Literary devices are techniques often used by authors to portray in-depth analyses of major characters, storylines, and central themes, which take place in a story. These analyses help readers understand a message the author is trying to convey. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses different literary devices in order to demonstrate the boys’ struggle against the lack of society and law on the island, as well as the consequences that have transpired due to this loss. This conflict is evident through the different instances of irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism that occurs throughout the novel. Irony shows the massive undergo of change the boys on the island experience; near the beginning of the novel, Ralph and Jack’s …show more content…
Lots of rules!” (32), and later on says, “We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best at everything” (42). However, on the contrary, it is shown in the consecutive chapters that Jack is one of the first boys to succumb to their primitive instincts despite what he claims in chapter 2. These instances of irony show the foolishness and naivety of the boys in the beginning, which also shows the major change of behaviour they go through. This change of behaviour is addressed by the naval officer at the conclusion of the story, where he remarks the boys with disgust, “I should have thought [...] a pack of British boys [...] would have been able to put up a better show than that”(224). This quotation coincidentally resembles Jack’s earlier line about “ the English are best at everything”(42). However, the naval officer does not realize the traumatic events that have happened on the island is a microcosm of the constant war between civilization and savagery happening in society in which the naval officer is a part of. After the naval officer’s comments about the boys, they all begin to sob, as they realize the immense change they went from innocent boys to complete savages. The irony in the story has revealed the inner conflict between civilization and savagery in a place without law and order and its effect on the behaviour of the boys; ultimately causing the boys to face their major consequence: the
Similar to most literary classics, William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies contains allusions to the Christian Bible and character archetypes that convey universal ideas. Golding’s story focuses on a group of British schoolboys who are stranded on an island and ultimately succumb to their innate savage tendencies. Literary analysts often compare components of Lord of the Flies to various aspects in the Christian Bible. For instance, the setting in Lord of the Flies is often linked to the Garden of Eden, and some characters are thought to have religious-inspired names. Critics believe Simon’s name originates from Jesus Christ’s disciple, Peter, whose name was originally Simon. Biblical allusions exist throughout the novel associated with
Throughout the history of humanity, humans have different behaviors that change depending on what situations they are in. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo spent many years exploring human nature and has developed many theories about human behavior. One of Zimbardo’s ideas is about situational factors that states “one’s behavior is assumed to be dependent upon their current circumstances, situation or the environment that they are in.” He concluded the concept of situational factors after his Stanford Prison Experiment, in which he gave authority to regular people and observed any changes. The experiment proved that people’s behavior will change when they are in different situations. Zimbardo also believes that evilness is the exercise of power to harm people in anyway possible, so a five year old who teases others to Adolf Hitler would be classified as perpetrators of evil.
The isolation that comes with crashing on a deserted island affects all the characters, seen most dramatically through Jack. Being brought into this setting transforms the civilized choir leader into a savage hunter and murderer who’s given into his inner demons. When the boys first crash land onto the island, they were proper English schoolboys. Due to the separation from society, however, the boys start to regress, giving in to their more animalistic instincts. Jack starts off as the ‘‘chapter chorister and head boy’” who tries to take leadership of the tribe the boys form; he fails to do so, turning him away from order and reason (Golding 22). He neglects his duties and turns his attention to hunting the native pigs, prompting him to let the fire, their gateway back to society, go out; this pits Ralph against Jack, who represent civilization and savagery
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of young British boys are left stranded on an island after a fatal plane crash in the midst of a World War. With no communication to the outer world and no presence or influence of adults on the island, Ralph, Jack Merridew, and Piggy are forced to take initiative if the group of hopeless boys want to survive. The group of boys experience a drastic change throughout their time on the island, a change that no one would ever expect to occur to a young group of primed British boys. The leader of the stranded choirists on the island, Jack Merridew, shows such a change that he soon persuades other boys to follow his savage actions as the novel progresses. Though the changes to Jack’s mental and physical characteristics advance slowly at first, the final personality of Jack is instantly taken over at the climax of the novel to a dehumanized savage. Jack’s innocence is corrupted by his inability to withstand a society without rules proving man's good essential nature is altered by the evil within society.
When the boys first got on the island they were doing good. They picked a leader, they had rules and they were doing pretty. Unit Jack wanted to be leader and he left the tribe. So that made other kids leave and join his tribe which started a conflict. That ends with them losing their innocence and experiencing the darkness of the man ‘s heart.
