The Challenge Between Civilization and Savagery in Lord...

In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, symbolism and allegories were used to show how the children who are stranded on an island have a huge struggle with civilization and savagery. Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and Simon are the ones in the novel that struggle with this the most. Golding wrote this story because he was horrified of Stalinism in Russia. His experience in World War II effected his view on humanity and evils that are capable of occurring. Ralph, Piggy, and Simon are manifested with the civilizing instinct, while Jack, Roger, and the other hunters have the savage instinct. Golding also dealt with human nature. Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that man is good, but Golding controverts his philosophy. Golding believes†¦show more content†¦Through out the book, Ralph struggles with his civilization and savagery. An example is when he joins Jack and his tribe of what they thought was the Beast. Over a period of time, Ralph beings to lose the way that he thinks. You can see signs of this when he has a hard time developing an agenda for his meetings with the boys. He also beings to lose his morals and self control. Ralph becomes savage after everyone has joined Jacks new tribe. He has always been savage because everyone has savagery in them. He truly shows his savage side when he murdered Simon. It was a night on the beach while everyone is around a fire. The boys start to chant for the beast to come out. Everyone is in the moment and something from the woods comes out onto the beach. A thing was crawling out of the forest(Golding152). They start attacking what they think is the beast. Once they stop Ralph then realizes that they have killed Simon. The next morning, Ralph is the only person to acknowledge that they murdered someone the night before. This is the only time that Ralph becomes savage. He knows what he has just done was an awful thing, but at the same time it gave him an adrenaline rush. He was excited about what he did. In the end, Ralph gained an understanding of mans human nature character, something that he cant acquire. Under the authority of Ralph, second in line was a kid named Piggy. Piggy is a symbol of science, intellectuality, and the rational world.Show MoreRelatedWilliam Goldings Lord of the Flies Essay1255 Words   |  6 PagesThe Beast that Kills Slowly Savagery is the condition of being primitive, uncivilized or the quality of being fierce or cruel (Google). It is something that comes easy to everyone at certain times in our life. People will learn it is harder to be good than bad. Being bad comes natural to everyone; people like the thrill of taking a chance. People are trained to be civil and polite from the time one grows up and it is not that hard because of the society everyone lives in. 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