Roger Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

This quote describes a great flaw of mankind: That when a certain flaw goes unchecked by the morals and laws of society, it will ultimately corrupt the individual. Golding addresses this topic in the novel, Lord of the Flies, describing a group of boys who get stranded on an island by themselves. Escaping the moral structures of society, the boys are left to fend for themselves and quickly begin to reveal their dark nature through their decisions. Throughout the novel, Golding uses a group of innocent British schoolboys to demonstrate the flaws of mankind through the personal transformations of Jack, Roger and Ralph.
Many argue that those who perform evil acts do so due to the pressures of external forces such as living in poverty or in a dangerous
Choosing to follow under the unrestricted guidance of Jack is most likely one of the most influential factors in Roger’s transformation. The sadistic nature of Roger can be clearly seen near the end of the novel, when he reveals his true colours by intentionally murdering Piggy: “High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever…the rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee…Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across that square, red rock in the sea” (222). This describes Roger’s transition to savagery as a result of following under the leadership of Jack and therefore not being kept in check through the laws and standards of society. After carrying out the murder, Roger fails to show any signs of remorse and continues to remain composed, completely unaffected by the death of Piggy. Roger demonstrates the absolute extent at which flaws can affect an individual’s behaviour and action in the absence of
At the start he is looked up to by the other boys due to his leadership-oriented qualities of being sensible and confident. However, with the deaths of Piggy and Simon comes Ralph’s overwhelming loss of self-control. The loss of Piggy essentially represents the loss of civilization and this is what causes Ralph to gradually lose his focus of trying to escape the island and changes that determination into feelings of anger as he begins to become more aggressive. His personality begins to change, which is described in the scene where he overhears the hunters talking about capturing him: “[Ralph] felt the point of his spear with his thumb and grinned without amusement. Whoever tried that would be stuck, squealing like a pig” (237). This shows how he begins to find comfort in violent behaviour and this also describes his conversion from civilization to savagery. He lets his emotions start to take control and lets out his inner beast, quickly resorting to aggressive confrontation in a difficult situation: “Ralph launched himself like a cat, stabbed, gnarling, with the spear, and the savage doubled up” (240). This describes how he begins to become more animalistic, being brutally violent when his life is threatened, and is even compared to a cat. This shows the corruption of his personality and behaviour without the external forces to help him contain