Microcosm In Lord Of The Flies

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In William Goldings’ Lord of the Flies a plane full of pre-pubescent boys crash lands on an empty island, where trouble is sure to find them. Throughout the story, the stranded boys face many difficult challenges, however most of them occur with each other. By trapping the boys on the small island in Lord of the Flies, Golding utilizes a long-established literary method of examining human nature and human polity in microcosm (Boyd). During the boys’ time spent on the island, the rest of the world experiences World War II; a situation parallel to the one that the boys were in. Right from the start, the boys quickly realize that in order to survive they must work together as a team, and a small community soon is formed. However, as the story…show more content…
They detached themselves from caring, so they could achieve what they wanted. The older children would pick on the younger ones, without reasonable cause other than some ridiculous need for superiority over one another. When Henry was playing at the water’s edge, excited that he could control something, Roger came along, and began throwing rocks around him, successfully gaining his attention and causing him to obediently look right or left (Ch.4, pg.62). Both boys were so desperate to distract themselves from their own helpless situations that they were projecting their fear of suppression onto an even weaker other. As the boys’ sadness continuously increased, so did their need for others to testify to their masterful superiority (Schoene-Harwood). These young boys lose their respect, and compassion for each other, parts of human nature that everyone should…show more content…
To imagine someone going through such a deteriorating experience is baffling. Living on the island and having to care for themselves, while simultaneously having to fight physically, and mentally with all the other boys reduced them to nothing more than their primitive state. Simon’s death can attest to that. They were so caught up in their chant that they confused him for the beast “The beast was on its knees…the beast struggled forward…the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt onto the beast, screamed, struck ,bit ,tore” (Ch.9, pg.153). Their animalistic, and savage behavior proved that these young boys lost all sense of humanity, and behaved like what they feared most, a
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