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The Lord of the Flies: Themes Essay Example

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The Lord of the Flies: Themes Essay Example
The Lord of the Flies: Themes

The world had witnessed the atrocities of World War II and began to examine the defects of their social ethics. Man's purity and innocence was gone.
Man's ability to remain civilized was faltering. This change of attitude was extremely evident in the literature of the age. Writers, who through the use of clever symbolism, mocked the tragedy of man's fate. One such writer was William
Golding. An author who has seen the destruction of war and despises its inevitable return. Through the use of innocent and untainted children, Golding illustrates how man is doomed by his own instinct. The novel is called Lord of the Flies, and is of extreme importance to help reconstruct the current wave of revolutionary ideas that swept the twentieth-century generation. Lord of the
Flies portrays the belief of the age that man is in a constant struggle between darkness and light, the defects of human nature, and a philosophical pessimism that seals the fate of man. Golding's work are, due to their rigid structure and style, are interpreted in many different ways. Its unique style is different from the contemporary thought and therefor open for criticism. The struggle between darkness and light is a major theme in all the works of William Golding. Strong examples of this are found throughout Lord of the Flies. The most obvious is the struggle between Ralph and Jack. The characters themselves have been heavily influenced by the war. Ralph is the representative of Democracy. Elected as the leader he and Piggy his companion keep order and maintain a civilized government. The strength of Ralph's character was supported by the power of World War II. Jack, on the other hand, represents authoritarianism. He rules as a dictator and is the exact opposite of Ralph. Jack is exemplifying the Hitler's and Mussolini's of the world. He is what the world fears and yet follows. This struggle is born at the very beginning and escalates till the

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