Lord of the Flies: Main Theme, Civilization vs. Savagery
In Lord of the Flies, William Golding created a picturesque society that was doomed for disaster. However, not all of the children on the island had the same savage attributes as some of the others, mostly hunters. This created a stark difference in characteristic traits on the island. You were left with the good versus the bad, or the Civilized versus the Savage. From this, I concluded that the main theme in Lord of the Flies is Civilization vs. Savagery. Throughout the novel, there are many examples that support this and many quotes that exemplify this idea as well. Ralph, the elected leader on the island leads the pack as far as the Civilized ones go. On the other hand, Jack leads the way for the Savage children, as he was elected head of the hunters. It is safe to say that in Lord of the Flies, William Golding intended to give readers a taste of what can happen when societies clash, as the children did on the island. When the novel first begins all seems well with just Ralph and Piggy
In literature, authors will often create a theme in their pieces of work, either to teach the reader something, or perhaps even prove a point. In Lord of the Flies author William Golding sets out to show what can happen when good meets evil, or in this case the Civilized versus the Savage. He picked two individuals to represent each group. Jack represented the savage and Ralph represented the civilized. As the novel progressed their priorities became clearer. Ralph wanted to be rescued and Jack wanted to kill. Their personality clashes would later set the stage for an abysmal series of events at the end of the novel. Thus, the main theme of the novel, Civilization versus Savagery was personified through Ralph and Jack. exploring the island, making sense of what they could. However, things take a quick turn for the worst as everyone first meets together. After everyone gathers together Ralph thinks it would make sense to elect a leader, and there are no real objections to this. "Seems we
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Approximate Word count = 670
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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