Preview

Lord of the Flies - Primitive Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1169 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Lord of the Flies - Primitive Essay Example
"He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger… He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling… The face of red and white and black swung through the air…"

In the novel Lord of the Flies, an account of primitive religion is evident in the behavior of the hunting party. Initially, we will explore chant and uniform action and it's spiritual effects on the human mind and soul. Secondly, it will be discussed how primitive peoples gain satisfaction from conducting the act of sacrifice. Moreover, this research will go into depth about the transformation into a higher being and development of a new identity through ritualistic actions. Finally, primitive society's emphasis on fear-provoking, irrational behavior in comparison to modern society's insistence on rationality will be addressed.

In a primitive society, chanting is designed to provide a group with benefits such as the acquiring of material possessions, health, and monopoly over one's personal circumstances or those of another person. This ritual is performed until one feels satisfied, and/or has been led into spiritual contact with another realm. Another purpose of the chant is for one to feel a powerful being emerge within one's soul, resulting in a god-like sensation for a short amount of time. In the novel, one can perceive that the hunting party's vigorous chant ("Kill the beast! Spill her blood!") is one of their final retrogressions into savagery. Its repetitious, invigorating verse elates them, and when the procession finally ends, they behave in a trance-like, mystified demeanor. They begin speaking immediately in excited tones, feeling amazed at the feat they had accomplished. It is written that "the boys chattered and danced", obviously enthralled with their victory. It would be wise to conclude that the boys have derived a sense of power through performing the chant, and they are satisfied with their newfound strength and uniformity. For Jack,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Through out the entire story the conch shell and the glasses have been important metaphors. The conch represents civilization and power. Whenever someone blows on the conch, the boys run toward the sound and show respect to the owner. Eventually, the power and civilization drop as the boys become more savage like. Therefore the conch loses its power. The glasses represent the key to life. They started the fire, and fire brings heat to help them survive and continue their hopes of being rescued. When they are stolen by Jack, Ralph and Piggy have nothing left to help them survive.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1. After Simon is killed, the next paragraph begins, "The clouds open and let the rain down like a waterfall…" When the boys kill Simon they not only kill him and spirituality, but what they perceive to be the beast. Because the beast was created by them and embodied all of their evils, one of its interpretations can be as mankind's sin. Simon is very similar to Jesus in this book. The Roman's ruled the world during Jesus' life, and now a similar bloodthirsty society rules the island during Simon's life. Both are killed by such a society, and both sacrifice themselves so that mankind's sin can be forgiven. When Simon dies, the rain washes away not only spirituality, but also the beast and all of the sins that accompany it. Golding writes that the water bounded from the mountaintop. Because the mountain top represented the peak of society, this could be interpreted to state that all of society carries sin, even the glorious moments of it, and that Simon's sacrifice was extended to the boys' entire stay on the island and the sin that was committed during that period of time. This is also similar to Jesus' sacrifice that was for all of mankind's sins, not just the sins of the Roman society that killed him. After Simon has been killed, the figures stagger away. By referring to the boys as figures, they are no longer individuals, but the nameless men who are the vehicle that society uses to carry out its evil deeds. It is no longer of relevance who did what because it was the entire society that killed Simon. This can be related to other societies, such as Nazi Germany. Today Hitler is credited with most of the responsibility for World War II. We do not like to blame German society for it because that would mean that we are also capable of this if we had to endure the circumstances of 1940's Germany. We cannot blame the German race for these problems, as they are a characteristic of humanity. We fought World War II against the forces of racism, but we ourselves treated…

    • 2202 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    8, no. 2, Nov. 2014, pp. 147-173. EBSCOhost, doi:10.5235/17521483.8.2.147. Accessed 17 March 2017. This article written by Eric Wilson that critically analyses Lord of the Flies’ theme. The article consists of evidence showing that the theme of the novel is that humans always go back to their instinctual patterns. The article also explains that the book can be portrayed as a spinoff of modern theories of human nature. I will use this source to establish the theme of civilization vs savagery in my essay. With the help of the article, I can show that the civilized boys were constantly fighting the savage inside themselves. In my essay, I will explain how if they did not fight this savagery, they would return to humanity’s prehistoric…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If you were trapped on an island trying to fight for your life, what would you do? This is explored in Lord of the Flies and “The Most Dangerous Game” Lord of the Flies and “The Most Dangerous Game” are worthy of comparison in terms of conflict, similar setting, and irony. Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, is about a group of young boys whose plane was crashed on an island. The boys have gone to great lengths to survive. “The Most Dangerous Game” written by Richard Connell is a short story about a famous hunter named Rainsford. He falls off of his boat in the middle of the night when he hears a gunshot in the distance on an island. He is forced to swim to “Ship Wreck Island” where he meets General Zaroff also a famous hunter. Rainsford soon is forced to fight for his life when he realizes the Generals idea of hunting has an abnormal twist.…

