Lord Of The Flies

24 Pages 6025 Words

From its beginning Lord of the Flies establishes itself as a story packed with allegorical meaning. The novel is a meditation on the nature of human political society, dealing with such concerns as the development of political systems and the clash in human nature between instinctual and learned behavior. In this manner, Golding establishes the deserted island as a clash between two different conceptions of pre-civilized humanity. In some respects, the island presents a Hobbesian situation in which the young schoolboys are thrown into a literal state of nature. At the beginning of the novel they have no society, no rules, and no concerns beyond personal survival. The narrative thrust of the novel is how the boys develop their own miniature society and the difficulties that inevitably arise.
Golding establishes immediately the contrast between the savage and the civilized that exists in this new environment for the boys. Freed from adult authority and the mores of society, Ralph plays in the beach naked, a practice commonly associated with uncivilized cultures. Yet if this is an uncivilized practice, it is also a reference to the second conception of pre-civilized life, that of an Eden; Ralph does not panic over the children's abandonment on the island, but rather approaches it as a paradise in which he can play happily. This raises the important question about what influence will cause his Eden to collapse.
The first sign of disturbance within the seemingly tranquil island is the appearance of Jack and his choir. Golding portrays Jack and his compatriots as militaristic and aggressive, with Jack's bold manner and the choir marching in step with one another. They are the first concrete entrance of civilization onto the island and a decidedly negative one. Jack seems a physical manifestation of evil: with his dark cloak and wild red hair, he gives a slightly Satanic impression. Jack is a decided military authoritarian. He orders his c...