Lord_of_the_Flies_Essay

Lord of the Flies Essay When people struggle through hardships, their true identities are revealed. In the novel Lord of the Flies, the conflict arises from their difficulty of surviving. The disagreement among the boys results in violence and cruelty. The characters all have a “mask” which hides their innermost desires but as the time goes by, their mask is taken off and they reveal the most brute aspect of the human nature. The “masks” represent the behavioral and personality changes. One character who utilizes this “mask” is Ralph. Throughout the novel, Ralph is a natural leader. He tries to solve the problems that they encounter and tries everything to get rescued. Contrary to his outer appearance as a natural leader, Ralph uses his mask to hide his fear. Even though he feels fear just like the rest of the boys, he tries hard not to show it due to his role as a leader. After realizing what the boys and he did to Simon, Ralph begins to fear the boys. Ralph says that he is “frightened” and that he “wants to go home”. Toward the end of the story, Ralph loses his confidence and becomes fearful. Even though Ralph’s role as a leader was crucial to their survival in the beginning, he is overthrown toward the end of the story. Another character with a “mask” is Piggy. Piggy is very positive and tries to support Ralph. Despite his positive outward personality, he hides his anger under his mask along with his fear. Piggy is by nature fearful of conflicts and he tries to avoid them if possible. Piggy tries to persuade the boys to “have rules and agree” rather than “hunt and kill.” But as the story goes on, Piggy becomes angry and slowly lets his anger out. He uses his mask to conceal his anger so that he could avoid any conflict that would arise. The character who hides the most behind his mask is Simon. Simon doesn’t really get involved in the conflicts so he tries to stay neutral. Under his mask, he hides his desire to stand up for himself and to say what is on his mind. Simon can’t “stand up and speak to an assembly without that dreadful feeling of the pressure of personality.” Simon is frustrated at his inability to speak his mind freely as the other boys do. Due to his calm outer appearance, the boys have no way of knowing what Simon hides under his “mask”. His true feelings are never revealed even in his death. The characters’ masks hide their true identity. In the beginning, the boys try to hide behind their masks so that they would stay cohesive within the group. As the story progresses, however, the boys take off their masks and show their true nature or otherwise suffer a horrible and gruesome death at the hands of the others who have revealed themselves. In a sense, the masks that they are wearing represent the line between decency as human beings and the evil nature of men.