Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies has more than one “theme,” or meaning, but the overall and most important one is that the conditions of life within society are closely related to the moral integrity of its individual members. In Golding’s own words:
“The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable.”
The theme of Lord of the Flies has been questioned for decades. Golding believed that the theme was to trace the problems of society back to the sinful nature of man. He wrote the book to show how political systems cannot govern society effectively without first taking into consideration the defects of human nature. The defects of human nature are present in examples in Golding’s novel through the characters of Jack and his hunters. Here, Golding shows that men are inherently evil; if left alone to fend for themselves. They will revert back to the savage roots of their ancestors. "There was the brilliant world of hunting, tactics, fierce exhilaration, skill, and there was the world of longing and baffled common-sense," said William Golding. This is seen in the novel near the end, when the tribe is hunting Ralph. Matters had become quite out of hand by this time. Even the naval officer who saves the boys knows their society has become savage.
The beast, the Lord of the Flies, is seen as a real object on the island, which frightens the boys. Actually, the beast is something internal. The Lord of the Flies is in soul and mind of the boys, leading them to the natural chaos of a society with no reasoning adults. Only Simon understands what the real beast is, but is killed when he tries to tell the boys about the Lord of the Flies. This shows that a government can’t control human nature.
The dead body flying in the parachute symbolizes the end of adult supervision of the
“The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable.”
The theme of Lord of the Flies has been questioned for decades. Golding believed that the theme was to trace the problems of society back to the sinful nature of man. He wrote the book to show how political systems cannot govern society effectively without first taking into consideration the defects of human nature. The defects of human nature are present in examples in Golding’s novel through the characters of Jack and his hunters. Here, Golding shows that men are inherently evil; if left alone to fend for themselves. They will revert back to the savage roots of their ancestors. "There was the brilliant world of hunting, tactics, fierce exhilaration, skill, and there was the world of longing and baffled common-sense," said William Golding. This is seen in the novel near the end, when the tribe is hunting Ralph. Matters had become quite out of hand by this time. Even the naval officer who saves the boys knows their society has become savage.
The beast, the Lord of the Flies, is seen as a real object on the island, which frightens the boys. Actually, the beast is something internal. The Lord of the Flies is in soul and mind of the boys, leading them to the natural chaos of a society with no reasoning adults. Only Simon understands what the real beast is, but is killed when he tries to tell the boys about the Lord of the Flies. This shows that a government can’t control human nature.
The dead body flying in the parachute symbolizes the end of adult supervision of the