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Lord Of The Flies Critical Analysis

Decent Essays

Lord of the Flies is a 1956 novel written by William Golding that follows a group of castaway adolescents as they struggle for power and sanity. The novel deals with complex aspects of human nature, civilization, and violence. Within Lord of the Flies, the violent acts serve a dual purpose of developing characters and furthering the plot, while still directly lending themselves to the work’s overall theme.
One of the more notable events in the novel is the dance that follows Jack’s mutiny feast. The hunters’ ritual killing dance is underway when Simon erupts from the woods and is mistaken for the beast. Simon was an intellectual and perceptive boy who realized that the beast was only the manifestation of their own fears; he was brutally murdered while trying to explain that. The next morning Ralph comes to terms with the events of the previous night, saying, “Piggy. . . . That was Simon. . . . Piggy. . . . That was murder.” and admitting, “I’m frightened. Of us.” (Golding, 156-157) This marks an important moment in Ralph’s character arc; he realizes the terrors man is capable of and it alters his perception of the other boys. Ralph is developed and complexified through this event because he struggles with his own actions and his morals. He is distorted from a calm and capable leader into a broken and fearful young man by the end of the novel, and Simon’s death is partially responsible for that.
The most vivid and descriptive act of violence is Pigg’s death by rapid

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