Character Evolution in Lord of the Flies
Gina Becnel
Mr. Villmer
HN Brit Lit - Green
4 December 2013
Summer Reading Essay In the story The Lord of the Flies, many characters evolve, both positively and negatively, throughout the course of the novel once presented with a lack or supervision/moral governing. One of the story’s minor characters, Roger, is a good display of the impact that a removal of guidance can have on children, especially swift removal of this guidance and a replacement with a confusing and unusual environment. In the story’s beginning, Roger is clearly corrupted already, either by society, his parents, or even by his natural self. He’s power hungry, aggressive, and discompassionate. The old world of ideas he naturally combats with like fairness, justice, and democracy still have some impact of him which he displays when he suggests that they put who leads the island to a vote, instead of just letting the lead go to whoever asks first. He treats his friends poorly, he abuses the littluns, by doing things like kicking in their sand castles, and is all around cruel as displayed by his continuing negative behavior on the island. He displays the savage power on the island that exists in contrast to civilization. After enough time on the island, Roger’s condition worsens. He becomes more and more power crazed, seeking to impede his philosophy of violence and power on the island’s other inhabitants. This attitude of disregard for life is displayed through his aggressive and angry actions, such as when he sodomised the sow in a dominating way, leading to the Lord of the Flies, the sow head’s name and the book’s title. The largest examples of Roger’s decent into this animalistic, and savage personality is when he shoves the rock and lets it roll down the mountainside until it kills Piggy and later when he begins torturing Sam and Eric for Jack. His final act of rebellion was smashing the conch shell, a symbol for civilization on the island. There’s even hints at the end that
Mr. Villmer
HN Brit Lit - Green
4 December 2013
Summer Reading Essay In the story The Lord of the Flies, many characters evolve, both positively and negatively, throughout the course of the novel once presented with a lack or supervision/moral governing. One of the story’s minor characters, Roger, is a good display of the impact that a removal of guidance can have on children, especially swift removal of this guidance and a replacement with a confusing and unusual environment. In the story’s beginning, Roger is clearly corrupted already, either by society, his parents, or even by his natural self. He’s power hungry, aggressive, and discompassionate. The old world of ideas he naturally combats with like fairness, justice, and democracy still have some impact of him which he displays when he suggests that they put who leads the island to a vote, instead of just letting the lead go to whoever asks first. He treats his friends poorly, he abuses the littluns, by doing things like kicking in their sand castles, and is all around cruel as displayed by his continuing negative behavior on the island. He displays the savage power on the island that exists in contrast to civilization. After enough time on the island, Roger’s condition worsens. He becomes more and more power crazed, seeking to impede his philosophy of violence and power on the island’s other inhabitants. This attitude of disregard for life is displayed through his aggressive and angry actions, such as when he sodomised the sow in a dominating way, leading to the Lord of the Flies, the sow head’s name and the book’s title. The largest examples of Roger’s decent into this animalistic, and savage personality is when he shoves the rock and lets it roll down the mountainside until it kills Piggy and later when he begins torturing Sam and Eric for Jack. His final act of rebellion was smashing the conch shell, a symbol for civilization on the island. There’s even hints at the end that