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Young children who are left unattended will slowly loose their civilization, which will turn into, Savagery, Power, and Fear. Civilization is when man meets his basic needs in a healthy manner. Savagery is when people revert back to their lost human instincts. Power, in the case of Lord Of the Flies it’s a position of ascendancy over others: AUTHORITY. Fear is an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by expectation or awareness of danger.
Lord of the Flies shows a great amount of uncivilization through out the whole novel. Through all the characters for example when the boys create the Lord of The flies, which is “the bloody, severed sow’s head that Jack impales on a stake in the forest glade as an offering to the beast. This complicated symbol is most important image in the novel when Simon confronts the sow’s head in the glade and it seems to speak to him, telling him that evil lies within every human heart and promising to have some “fun” with him This “fun” foreshadows Simon’s death in the following chapter.
In this way, the Lord of the Flies becomes a physical manifestation of the beast, a symbol of the power of evil, and a kind of Satan figure who evokes the beast within each human being. Looking at the novel in the context of biblical parallels, the Lord of the Flies recalls the devil, just as Simon recalls Jesus. In fact, the name ” Lord of the Flies” is a literal translation of the bible name Beelzebub, a powerful demon in hell sometimes thought to be the devil himself.” Spark notes This is very uncivilized.
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Savagery is most often found when young children or any human if put in the same position lose the instincts of human ways. This is portrayed through the book Lord Of The Flies. The beast is one way this is shown. ” The imaginary beast that frightens all the boys stands for the primal instinct of savagery that exists within all human beings. The boys are afraid of the beast, but only Simon reaches the realization that they fear the beast because it exists within each of them. As the boys grow more savage, their belief in the beast grows stronger. By the end of the novel, the boys’ behavior is what brings the beast into existences, so the more savagely they act, the more real the beast seems to become. Sparknotes, Themes, Motifs and Symbols. Jack one of the young boys who were stranded on the island is very savage, for example when Jack cannot bare the thought of someone else telling his story about how he killed a pig, he begins, ” we spread round. I crept. On hands and knees. The spears fell out because they hadn’t no barbs on.
The pig ran away and made an awful noise- it turned back and ran into the circle, bleeding we closed in- I cut the pigs throat.” Golding 79. Jack had reverted back to uncivilized ways because his civilization had been shattered because of being stranded on the island. Jack even gets the rest of the boys to join in dancing around the fire as they were cooking the meet from the pig they were saying ” kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in.” Golding 79. Savagery can destroy civilization. It only takes one person to become uncivilized and the others will slowly follow after. But on the other hand is it only children who become savages when left unattended or can young people who
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have grown up in good neutering homes become savages, the answer is ‘yes’ according to an article called In Harms way, ” One in three Canadian girls will experience a controlling, abusive dating situation first article, says Dr. Jill Murray, a psychotherapist and author of but I love him. This shows us that people who are taught to be civilized will sometime turn uncivilized and take it out on other humans.
Another part of civilization is power, someone must have the most and someone must have the least or in other words someone must be dominant, and someone must be oppressed. In Lord of the Flies, Jack was the dominate person. He oppressed Ralph. When Ralph attempted to instill some rules so things could run smoothly, Jack refused to listen to anything he said, for example when Golding wrote, ” Jack! Jack! You haven’t got the conch! Let him speak.’ Jack’s face swam near him. And you shut up! Who are you anyway’sitting there telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing-‘ I’m chief. I was chosen.’ Why should choosing make any difference? Just give orders that don’t make sense-‘ Piggy’s got the conch.’ That’s right-favor Piggy as you always do’ ” pg 98 another example of this is found in http://www.bookrags.com/notes/lof/PART8.htm when it says, “At this, Jack requests a vote from the group to remove Ralph from power. No one raises his or her hands and so, lacking support for the motion, he abruptly declares his defection from Ralph”s society. Here is the turning point as the group officially
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splits, although signs of rising tensions between the two have been evident throughout. Jack disappears, inviting all who want to be a hunter to join his new society.” Table of contents this shows that Ralph still has some power but Jack is slowly taking it away from him. Another example of dominant power in uncivilized people is in the book the Pearl. At the beginning of the book, Kino goes to the doctor to find help for his baby boy, who was stung by a scorpion. When he arrived at the doctor, who was ” not of his culture. This doctor was of a race which for nearly four hundred years had beaten and starved and robbed and despised Kino’s race.” steinback pg 11. The doctor rejects Kino of any help for his son due to the lack of money. The extent of oppression and domination of the doctor and Kino, can be obviously seen. For the doctor is the dominator and Kino is the oppressor.
Civilization can also be terminated by fear. Fear can be used in so many ways. When William Golding used fear he chose to pick on one person which was obviously shown. Which was the person who was hated by the person who had the power and that was Ralph. Ralph had to fear for his life in the end of the novel, as Jack and his team tries to kill him. “A face. The savage peered into the obscurity beneath the thicket. In the middle was a blob of dark and the savage wrinkled up his face! The seconds lengthened! Don’t scream. You’ll get back. He’s making sure. A stick sharpened. Ralph screamed, a scream of fright and anger and desperation. His legs straightened, the screams became continuous and foaming. He shot forward,
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burst the ticket was in the open, screaming, snarling, bloody. He swung the stake and the savage tumbled over; but there were others coming towards him, crying out” pg 199. Jack is hunting Ralph. Jack is using his control to cause unbearable fear in Ralph. Ralph’s civilization has been crushed. Also in chapter 12 of lord of the flies it there is a quote that says ” Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called piggy. pg 225 Fear in the pearl is not as bad as it is in Lord of the Flies but it still is present. Kino’s great fear is the loss of his pearl, his prized possession, and he will do anything to keep it. But, to keep his fear real, the townspeople have to send people to steal the pearl, because without it there would be no fear for Kino. Juana says, ” Will they follow us? Do you think they will try to find us?” and in response, Kino shows his fear by repeating the last idea. They will try. Whoever finds us will take the pearl, oh they will try.” steinback pg 65 Kino’s fear is very real, and he knows it, in fact, Juana knows it too. By controlling and keeping this family under fear, everyone else has the upper hand. This family even leaves there civilization, the land they know, all for this pearl and it is because of fear.
Savagery, Fear and power all cause the downfall of civilization. It’s like an eggshell and each part that breaks of is something of on civilization.
