Regression from Civilisation Into Savagery in Lord of the Flies
In today’s modern societies, an idea of a sophisticated way of life as a proof of being civilised is widely spread. If a society does not have things such as political system, contact with other societies, rules, norms and laws, it apparently is a savage. The gap and contrast between civilisation and savagery is greatly displayed in the novel written by William Golding, Lord of the Flies.
In this novel, a group of schoolboys aged from 6 to 12 finds themselves on an uninhabited island. Even though they try to continue with their habits and the way of life they lead before, most of them turn into savages soon.
This process begins quite soon. After elections and voting for Ralph to be a leader, democracy seems to be established on the island. There are given some rules and instructions to be followed, but not everyone is willing to respect them. The shiniest example of breaking the rules is an older boy named Jack and his group of choristers, later hunters. Jack has problems to respect the authority from the very beginning and tries to make things on his own. Later on, Jack is told that he always breaks the rules, but to this point Jack responds “who caresâ€Â. Ralph’s objection “the rules are the only thing we’ve got!†is completely ignored by Jack and it seems that after this discussion he pays even less attention to rules than ever before.
Jack then decides to leave Ralph and other boys and starts new tribe with his group of choristers. Without quite democratic rules as Ralph and his group had, Jack’s group becomes more and more barbaric. They paint their faces with blood, dance around the fire, celebrate every slaughter of a pig, and even play hunting and slaughtering with a boy instead of a pig. This is the perfect example why the rules and laws are needed.
One of the most crucial problems of becoming a savage is the absence of adults. There is nobody who would tell boys what is allowed and what is not hence
In this novel, a group of schoolboys aged from 6 to 12 finds themselves on an uninhabited island. Even though they try to continue with their habits and the way of life they lead before, most of them turn into savages soon.
This process begins quite soon. After elections and voting for Ralph to be a leader, democracy seems to be established on the island. There are given some rules and instructions to be followed, but not everyone is willing to respect them. The shiniest example of breaking the rules is an older boy named Jack and his group of choristers, later hunters. Jack has problems to respect the authority from the very beginning and tries to make things on his own. Later on, Jack is told that he always breaks the rules, but to this point Jack responds “who caresâ€Â. Ralph’s objection “the rules are the only thing we’ve got!†is completely ignored by Jack and it seems that after this discussion he pays even less attention to rules than ever before.
Jack then decides to leave Ralph and other boys and starts new tribe with his group of choristers. Without quite democratic rules as Ralph and his group had, Jack’s group becomes more and more barbaric. They paint their faces with blood, dance around the fire, celebrate every slaughter of a pig, and even play hunting and slaughtering with a boy instead of a pig. This is the perfect example why the rules and laws are needed.
One of the most crucial problems of becoming a savage is the absence of adults. There is nobody who would tell boys what is allowed and what is not hence