Social Conscience In Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis
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William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is an authentic and insightful novel, as it allows us to develop a social conscience throughout the story. A social conscience can be described as a thorough understanding of responsibility and ethics, as well as being able to identify the injustices in our society. Golding wrote this novel nine years after he served his country in World War II; he felt he need to retell the horrible things he witnessed during that time. Golding wrote the novel knowing all too well humanity’s capabilities and therefore was able to provide such a profound novel. The story communicates the delicacy of civility and courtesy through biblical parallels, themes and symbols.
The loss of the boys innocence allows us to distinguish a social conscience from a regular conscience. After order and laws are taken away from the well-mannered British school boys, they loose their sense of social conscience as well as their innocence. This is when their selfishness overthrows their civility. This is…show more content… This juxtaposition shows that most social consciences were acute and under-developed when the bible was written. This is because civilisation was ordered to discriminate against anyone who did not believe in God, as well as anyone ranging from homosexuals and pregnant women. Golding is stating that it may take thousands of years for humans to develop a substantial social conscience, but in a matter of days that social conscience can by overthrown by human instincts. The audience therefore feels lucky to have such laws and responsibilities to live by, so they can stay as far away from ‘human instinct’ as possible. Understanding that a social conscience can be developed over time means recognising that civilisation can always improve, which is a crucial observation to posses in the world we live