Lord of the Flies Violence
How does Golding use violence in the novel ‘Lord of the Flies’?
In the novel ‘Lord of the Flies’, Golding uses the theme of violence surfacing throughout the text. One reason for this was, Golding believed that every individual has the potential for evil and that the flawed human nature is seen in ‘mankind’s essential sickness’. His belief in this arrived through his time spent in war, so his aim was to challenge Ballantyne’s novel ‘Coral Island’, and in which Golding’s book the truth would be shown about his own thoughts of the darkness of mankind. As the theme of violence is in the heart of the novel, another reason of this is due to the quick breakdown of civilisation on the island. Through the breakdown, an ideal situation of violence and fundamentally evil humans is set and violence is flourished through conflicts manifesting.
The island begins to as a utopia for the boys, ‘the shimmering water’ explores the island as being a paradise and an obvious place of beauty. However dark traits of the island start to become prominent which begins to open Golding’s theme of violence; the plane crash on the island is described as a ‘scar’. This implies that before this mark had been left, the island was perfect and untouched whereas now the arrival of the outside world has immediately destroyed its beauty. The use of the word ‘scar’ could also suggest the state in which the plane has arrived from; as the war was ongoing the use of the formidable word shows the ruin in which the world back home was in. Furthermore, this instantly reveals the purpose of the boys arrival on the island, the war has led them to be evacuated so even though the horrors of the island are yet to come, the irony of the barbaric actions back home is introduced.
Another example of the darkness on the island which is already seen is the description of the ‘skull-like coconuts’. In this, Golding compares something commonly related to a tropical island, being the ‘coconuts’, to in contrast be
In the novel ‘Lord of the Flies’, Golding uses the theme of violence surfacing throughout the text. One reason for this was, Golding believed that every individual has the potential for evil and that the flawed human nature is seen in ‘mankind’s essential sickness’. His belief in this arrived through his time spent in war, so his aim was to challenge Ballantyne’s novel ‘Coral Island’, and in which Golding’s book the truth would be shown about his own thoughts of the darkness of mankind. As the theme of violence is in the heart of the novel, another reason of this is due to the quick breakdown of civilisation on the island. Through the breakdown, an ideal situation of violence and fundamentally evil humans is set and violence is flourished through conflicts manifesting.
The island begins to as a utopia for the boys, ‘the shimmering water’ explores the island as being a paradise and an obvious place of beauty. However dark traits of the island start to become prominent which begins to open Golding’s theme of violence; the plane crash on the island is described as a ‘scar’. This implies that before this mark had been left, the island was perfect and untouched whereas now the arrival of the outside world has immediately destroyed its beauty. The use of the word ‘scar’ could also suggest the state in which the plane has arrived from; as the war was ongoing the use of the formidable word shows the ruin in which the world back home was in. Furthermore, this instantly reveals the purpose of the boys arrival on the island, the war has led them to be evacuated so even though the horrors of the island are yet to come, the irony of the barbaric actions back home is introduced.
Another example of the darkness on the island which is already seen is the description of the ‘skull-like coconuts’. In this, Golding compares something commonly related to a tropical island, being the ‘coconuts’, to in contrast be