Two Faces Exposed in Lord of the Flies
Essay title: Two Faces Exposed in Lord of the Flies
In his famous book, Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows that if a group of boys were to be left on their own to fend for themselves on a tropical island, some of the boys would go back to the roots of their ancestor’s savageness. Some boys will do anything in order to survive, even though they have some disagreements and it’s very hard for them to get along with one another. Almost everyone has two different faces in Lord of the Flies – one that can be shown and the other kept to themselves. In this novel Golding has demonstrated different behaviours that mankind acquires, one being civilized, and the other being primitive and controlling.
Almost everyone got trapped to the stage of Jack’s savagery except those that were able to see that evil of savagery. Those boys that saw this evil are said to be more civilized than others. Once the boys realize that they are isolated from their society, they had a lot of responsibilities in order to be rescued. For example, Ralph believes in democracy and fairness and considers the voice of hope. Ralph wants built huts and make signal fires. To stop them from turning into a savage they “have lots of assemblies…water brought from the streams and left under coconut shells under fresh leaves,”(Golding, p. 85). For instance, Ralph wants to get rescued and makes “a fire! Make a fire”, (p. 37). Piggy is very open-minded “is scientific, that’s what it is… war’s over they’ll be travelling to Mars and back. I know there isn’t no beast… isn’t no fear, either,” (p. 84). As for Simon he seemed to acquire anything as he was a good guy. Some boys on the island show how the human civilization is like and others don’t.
Golding says that every person has wickedness in them, covered by civilization. If there is no civilization then the inner nature will come out causing lawlessness. For instance, Jack who is shown as a person who kills and destroys always wants to hunt pig in order to have fun. He is responsible for the crimes committed by the boys on the island. Jack has turned most of the boys like him “It was dark… there was that- that bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain. We was scared!” (p. 173). This explains how the boys have gone away from the point of fun and games. Expressing that they are no longer group of boys playing, but the intensity of the boys on the island has turned to savages. When Ralph asks Jack “dont you want to be rescued? All you talk about is pig… Jack answers him and tells him what he wants, “but