Essay: Violence in the Lord of the Flies

In “The Lord of the Flies” there are many cases of violence. Understanding why this brutality occurs can be difficult. The behaviors of the boys reflects what happens to humans when they’re put into a survival situation, often showing tendencies of violence and animalism.
The central focus of “The Lord of the Flies”, is the conflict between savagery, morality, and the primitive impulses of humanity. The characters of this book give a good interpretation of how people respond to a “life or death” scenario and how that can lead to barbarism.
This novel starts out with boys who are in a plane that is shot down somewhere over the Pacific during a fictional war. The pilot is dead and the boys are the only ones who remain on a desolate island. These boys are left on this island to fend for themselves with no supervision. At this point they have to figure out a way to survive and inevitably Piggy,Ralph,Simon, and Jack all contribute as leaders to the boys. Jack and Ralph are foil characters in this novel. Jack is a power hungry individual who lacks order, and Ralph is the type of person who presents leadership and communal values. These contrasting characters leadership styles causes them to run into conflicts with each other. These characters are essential to the novel’s underlying message. This novel’s message is that their is a beast in all of us. The beast stands as a symbol for the human instinct to survive no matter what it takes. This leads some of the boys to underestimate the beast, such as Jack. Jack is very barbaric and is willing to go through any means necessary in order to complete a task. Piggy is able to compose himself through intellectual and scientific behaviors. Piggy is overweight as his name suggests, so this makes it hard for him to help the group physically. He is one of the only characters’ besides Ralph and Simon who is moral throughout the entire story. Simon represents the gratitude and kindness that lies within. What this story is trying to say is that there are always people who are moral, even when there is no supervision. This shows that Simon is a good person at heart even when there is no one to tell him what to do.Another message that can be interpreted from this novel is that children need parents and authority in order to guide them and help them make the right decisions. This is true, and that is why children usually live with their parents for 18 years after they are born. Without a guardian it is hard to teach children what is right and wrong.
One aspect of the story that is interesting is the narrator’s point of view. He uses a third person omniscient. What this does for the story itself is makes the reader have less bias. If it were to be narrated by Jack for example, the story would’ve been different and biased because Jack is immoral and barbaric. This method of narrating also detaches from the characters and makes it easier to understand the feelings of the boys in this novel.
There are many symbols in this novel but the central one is the pig head that is cut off as a sacrifice by Jack and his hunters. The whole group of boys on this islands have a fear of this unknown beast. Jack thinks this sacrifice of the pig’s head on a stick will alleviate the beast. To Simon the pig’s head on a stick is a representation of the beast inside all of us, because Simon represents the good in humans. When Simon is brutally killed all order is lost and chaos erupts. The next symbol that is important in this novel is the conch. Towards the beginning of the novel Piggy and Ralph see a conch and decide to use it to instill order and power. The boys create a rule were in order to talk to the group you must be holding the conch. The whole group of boys respect the conch, even Jack. The conch also represents the falsehood of objects that only have power because of the meaning humans put behind them. Once the conch is broken Jack feels that he can now takeover because without the conch no one is in control. The last important symbol included is the signal fire. This fire shows that the boys want to be rescued and return to normal. When the fire goes out this shows that the boys have accepted their fate and they no longer have a desire to be saved. The fire lastly symbolizes the civilized desires the boys still have within them until it burns out.
There are multiple themes in this book, the first one, is the overall theme of this book which is the conflict between human impulses and savagery. As Ralph and Jack were contrasted earlier in this paper, their differences also reinforce the theme in this novel. Ralph is more of an ethical and moral person whereas Jack just wants power and control. The importance of themes in this book is also displayed through symbols such as the conch. This conch is a symbol of civilization. As the conflict between Jack and Ralph rises the conch shell loses its meaning. The loss of meaning of the conch symbolizes the end of civilization on the island and goes back to the book’s main point which is that the savagery lies within us. Another major theme in this novel is man versus island. The boys have different views when it comes to their survival on the island, for example Ralph responds by staying away from nature as he does not like danger, but rather wants a productive community. Jack on the other hand immediately sets out to harm nature and its inhabitants as he wants to show his bravery when he hunts the pigs for food. The ways in which these boys respond to their enclosed environment demonstrate their different personalities. The last theme is the boy’s loss of innocence. What this shows is located at the beginning when the boys behave innocently, like children. Later in the novel this changes as the boys turn to violent behaviors and savagery. What all of this demonstrates is not only the loss of innocence of these children, but also their loss of childhood.
The boys had to adapt to their surroundings without knowing how to survive; they were forced to rely on their human instincts to stay alive. These boys eventually let their impulses take control of them, which was the only thing that led to more chaos in the novel. Jack is the first character to strive for power and this lead to his impulsive actions. Jack says in the novel that he will offer protection from the beast if the boys joined his side, this shows that Jack is unlikely to listen to the other leaders. The other leaders like Ralph disagree with Jack and are more mature. Many of the boys who go to Jack and abandon Ralph are willing to turn to savagery. Ralph wants to appease Jack but this is difficult to do because of Jack’s provoking attitude. Simon is one of the only members of the group who realizes that the boys are losing their innocence.  An example of this loss of innocence is when Simon is brutally murdered by the boys while he was attempting to explain that there is no beast, it’s just the dead pilot. After Simon is murdered Ralph and Piggy are basically left on their own. There is not a lot of people left on Ralph’s side at this point in the novel. Jack has taken over control of a majority of the faction. Ralph and Piggy both feel awful about what happened to Simon. This novel takes a turn for more violence with the next cruel murder. A few days after the death of Simon, Ralph displays that he wants to reason with Jack’s group. When Ralph and Piggy go up to confront Jack’s group they are immediately drove away. When Jack comes back from hunting and sees Ralph they start fighting right away. During this fight Piggy grabs the conch and tries to reason with Jack’s group. Roger one of Jack’s members pushes a boulder down the hill almost striking Ralph and killing Piggy. When this boulder strikes Piggy the conch is broken. At this point in the novel when the symbol of the conch is destroyed it represents the end of unity and civilization.
The violent acts in “Lord of the Flies” shows the inhumane nature inside of all humans. This interesting topic makes the readers reflect on their inner evils. What this novel also presents is that the boys were once just children living normal lives. One thought that is hard to grasp is how the boys transformed from innocence to corruptness. Towards the end of the book when the Naval officer rescues the boys he finds out they were fighting and is curious why these civilized boys lost their morals. The question that this Naval officer asks himself is the same question the readers ask themselves as the book comes to a conclusion.
In conclusion, this novel teaches the reader that without power no abuse would occur. It also examines that without separation of power, someone is going to end up with too much control. This novel shows that without self-control no one will be able to learn to be good. There are many life lessons that can be examined throughout this novel. Another lesson we are taught is the fragileness of civilization. When the children are left to build their own society, they quickly realize that there is no consequences for their actions. When the boys realize that there is no authority to be afraid of they feel in control. These examples lead the reader to come to the conclusion that without structure in life, there will be chaos. The underlying message of the story is restated at the end when the boys are being rescued. During the rescue Ralph is not happy because he realizes that he will never gain his innocence back, or his friend, Piggy. What Ralph reasons is that the beast is always going to be inside of everyone. When Ralph realizes this he loses hope for the future of mankind.