Argumentative Essay On Lord Of The Flies

664 Words3 Pages
We as humans like to consider ourselves intelligent and civilized creatures, completely different from animals. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, this idea is challenged. The book centers around a group of British boys who have been stranded on a tropical island. At the book’s start, they are ordered and civilized, however by the book’s end; they have become cruel and savage. At the story’s end, Ralph, learned an ugly lesson about human beings. He has learned that people are by nature savage, and it is only through the facade of civilization that they act the way they do. He also learns a lesson about civilization, that if a person is personally satisfied with their life, they won’t pay too much attention to injustices others experience. At the story’s start, the boys act civilized and are normal. Ralph gathers all the children together by blowing into a conch, and they have an ordered and civilized assembly. Even Jack supported civilization at this point in the book, “’We’ll have rules!” he cried excitedly. “Lots of rules!’” They agree as a group to build a signal fire and shelters. They also agree to the rules of the…show more content…
They stop listening to Ralph; they brutally hunt pigs, and begin to hurt each other. The children slowly begin to realize that the rules don’t carry the same weight they did at home, and thus begin to act like however they please. Ralph begins to realize that most people are only good and civilized because they must act like it, because of the pressure that society puts upon them. By the end of the book, nearly the entire population of the island has migrated to Jack’s truculent tribe. This is a tribe that brutally hunts pigs, a tribe that supports Roger, a sadist, and allows him to murder of those who they dislike. For Ralph, this comes as a shock. He learns that people are naturally truculent, and that given the opportunity to act savage without consequence, nearly everyone will do
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