Theme Of Savagery In Lord Of The Flies

Throughout history humans have tried to separate themselves from others to whom they feel they are superior. It has almost become human nature for people to find miniscule differences in cultures that don’t really even exist. This “us versus them” mentality that so many humans take part in can breed hate and bigotry and has led to a hypocritical idea of what civilization is, and similarly, what savagery is. Cultures have adopted this age old battle between righteous civilized people and animal-like savages to add legitimacy to their otherwise inconceivable acts. America, in particular has quite a track record of crossing into this gray area when it comes to what our founding fathers believed to be righteous political action or even
territorial
From the start, the boys have moral issues with the younger children on the island and the structure starts to breakdown. Golding builds a conflict between the children’s “civilized” instinct to live by rules forming a structured system that values the group effort over that of the individual, versus mankind’s innate savage behavior to live by impulse to capture one’s immediate desires, act violently to obtain power over others. Carbonell 2
This “civilization versus savagery” theme is presented through the several characters in the novel. Very early in the book Ralph was the elected leader of the group of boys and created guidelines for the boys to live by. Most importantly, Ralph commissions the conch, that was used to call all off the boys together, as a talking stick and decrees that whoever has control of the conch is the only one allowed to speak. Piggy, Ralph’s right hand man, is the biggest advocate of the conch society, and is verbally accosted for defending the sanctity of the conch. Jack who is thirsty for power begins to fight with Piggy over the possession of the conch. The entire
The villages are selfgoverned but will interact with one another (Life among the Yanomami). For about a thousand years the Yanomami people have lived in this region, and as of
1992 have been recognized legally as the region’s owners. This reserve, twice the size of
Panama, is a site for large amounts of precious metal and also attracts lots of mining. Recently,
1000 miners were sent to the basin to begin work on the Yanomamo territory. This sudden interest in the gold found in this area, brings disease and fight over land. Because of this rush, the
Yanomami’s land is being taken and they are being forced out of their homes. Disease is threating the lives of thousands of tribe members, who are grossly unprepared for the eminent Carbonell 5 epidemic. The fate of this South American tribe is being threatened due to this materialistic quest for gold.
This “savage” tribe is being threatened by the “civilized” people who are seeking pretty objects to wear on their hands. One group of people is using its environment safely and effectively for subsistent living, while the other wants to destroy the lives of thousands to rip this precious metal out of the ground. Who is truly