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Essay Thesis Statement For Lord Of The Flies

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Thesis Statement: The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding portrays the theme that regardless of each person’s different background and characteristics, every individual has the ability to commit brutal acts. While this book depicts Ralph and Piggy as the most civilized characters, and Jack and his hunters as young English choir boys, their actions reveal that they all have the capability to act violently. While Jack and his hunters started out as just choirboys, they become obsessed with violence and are driven to kill. In the beginning of the book, Jack hesitates and misses his chance to kill a trapped pig. Later on, as Jack and his newly formed tribe hunt in the forest, they discover a sow. Following the desperate chase after …show more content…

While Roger only threw rocks at the littluns to miss in the beginning of the book, Roger becomes more violent and demonstrates that he is capable of committing murder by releasing a rock that kills Piggy. Moreover, the conch—which is the symbol of order and civilization in Lord of the Flies—“exploded into a thousand white fragments.” Without the conch and its reminder of order and civilization, the boys become more savage and all show that they have the ability to kill. Regardless of their background as innocent choir boys, these violent events where Jack and the boys in his tribe bring a cruel end to a sow and Piggy show that all humans have a capability for brutality, despite their background. Even as two of the most civilized characters in Lord of the Flies, Ralph and Piggy still show their capability to act violently. As Ralph, Jack, and the other older boys return to their shelters from the Castle Rock—which is where they suspect that the beast would live—the boys encounter a boar and attempt to kill it. Soon after, the excitement turns into an act of hurting Robert, the pretend pig. While all the boys aggressively chant their ritual and fight for their chance to hurt Robert, “Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering” (Golding 114-115). In this scene, Ralph finds excitement in harming others and “was fighting to get near” for a chance to hurt

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