Evil boys without any norms
What happens when a group of boys are dropped on an uninhabited island? It happens in
the book Lord of the flies. A plane has crashed and a large number of children end up on an
island without any adults. At first, they try to make a well-organised society, but they end up
killing two boys. The book Lord of the flies shows that British white boys become evil
without social standards. Firstly, the democracy in the group disappears and the
collaboration becomes weaker. Secondly, the older boys treat the little boys terribly and
exclude the boys who are different.
Firstly, the group becomes less and less democratic the longer they are on the island. At the
beginning of the book the boys communicate through assemblies. They choose Ralph as
their leader and set different rules. But as the story progresses, people listen to each other
less and less and the rules are ignored. ““Conch! Conch!” shouted Jack. “We don’t need the
conch anymore. We know who ought to say things. What good did Simon do speaking, or
Bill, or Walter? It’s time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding
things to the rest of us” (Golding 101-102). This quote shows how Jack breaks the rules. This
ultimately lays the foundation for the resistance against Ralph. The disappearance of the
rules also causes the disappearance of the norms. When the conch breaks, it becomes a
useless thing and causes the disappearance of the last norms standing. This means that
fighting and killing are no longer a big deal. At the end of the book, Jack has become
something of a dictator. He uses a large amount of violence and the rest of the new tribe
has nothing to say. “The chief led them, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. He
was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand
dangled Piggy’s broken glasses”(Golding 168). This quote shows Jack's leadership. In short,
any norms of democracy and cooperation disappear and violent conflict ensues.
Secondly, the bigger boys bully the outsiders and weaker children. There are no adults who
make the kids behave and the older and stronger children are getting meaner to the weaker
ones.
Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space
round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here,
invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child was the
protection of parents and school and policemen and the law (Golding 62).
This quote shows the moment when Roger develops his hatred for the younger children. At
that point there are still some norms, because he does not hit the children, but the old
standards are getting less and less important and the little kids are treated worse. In
addition, outsiders are also bullied. Simon and Piggy were mostly out of the group. “There
had grown up tacitly among the biguns the opinion that Piggy was an outsider, not only by
accent, which did not matter, but by fat, and ass-mar, and specs, and a certain disinclination
for manual labor” (Golding 68). Piggy was an outsider, because of his appearance, as seen in
this quote, and Simon especially because of his way of thinking. In the end, those are also
the two boys who are murdered. If they had the chance, they would have killed Ralph too,