Lord of the Flies2

A detailed Summary of Lord of the Flies2

In society human beings have developed morals and ways of life that set them apart from savage creatures. William Golding's story Lord of the Flies, deals with young men shedding their morality to maintain a society that is capable of surviving. In this tale of human survival Golding selects symbols on an island to represent themes. Of the many symbols he uses, the stripping of the cloths, a conch shell, and war paint are the three most effective. Each of these three symbols represent how humans try to survive as well as adapt to their surroundings.

When the boys first meet after freeing themselves from the wreckage of the plane, they all begin to remove their clothes in order to adjust to the heat of their surroundings. This represents the initial breakdown of civilization, and how the boys are trying to maintain comfort in such a precarious position. It is clearly eminent that at this point in the story Golding is comparing this group of boys to a pack of animals trying to adjust and live. With each piece of clothing removed it is as if they are pealing away the morals and ethics of life taught to them as early as when they were born. These boys were no longer apart of civilization; they were n

When most of the boys turned from the conch and relied on hunting to keep them alive, they began to wear paint all over their bodies. It was to how Golding displayed to the reader that the boys were some type of a savage tribe hunting for the kill and as well as the meat. " He rubbed the charcoal stick between the patches of red and white on his face (63)." It was at this point that the boys began to change themselves by putting the paint on their faces. The paint mimicked the idea that they were wearing masks and they did not feel like themselves anymore. They had discarded the society they grew up with when they crashed on the island. They were hunters and no longer respected the conch. They then were a tribe of killers that respected spears instead of a shell. These boys were no longer human beings; they were warriors with feelings of torture and pain that they wanted to inflect on anyone at any time. They had become more aware of survival and flesh of another animal that it blinded their senses and they lost any rational thinking. They were now animals on the island that had everything they needed to survive, except a form of society. They were now on their own and could not develop nor did they want to develop a way of living. They had at that point completed the cycle of changing to the area around them. Golding demonstrates that man shares a mentality that of an animal. It is survival that is the main key to living and how one can not be concerned with morality. It is up to each individual to survive in any position given to them. Golding sought to make the reader understand for a group of humans to survive together and remain civilized would be utterly impossible.

As boys began to adjust themselves to the island, they saw it

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1189
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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