Lord_of_the_Flies_Savagery

November 2, 2010 The Savage Within British author Joseph Conrad once said, “The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” Joseph Conrad understands that when evil things happen or we do something evil we may tend to blame someone else for something we did because we are scared to accept ourselves. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies he illustrates these feeling amongst boys who crash on an island. They boys start out as innocent boys, as time progresses the boys begin to turn savage and the evil within them shows itself. The boys often place the blame on something else in the story such as the “beast”, a character they make up in their minds that causes fear. The story illustrates how William Golding uses certain symbols to illustrate the theme of evil throughout the book to show how evil is within people and things in nature. William Golding uses a fire to express the unexpected consequences evil can bring to our lives. For example, when the Officer arrives to rescue the boys he comes up to Ralph and says, “We saw your smoke, what have you been doing' Having a war or something'” (234). The fire is the most important thing on the island. It is a possibility to be rescued, and therefore a way to communicate. It also represents the origin of mankind. The fire gives protection and comfort at night. However, there is also something negative about the fire. The fire represents the evil growing furiously within the boys as they spend more and more time on the island. In addition, when Ralph watches as the fire gets to the shelters and begins the process of bringing them down, he watches as they burn…“He saw a shelter burst into flames and the fire flapped at his right shoulder" (182). When Ralph sees what the fire has done to the shelters that he spends so much time building he gets really upset. The fire shows the intention of humans to control nature by destroying it. Through harming the island surrounding, they destroy their own habitat and cause damage to themselves. Along with the fire, Golding uses beast to show that we ourselves are evil and we make up things to make ourselves feel better about our actions. For example, during the meeting in which the boys consider the question of the beasts existence Simon says, “What I meant is maybe it’s only us” (80). Simon tries to tell the boys that maybe this beast that everyone is afraid of is just something in their minds, not an actual living, breathing, moving thing. The only problem is that the boys are too caught up to listen to him. Everyone wants some to believe that there is a beast subconsciously because they need something to keep them occupied and have something to blame for the things that go wrong. Moreover, when Ralph is talking to the boys he is trying to explain to the boys that…“Fear can't hurt you any more than a dream. There aren't any beasts to be afraid of on this island....Serve you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry-babies!”  Simon’s realization that there is no real beast means that there is only the power of the boys’ fear that frightens them and causes them to act the way they do. Jack makes use of this fear to gain more and more supporters. In truth, he is the one being a beast by building up a reign of terror amongst the other boys. His behavior is shown as as the evil in all people, the “beasty side” the part that takes place within all of us. In addition to the fire, the beast and the paint that the boys use to cover their bodies represents the mask they use to hid the evil within them. For example, When Jack is speaking to the hunter boys he tells them, “paint our faces so they wouldn’t see, perhaps surround them… “By the use of the painting, Jack’s character suddenly changed from the proper English school boy to a savage boy. From now one he is wearing a mask to lay down Jack’s responsibility for all the things which happen. The “masked Jack” is the one to blame for all thing that may happen, while jack with a clean face is seen as the civilized one. He is now a character with many more evil intentions within him. Furthermore, Piggy tries to get his point across by asking…“Which is better -- to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is....Which is better -- to have laws and agree, or to hunt and kill’” (164). Ralph calls the paint “war-paint” it shows the warrior-like status of Jack and the other boys. Like soldiers, Jack’s supporters have to be obedient, respect their leader’s law, and maintain discipline and order. There is no individuality anymore; the boys are known as hunters - “the boys with the stick.” Everybody has to look and to act the same way. Ralph and Piggy feel like they should have rules and there should be one strong leader. Because of the way Jack has been leading the other boys they think that the way he does thing is the right way, which in turn makes them feel like Ralph’s point of view is wrong. Which is why they act like savages, slowly releasing the evil within them.