Lord Of The Flies Violence Analysis

When emotions of fear and hate reaches their peak, desperate people revert to their savage selves to cause horrendous actions revolving around power and control. The thirst for power becomes overwhelming and blinds them to the consequences of their actions. As a result, violence slowly erupts in waves, building intensity over time, and eventually leads to brutal mob attacks. Hence, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies depicts that an impulse for power leads to an escalated pattern of violence as well as a loss of personal identity prompts an increase in mob violence. This violence from mob mentality still exists in the modern world.
William Golding uses his characters to depict that a loss of identity within a mob liberates the members, allowing
One example is when Simon appeared to inform the others of the parachutist when the boys suddenly all “at once…surged after [him], poured down the rock, leapt on to [him and] screamed, struck, bit, [and] tore” (Golding 153). By taking the mob’s principals of fear, the individual loses their calm conscious and instead responds with alacrity to fulfill the group’s needs of survival in the form of violence. With their self-awareness gone, they become willing to engage in dangerous behavior, in this case-murdering Simon. Not to mention, the ongoing “Reports of attacks on people from immigrant backgrounds [had] surfaced in [Sweden]” (Gigova). Additionally, in Korea, a “broadcast video of protestors throwing eggs and water bottles at [South Korea prime minister” attack occurred (Kwon). People usually believe that they cannot be held responsible for violent behavior if they are part of a mob because they perceive the violent actions as a group’s. For instance, the common saying that “everyone was doing it” caused people to ignore their own part. By being part of a mob, it allows a diffusion of responsibility as well as a feeling of liberation from political
For instance, when Ralph encountered Jack’s hunt: he “too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering" (Golding 114).Groups can generate a sense of emotional excitement, which can lead to the provocation of behaviors that a person would not typically engage in if alone. Even Ralph was corrupted by the group’s desire to dominate. Furthermore, Korea’s news agency received new threats from mobs stating that the “merciless sword of justice will cut off [South Korea President’s] windpipe…despite her attempt to cling [to the] coattails of foreign forces” (Kwon). The mob members have a strong sense of group nationalism where they pride themselves not to be dependent on foreign forces but their own ability as a country. The patriotic emotion only adds fuel to their burning passion, connecting different people by this one aspect of similarity. Another example is a “footage of [frequent group] clashes [involving weapons]” in the UK (Gigova). These repetitive attacks only highlights how mobs ling onto the feeling of domination as a group. As a group, they feel more powerful, more pressured to act, and a surge of excitement to commit attacks repeatedly. The overwhelming sense of group