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LORD OF THE FLIES THEMES
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LOTF THEMES for aqua English literature.
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Civilization vs. SavageryThe central concern of Lord of the Flies is the conflict between two competing impulses that
exist within all human beings: the instinct to live by rules, act peacefully, follow moral
commands, and value the good of the group against the instinct to gratify one's immediate
desires, act violently to obtain supremacy over others, and enforce one's will. This conflict
might be expressed in a number of ways: civilization vs. savagery, order vs. chaos,
reason vs. impulse, law vs. anarchy, or the broader heading of
Throughout the novel, Golding associates the instinct of civilization with good and the instinct
of savagery with evil.The conflict between the two instincts is the driving force of the novel,
explored through the dissolution of the young English boys' civilized, moral, disciplined
behaviour as they accustom themselves to a wild, brutal, barbaric life in the jungle. Lord of
the Flies is an allegorical novel, which means that Golding
conveys many of his main ideas and themes through symbolic characters and objects. He
represents the conflict between civilization and savagery in the conflict between the novel's
two main characters: Ralph, the protagonist, who represents order and leadership; and Jack,
the antagonist, who represents savagery and the desire for power.
Loss of Innocence
As the boys on the island progress from well-behaved, orderly children longing for rescue to
cruel, bloodthirsty hunters who have no desire to return to civilization, they naturally lose the
sense of innocence that they possessed at the beginning of the novel. The painted savages
in Chapter 12 who have hunted, tortured, and killed animals and human beingsmare a far
cry from the guileless children swimming in the lagoon in Chapter 3.
Loss of Innocence
But Golding does not portray this loss of innocence as something that is done to the
children; rather, it results naturally from their increasing openness to the innate evil and
savagery that has always existed within them. Golding implies that civilization can mitigate
but never wipe out the innate evil that exists within all human beings. The forest glade in
which Simon sits in Chapter 3 symbolizes this loss of innocence. At first, it is a place of
natural beauty and peace, but when Simon returns later in the novel, he discovers the
bloody sow's head impaled upon a stake in the middle of the clearing. The bloody
offering to the beast has disrupted the paradise that existed before--a powerful symbol of
innate human evil disrupting childhood innocence.
Struggle to build civilization
The struggle to build civilization forms the main conflict of Lord of the Flies. Ralph and Piggy
believe that structure, rules, and maintaining a signal fire are the greatest priorities, while
Jack believes hunting, violence, and fun should be prioritized over safety, protection, and
planning for the future. While initially the boys, including Jack, agree to abide by Ralph's
rules and democratic decision-making, the slow and thoughtful process of building an orderly
society proves too difficult for many of the boys. They don't want to help build the shelters,
maintain the signal fire, or take care of the littluns. The immediate fun
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