One of the strongest forms of adversity came in the form of a strong and outspoken boy Jack; Jack often overwhelms and disregards things that Ralph, the chief of the boys on the island, has said to be done. Ralph, we can see, struggles to hold his control over the group of boys when Jack refuses to believe the importance of these jobs. Ralph’s biggest struggle against adversity against Jack happens during a time of
Many philosophers believe that a correct government can make a strong society. However, these philosophers do not agree on what form of government is the most “correct”. English philosopher John Locke believed that Man is inherently moral and that the purpose for government is to grant the fundamental rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to its people. Another philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, however, held the belief that mankind is naturally evil and that society needs an absolute central authority to contain this evilness and grant its people with the common protection. Hobbes believes that in a state of nature, when there are no rules and everyone is granted equal power, the inherent evil impulses of Man are exposed. One
In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, a few dozen boys are stranded on an island after a plane crash. The six to twelve year old kids turn to savages under the lead of the older males, and ultimately cause their own deaths. However, the smaller boys, such as Piggy and Sam and Eric, are the hope and reason of the group. Golding’s purpose of writing the book was to show that the defects in society originate at the defects in human nature. Golding allows the little ones to have no identities or personalities. This is symbolically showing that in society, the ignorant and innocent children are the only hope to a humane society. Innocence is purity, and the innocent children, in which are not corrupted by the bad people and things in the
Ralph is the protagonist whereas Jack is the antagonist of this novel. Throughout the book, Jack sees himself as admirable and he constantly shows off his leadership skills with his choir. At the start of the novel, we can see his disappointment that he was not elected as "chief" as for Ralph was. He is often harsh towards Ralph for this reason. However, things take a dark and violent turn when the fire burns out. Jacks true colors come out and we see him for who he really is. Their friendship reaches it’s highs and lows, however, when Jack takes complete leadership over the entire island, the
Lastly, being in an uncivilized environment, without rules or consequences, the innate evil is revealed once again when Jack and his tribe attack Ralph. At the commencement of this book, it was one mighty group of young boys fighting for their survival and
To be an effective society, itś important to have a few key qualities such as teamwork or cooperation and order. These make achieving goals much easier, and in the end, it leads to success by completing the tasks needed to get towards the goal, whether that be obtaining food or conquering an entire continent. In Golding 's Lord of the Flies, a lack of mutual respect between the leaders and followers as well as the failure to unite themselves to work together for the same goals, resulted in chaos, and ultimately, the division and failure of their society on the island.
“Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes” (Peter Drucker). In the novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, a decent sized group of boys are marooned on an island. This island starts as somewhat of an oasis, containing everything that the boys need to survive and thrive, except for one thing: a leader. One of the older boys would need to step up, and it comes down to Ralph, a boy around the age of twelve who finds the conch, which is used as a beacon for civilization, and Jack, a boy of Ralph’s age, but is also the leader of a group of choir boys, who advocate for Jack from the beginning. The decision comes down to a vote, and Ralph is chosen with all the
However, he encountered obstacles within the children. As Jack rapidly took an interest in hunting, his civil mentality declined, which led to his dramatic transition into a barbaric savage. Brutal savagery influenced him to discard his interest in seeking rescue and assisting Ralph. While Ralph scolded Jack about his new pastime, he sternly questioned, “You wouldn’t care to help with the shelters, I suppose” (51). Jack commences his lack of concern in aiding the other children with survival and continues to focus on his newfangled passion. His transformation into a savage induces his change in mentality, which later stimulates leadership-based conflicts with Ralph. As Jack’s attitude towards society immensely changes, it becomes contagious and quickly contaminates the other children. As the boys hunted in the wild, they clamored, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (69). Similarly to Jack, the boys develop an interest in brutality, which unleashes the evil within them. The children’s change in attitude and behavior indicates the island’s decline in civilization. As much as they felt gratified with their transition, the children failed to perceive the harm they precipitated to the island and
Lord of the Flies has many major themes throughout the book that represent social, political, spiritual, and psychological problems. Golding uses his own personal experience and the environment of his time to write a gripping novel that speaks to some of the most complex issues of the soul. The theme of innocence vs. experience roots itself deep into the pages of the novel using literary devices such as allegory and symbolism to bring the reader on a journey along with each of the boys on the island. The boys start out their journey as innocent children, and leave as warriors, murderers and leaders.
Is it a person’s genetic biological make up that affects their decision making or is it outside environmental influences that impact choices? I think that the internal factors have more of an impact on a person’s behavior. In the book Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, both factors seem to take part in what caused the boys to turn into savages. Considering that not all the boys turned into savages it helps prove that the bad genes inside versus the good genes played more of a roll and not so much the external environment, in who turned wild and who tried to keep up with the rules of society they knew before they crash landed on the island. Jack and Roger seemed to be the real “bad seeds” and without adults they became leader of the cruel, savages behavior on the island. Whether it was the way they were raised or they were just bad genetics, all it took was for Jack not getting his way. When all the boys voted for chief and Jack was not chosen he starts falling into his role as the bad guy.