Lord of the Flies Critical Analysis

In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, Golding illustrates many different themes. One of the themes he demonstrates is being away from a civilized society causes a person to become barbaric. Throughout the novel the conflict is demonstrated between Jack and Ralph who represent savagery vs. civilization. The ways Golding demonstrates this theme is how the boys’ language changes throughout the story. Also the way their behavior changes, and how they lose their identities through out the novel. One-way William Golding demonstrates the theme is by the change of language. The story is based upon a group of British boys who are stranded on a deserted island. They are all brought up to be proper speaking young adults. Throughout the story the boys have reverted back to a nomadic way of speaking. They don’t speak in complete sentences and they don’t use proper English. Also the way that William Golding talks about the boys has changed throughout the novel. He calls them savages and demoniac figures. “..a savage raised his hand..” (pg.148). “Demoniac figures with faces of white and red and green rushed out howling, so that the littluns fled screaming.” William Golding now classifies them as savages because of their behaviors. Another way that Golding illustrates the theme is by the actions the boys acquire. Jack and his group, the choir boys, enjoy hunting. So in the story they attempt to kill a sow. Once they do they re-enact the hunt. They saw Robert, a young boy who is stranded on the island, as the pig. They acted as if they were hunting the pig by jabbing Robert with sticks. Jack and his group also beat the other boys up. Jack and his boys tie up Wilfred, another young boy who is stranded on the island, and beat him up. Also Simon, a boy who is a Christ-like figure in the novel, tries telling all of the other boys stranded on the island that there is no beast. The boys mistaken Simon as the beast and kill him. And Roger, a boy who is in Jack’s group,