A Tad Bit ‘Bout Life

          As part of my school curriculum, I have read the acclaimed book Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I had already read the book two years prior to this, and thought that I had little to learn from reading it a second time. Well, I was, as usual, completely wrong. Lord of the Flies has uncovered itself for me. What it has revealed is a detail about society that happens to be quite shocking, for several reasons.                      

If you haven’t read the book (which is rather unlikely), you must have at least heard of it. It tells the story of a group of children that were stranded on an island in the Pacific. As they find each other, they resolve to live by rules and order. A leader is elected, and they decide upon their rules. The order in their little society quickly disintegrates as they become highly superstitious, and are afraid of the Beast, a terrible creature. The leader tries to bring order back into the wild boys. His attempts fail, and the boys are absorbed into savagery, violence, and decadence. Only the leader, a pair of twins, a fat asthmatic short-sighted reject (but very wise, and intelligent), and a shy outcast that was never really accepted into society realize the peril of savagery, as well as the decay of good among the boys. The savages, with painted faces and spears kill the shy outcast as well as the fattish boy. They all but forget their past as civilized British children, and lead a life of barbarism. The sensible and wise must hide from them, for they know that death awaits them if they show themselves to their former comrades.                      

Golding’s message that is clearly displayed throughout this novel is that within everyone resides evil—the Beast. He believes that humans are inherently evil. I chose to mention this in my blog because of my previous post on “Are Humans Inherently Violent?” I believe that there is a clear connection in between violence and evil. The savage ‘hunters’ were overcome by this evil.

All the main characters in this book represent people in modern society. Ralph represents order, civilization, and leadership, Piggy represents the scientific and logical facet of society, Simon represents the good nature in humans, Jack represents uncontrolled savagery, as well as thirst for power, and finally, Roger represents brutal and cruel bloodlust at its extreme. Golding believes that even the greatest civilization can fall because of the “Beast” within you (evil). This is stated in chapter two of the book: “‘We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best at everything’” (30 Golding).                      

Reading Lord of the Flies a second time was infinitely rewarding, as I learnt of human interaction. The shocking bit is that I, as a middle-schooler, see the truth in this book, and can definitely see this scenario come into play. What an enlightening experience! What a terrible thought.