Civilization Vs Savagery

Overwhelming Abundance of Evil
Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel that makes a stance on how no single human being is not all good. While humans are the most well developed mammal on planet Earth there is a reason that they are still considered a part of the Animal Kingdom. There is a savage, almost evil instinct buried in each human being. The events of the past and circumstances surrounding the human are the deciding factors of whether or not the evil instinct is released. The novel, Lord of the Flies, draws attention to this topic with three main characters. The theme of civilization vs. savagery is a theme carried by the plot of the novel; innocence and sanity are what are lost as a result of savagery. Golding uses Ralph,
Ralph is the protagonist of Lord of the Flies. He is the elected leader of the group of boys, which shows that he represents order and civilization. Many of the other boys are excited to be on their own. They are happy to be given the freedom of playing and fooling around all day. Ralph however wants to set up civilization. His main goal is to keep the boys until they are rescued. Ralph wants to return to a society of adults. His strong morals and commitment to civilization are what keeps Ralph pushing against savagery. At first Ralph cannot understand the boys wants to be savage. The chanting, dancing, and blood lust of the hunters disgusts Ralph. He is determined not become like the hunters. Ralph cannot completely escape the savagery. When he experiences hunting a pig for the first time he is overcome by a rush of violence, excitement, and bloodlust. At this time Ralph also participates in the dancing and chanting rituals done by the hunters. Ralph is also caught up in the excitement of bloodlust at the end of the novel during Jack’s feast. The savagery that he experiences here leads him to be a part of the killing of Simon. It was an instinct that took over that took over Ralph and caused him to partake in the killing of Simon. The savagery took over Ralph during multiple occasions even though his greatest desire was to keep the peace until they were rescued. At the end of the novel Ralph weeps for the loss of innocence. “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy” (Golding 184). When Ralph runs into the officer at the end of the novel he weeps. They are not tears of joy, but instead tears of loss. He realizes that the events on the island have caused him to lose the last innocence that he had left. The evils