William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

1082 Words5 Pages
What is the major theme of Lord of the Flies? Discuss three or four incidents, characters and/or conversations in the novel where it is most powerfully presented. Guergana Sedeva The novel Lord of the Flies written by William Golding explores several themes, the most prominent one being civilisation versus savagery; the necessity to obey rules versus the urge to be violent in order to gain power. The conflict between these two tendencies is portrayed through the disciplined English boys who are forced to adapt to the wild, disorderly life in the jungle. Through various incidents and characters, Golding shows that the instinct of savagery is more primitive than the desire for civilisation. Golding suggests that good, ethical behaviour is installed…show more content…
At this point in the novel Jack is already relapsing into his primal instincts. This becomes evident when, after having killed his first pig, he develops a feeling of power: “His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink.” (p. 88) It is clear that Jack’s excitement stems not from the fact that he will eat meat but because he killed the pig. He is satisfying deep primitive impulses which are becoming more dominant in his personality. Unlike Jack, Ralph has remained civilised and well-mannered. He is attempting to enforce rules, the most important one being to keep the signal fire going, so that the boys can get rescued. Jack wants to be rescued but his sense of discipline is blurred by his natural instincts. When Ralph becomes infuriated with Jack he says “There was a ship. Out there. You said you’d keep the fire going and you let it out!” (p. 88), making Jack extremely angry. Realising that he was indeed in the wrong, Jack lashes out at Piggy, once again letting his dark side show. This scene is a gripping illustration of the conflict between reason and

More about William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

Open Document