Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

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Savagery in Lord of the Flies They led such simple lives before they crash landed on the island, but their need for survival had a large impact on the ways they conducted themselves. Their heartless actions turned them into fierce creatures, almost non-human. Their inhumanity is a characteristic that resides within man, no matter how civil you are. Therefore, the theme savagery of man supports Lord of the Flies as a psychological allegory through ruthless harm, covering that harm with a mask, and doing the harm with brutality and carelessness. On the island, the boys show their savage nature through the ruthless harm done to the beings on the island. Piggy, Simon, and the sow all represent the savage results of their uncivilized behavior on…show more content…
Their barbaric activity throughout the island allows them “...to be described as ‘shadows’ or ‘masks’ or ‘savages’ or ‘demonic figures’ and, like Jack, ‘hunt naked save for paint and a belt’” (Rosenfield). Jack puts on a mask, hiding his true identity, and becomes almost a complete savage. He lets his mask take the blame for the consequences for his actions. His and his hunter’s masks are so powerful that he uses “...the power of the painted faces of Jack’s hunters to remove the hunters from a sense of individual responsibility for their masked deeds” (Themes and Construction). Therefore, the hunters have also lost their individuality because Jack is the all powerful dictator that gives and take anything he wants. Not only Jack, but Simon also wears a mask made of “...coarse black hair that now fell to his eyes. Ralph glanced sideways, smiled contentedly as though he had forgotten that Simon had made a fool of himself, then looked away at nothing” (91). Simon’s mask also completely changes who he is, so much so that Ralph didn’t even recognize him through the hair. Using the mask as an excuse, the boys commit some acts that would be categorized as illegal, however, some actions are much worse than

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