in the film, "Jack" turns into what Golding was trying to explain to our society, a savage person who trumps over the goodness in our human society. From the beginning of the novel, Jack desires power above all other things.…

    • 1582 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    What Does The Beast Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies
    • 1426 Words
    • 6 Pages

    What Does The Beast Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

    Since 1954, when the novel Lord of the Flies was first published, over 25 million copies have been sold in the English language alone. William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, has written many books, but this still stands out as one of his best. This book is known for it’s amazing use of symbolism, and the manner in which Golding uses symbols to explore human nature. He does a fantastic job of using these symbols to really portray the theme of the novel. For instance, some of the most important symbols he uses are the fire, the conch, Piggy’s glasses and the Beast.…

    • 1426 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More