User talk:Jaychowdree

Lord of the Flies: Primitive Instincts Versus Law and Order The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a book about some young British school boys who go on a class trip and on the way there, the plane crashes. The grown ups in the aircraft die in the crash, and the boys must learn to survive on their own. They have no idea where in the world they are. Although originally Golding planned to be a scientist, but after two years in college, he became interested in writing literature. He joined the Royal Navy in World War II. At the end of his five-year Naval career he was the commander of a rocket ship. His experience in World War II inspired him to consider how men revert to animal instinct in survival situations and how quickly civilization can be destroyed. When loss of innocence occurs, the moral code is destroyed. There are many events when the boys lose their innocence. The boys agree there has to be a signal fire to be rescued. Ralph, the elected chief assigns the task of keeping the fire going to Jack. However, Jack and his hunters don't listen and decide to go hunting, letting the fire go out and while there was no signal fire or smoke a ship passes by. Ralph, angered, says “Do you remember when the fire went out and he [Jack] went hunting and the ship passed by?” (Golding 133). This 2 is Ralph's first loss of innocence because he realizes two things : even though he is a leader he can't control everyone, secondly, the boys would rather hunt and have fun and following Ralph's orders. To some people a more disturbing way someone loses innocence happens when Simon imagines the dead sow's head ( “Lord of the Flies”) is communicating with him. When the sow was killed Jack saves the head as a meal left for the “Beast.” This “ Lord of the Flies” becomes the symbol of both the loss of innocence and the destruction of moral code. The narrator writes “the half-shut eyes [of the sow] were dim with the infinite cynicism of adult life” (Golding 106). Losing hope, Simon discovers that evil is always going to win. Simon goes to the top of the mountain and tries to see what really is the beast and he sees a corpulent figure which is the body of a dead pilot. He wanted to break the news to everyone but the hunters were enthralled in a hunting mood so they saw Simon and thought he was the beast and before thinking logically they just killed him. He is an important character who is killed, as well as another character who was nicknamed “Piggy.” The conflict between Jack and Ralph causes them to split up and Jack decides to go to the other part of the island with his hunters while Ralph stays with his people. Piggy decides to stay with Ralph and Piggy’s glasses were used to start the fire originally by magnifying the sunlight onto wood and 3 Jack realizes that he will need the specs to start his own fire and Piggy is the only person who has specs. Jack and the hunters raid Ralph's shelter during the night to steal Piggy's specs. In the morning, Ralph and Piggy and Sam and (Sam's twin) Eric go to confront Jack to get Piggy's specs. Jack and the hunters want to keep Piggy's glasses. Roger, one of Jack's hunters, decides to find a way to kill Piggy. He uses a lever to hurl a boulder at Piggy who cannot see it coming at him without his glasses. Golding writes “ Rock struck piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch he was holding shattered into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (141). Through Piggy's death, Ralph discovers the shattering of the conch which symbolizes Law and Order, and Piggy himself who represents logic are both destroyed at the end of the novel. Golding writes “ Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true wise friend named Piggy” (158). For all the boys the loss of innocence leads to the destruction of moral code. The central conflict is between the Id (Jack) and the ego (Ralph). The Id is the violent animal instinct that resides in man while the Ego works to manage the group's safety, according to Sigmund Freud. As the boys struggle with the tasks that need to be done, Ralph is elected leader and favors having rules, but Jack 4 opposes him. Ralph exclaims “ ‘because the rules are the only thing we got!!’ But Jack was shouting against him”(Golding 70). Jack is challenging Ralph's authority implying that rules are meant to be broken. Breaking rules is the first step in the destruction of the moral code. As Jack and the hunters lose their civilized manners and surrender to the Id, Ralph feels hopeless when he says “ I'd like to put on war paint and be a savage, but we must keep the fire going” (Golding 110). The conflict between Ralph and Jack escalates during the raid when Piggy's specs are stolen. Both boys forget their friendship while they let aggression and violence take over. Golding writes “there was a vicious snarling in the mouth of a shelter and the plunge and thump of living things” (130). Golding’s description of “vicious snarling”  in animalistic terms helps to reinforce the fact that the boys’ moral code has been broken. Without the moral code: friendship, teamwork, unity, and civilization cannot exist. During the raid to steal the fire, the hunters are described as “demonic figures with faces of white and red and green [who] rushed out howling, so that little ones fled screaming” (Golding 109). By describing the hunters as “demonic” Golding ensures the reader that the boys have crossed the line and become evil. In the same scene Golding writes “Ralph saw the tallest of them all stark naked save for a paint and the belt-- was Jack” (109). 5 The fact that he is naked in the presence of others shows his loss of civilization. For all these reasons the moral code is so important to the preservation of man's humanity. In Golding’s Lord of the Flies readers are persuaded that man's loss of innocence causes the destruction of moral code. An important lesson learned from this book is there is still animal instinct residing in man. While this instinct is necessary in survival situations, it is not beneficial in modern society. Once the animal instinct is freed in some individuals, it is impossible to restrain it. This fact is made crystal clear to the readers of Lord of the Flies.

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