Theme of Lord of the Flies
In Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding, the protagonist Ralph asks his friend Piggy, "What makes things break up like they do?" (127). This very serious question gives insight into the novel's central theme. Before analyzing the novel, however, it is first important to note the historical period in which the novel was published, and important events that occurred in the life of Golding before the novel's publication. The novel was first published in 1954, just a decade after World War II. The world had just been stunned to learn the evils that took place in Nazi Germany, and these evils, among many others facing the world at the time, shaped the views of many famous writers of the time period. Golding, who was in the Navy during the war, was just one of these authors. Golding had an especially bleak outlook on the human race and the future of humanity, and it is shown throughout his work. In Lord of the Flies, Golding tells a story of a group of children who become stranded on an island after their plane crashes while they are being evacuated during World War II. The boys create a primitive government, which quickly deteriorates as time progresses and the savage instincts within the children become more prominent
The children's fear of the "beastie," as they call it, shows just how irrational they are beginning to become. This irrationality progresses further, and the children even start to form their own rituals. By the middle of the story, the darker sides of the children are much more recognizable. Jack and his pack of hunters no longer seem to care about keeping lit the signal fire- the children's only hope of rescue and return to their normal lives. When Jack's hunters let the fire go out for the first time, a ship happens to pass by. Angrily, Piggy confronts Jack in the novel: "You didn't have let that fire out. You said you'd keep the smoke going-" The younger children first, then gradually the older ones, like primitives in the Now there are no comforting mothers to dispel the terrors of the unknown. (246) While the chronological story tells of a group of boys and their inability to suppress the evil within themselves, Golding's theme has great application to actual society. The nature of each of the main characters in the novel applies in this way. The main character, Ralph, can be seen to represent man-made government. Ralph's set up government is a very well-intentioned one. He is not particularly power-driven- in fact his basic motivation is just to keep everyone happy and content with his leadership. Ralph does not order the other boys around, and he also lets each have his say in how things should be run. Piggy is the voice of reason and intelligence behind Ralph's leadership. Piggy "...embodies reason and intelligence. Piggy represents rationality, logic, science, and the ways of thinking that civilized society depends on" (Kruger 3). Piggy believes that civilized society is effective because it is more reasonable for people to co-exist with rules and mutual respect, than obedience and irrationality. For example, on page 180, Piggy asks to Jack, "Which is better- to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?" However, no matter how well-intentioned and intelligent Ralph and Piggy's system is, it fails miserably, just as Golding believes systems do in real society. As John F. Fitzgerald and John R. Kay
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Approximate Word count = 1454
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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