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Most people experience losing control at one time or another. This often leads them to feel powerless and unsure. In the first nine paragraphs of chapter 7 of Williams Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the protagonist, Ralph relates these feelings to the readers. Jack gaining power and the boys becoming uncivilized creates feelings of helplessness and fear in Ralph.…

    • 334 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Compare and contrast the characters of Jack and Ralph and discuss the way that the rivalry between them develops in the course of the novel." By comparing and contrasting the characters of Jack and Ralph it allows the reader to fully understand their characters and how each develops throughout the novel. Once this has been achieved the reason the rivalry occurs becomes evident and the novel's most important qualities and themes emerge from these two characters. It is then that we are able to see why Ralph and Jack's friendship can never develop into anything but rivalry.<br><br>Throughout the novel we see that Ralph and Jack share similar qualities, but there is a great difference in the way they use these attributes to benefit both themselves and others. Ralph uses his power to create a democracy, where each person has the right to voice their opinions and ideas. "I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking...and he won't be interrupted." The conch becomes a symbol of the right of a speaker to a fair hearing. While Jack uses his authority to produce a fascist, hostile environment where he controls the doings of his tribe. "Tomorrow we shall hunt" and "He said we weren't to let you in." Whilst both characters have the chance to exercise their power, both do so in a disparate way, with Ralph aiming to benefit the group as a whole, and Jack himself profiting from his actions. Ralph and Jack begin the novel with similar beliefs, both wanting to implement rules. "I agree with Ralph. We've got to have rules and obey them." Ralph concentrates on being rescued and Jack goes along with this taking on the responsibility that he and his choir will mind the fire. "We'll be responsible for keeping the fire going-", but while Ralph remains focused on being rescued, Jack's new-found interest in hunting leads him to forget about rescue. "Jack had to think for a moment before he could remember what rescue was. ‘Rescue? Yes, of course! All…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Thesis: In the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, English school boys show their natural capacity for brutality as they progressively change on the isolated island, displaying how the island can bring violence to the boys’ mentality, and how their desire to hunt can affect their humanity.…

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The animalistic, selfish and inherently evil nature of human beings is illustrated and referenced through allegory, an act of interpretation to further demonstrate concepts of the human condition. In William Golding’s novel The Lord of the Flies, the characters and setting are read as an allegory linking directly to religious figures and biblical stories, including those of Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve and of Jesus Christ, to unveil the harsh truths about the boys’ inherent savagery and the inevitable deterioration of order and civilisation it ensues.…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Evil is done without effort, naturally, it is the working of fate.”- Charles Baudelaire In the book The Lord of The Flies by William Golding, many young boys land on an island after a plane crash during World War II causing the evil in each other to come out and separate the kids into two different tribes eventually causing a war between themselves. Jack demonstrates the evil of a powerful and hungry dictator. Jack’s vicious characteristics cause him to make his own tribe, kidnap and torture samneric, and also rallying his tribe to kill Simon. When Jack is not elected chief he decides to make his own tribe.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It feels like i’ve been stuck on this island forever. Our only chance of being rescued was ruined by the hunters, now known as Jack and his tribe. They were supposed to keep the fire going at all times so that if a ship passed by they would see the smoke and come to rescue us. A simple task such as this was obviously too much for them, and just like that we missed what might have been our only chance of ever being saved.…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “I shrieked at them, trying to scare them off, but they merely ducked behind bushes and took long sticks from the saddles of their horses, bows and javelins. “You’re all crazy,” I bellowed, “you’re all insane!” I’d never howled more loudly in my life. Darts like hot coals went through my legs and arms and I howled more loudly still.” (pg. 27)…

    • 1521 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies Essay

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In The novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding in 1954 a group of British boys is on a plane that crashes onto an island. As the boys attempt to fend for themselves, distinct personalities emerge. Piggy, who is bullied and teased, is a symbol of maturity. Meanwhile, Ralph is elected chief when they first arrive on the island, but he loses his leader ship to Jack. He is a symbol of optimism. Jack is evil and is a symbol of savagery.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies Essay

    • 1157 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Life and people are full of diversity and courage; however, the unknown can make young vulnerable minds similar and fearful in their reactions. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of once, young civilized English boys’ become fearful of an imagined beast. They fear a beast because of what they have let their imagination produce. Humans fear what is unknown. Piggy, Ralph and Jack are all uncertain as whether a beast really existed, and all showed signs of fear. Simon, on the other hand, knew the beast was all in their heads therefore he had nothing to be afraid of. As Piggy, Ralph and Jack are all sceptical, Simon remains true to his beliefs. These four examples explain the views of each character in the novel.…

    • 1157 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Jack volunteers himself and the choirboys to keep the signal fire going and to become the hunters of the group. One day, Ralph…

    • 2563 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Now!” Henriques shouted. The villagers sang jubilantly seeing the hostages hesitate and vacillate. The ground started to stop shaking as their numbers abated, but nevertheless the ground was vibrating slowly as still a whole division of them were charging. The antagonism in their blood increased every second. The singing grew louder and louder and as each hostage fell clumsily onto the ground, smiles became laughter’s of joy on the singer’s faces.…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays