Lord of the Flies- Natural Capacity for Brutality

In Lord of the Flies, Golding explores man’s natural capacity for brutality. In the novel we see that at first man can be good but when push comes to shove man will turn for the worst to survive. Golding uses irony within the novel to furthermore explore man’s natural capacity for brutality. Golding also explores the factors that might promote and minimize brutality. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, there are various events that transpire in which the results promote or minimize brutality. For example, when the conch was broken by Jack and his hunters they became increasingly savage. The conch had resembled law and order and since that was no longer prevalent on the island, Jack and his hunters realize that they could do whatever they wanted to do to benefit their camp and hurt Ralph’s side of the island. However, despite their savage acts their brutality was minimized when coming together to eat the pig that they’ve hunted. Golding uses food to minimalize the boys’ brutality to highlight he idea that when they participate in civilized activities such as coming together for food minimalizes their inner brutality. The use of these various events Golding shows that the less civilized the boys’ act the more brutal they become and vice-versa. Golding uses irony to further express the idea that all individuals have a natural capacity for brutality, in the Lord of the Flies. One of the most ironic events that happen in the novel is the death of Simon. The death of Simon is ironic for various reasons. For one Simon was just trying to inform the rest of the boys what the beast actually is. Another reason is that he was killed trying to help the rest of the kids because they are blinded by fear which leads them to act on their violent ideas. Through the use of irony in the Lord of the Flies, Golding is showing that man will and can do horrible things when placed in a tough situation such as surviving because the main goal is to stay