Following Unsupervised English Boys Plunge Into Savagery

Lord of the Flies by William Golding follows a large group of English boys and their steady de line from all aspe ts of ivili!ation into primitive haos and savagery" #he word $ ivili!ed$ is generally used to des ribe order% organi!ation% proper table manners% so on and so forth" #o be ivili!ed is to be polite% to follow the rules% and to a t li&e a grown'up" ( perfe t e)ample of su h ivili!ed manner is the stereotypi al English household" Everything is neat and proper" #he fall of the boys* English% ivili!ed lifestyles ta&es pla e with ea h symbol failing to represent order and ommon sense% but instead degrading into i ons of savagery and haos" #he first symbol to be mentioned is the on h shell% at first synonymous with order and rules% but eventually it ame to represent the destru tion of unity" #he boy to initially use the on h was +alph% who went on to be ome the first hief of the group" #he sound of the on h resounded around the island% gathering all the boys to one spot% reating an assembly spot" ,ere +alph arranged the first rule% similar to raising hands in s hool" Giving the on h power% +alph $*-would give. the on h to the ne)t person to spea&" -Whoever is given the on h. an hold it when he*s spea&ing"""(nd he won*t be interrupted*$ /001" ,owever% the on h is later destroyed and Piggy% +alph*s right hand man and longtime supporter% is &illed by the tribe of +alph*s leadership rival% 2a &" It $e)ploded into a thousand white fragments and eased to e)ist$% signifying the omplete destru tion of the unity from the gathering it used to symboli!e /3431" In addition% +alph*s power as hief was entirely lost% as he was the one who established the on h as an ob5e t of importan e" #he portrayal of the on h begins at s hool'li&e rules with the on h used as a right to spea&% but eventually its importan e rumbled literally and symboli ally as the unity of the whole group shattered and none of +alph*s power was left" (nother symbol throughout the novel is Piggy*s spe s% at first onveying grown' up intelligen e and insight but then degrading to simple ompetition for essential resour es between the two fa tions of the group" 6uring the ourse of the story% Piggy*s spe s be ame the symbol of Piggy*s ontinuously presented valuable insight% with

thoughts of an adult on matters on erning all boys" ,e attempted to &eep tra & of the numerous little ones% 7uestioning the leaders if anyone $*too& any noti e of *em*$% or if they $*-&now. how many -they have.*$ /891" In ontrast% as the plot progressed% the spe s simply be ame the only way to reate fire" In turn% a rivalry developed between +alph and 2a &*s two separate tribes in a ompetition for essential resour es% mainly fire" 2a & and two others snu & upon +alph*s en ampment $*at night% in dar&ness% and stole -Piggy*s spe s."""-+alph would. have given them fire if they*d as&ed*$ /3:;1" (t first% the spe s were asso iated with Piggy and his mature ideas on situations% but as the group split into two% the spe s fell from representing su h intelligen e to symboli!ing the desperate a tions of thievery and ambush in attempts to re over valuable items" #he third symbol that played an important role in the events of the island is paint% starting off inno ently enough as simple amouflage" <et even this ould turn into the mas& of tribes and savages" (ll 2a & seemed to want from the island was meat% so he suggested the hunters $*paint -their. fa es so -the pigs. wouldn*t see*$ them oming /=81" Initially% paint was amouflage% a disguise against the pigs to ma&e them easier to &ill" 2a & then went wild with this paint after a while" ,e built up support and hosted highly un ivili!ed parties so that he and others who 5oined ould $*-pretend. to be a tribe% and -put. on war'paint*$ /3841" #his tribe &illed two of the boys on the island in luding Piggy% and they a ted without thin&ing of anything but hunting and &illing" #he paint would shift from a simple method of ma&ing meat easier to obtain to a mas& of belonging to a tribe of hunting% &illing% savagery% and haos" Ea h symbol mentioned started off with good intentions" #he on h gathered assemblies and made sure all voi es were heard" #he spe s offered new insights not thought of by the boys but were important for de isions" #he paint would ma&e meat easier to at h" >evertheless% ea h symbol would fall to a more savage image" #he on h lost the previous unity of the group and showed a good leader*s loss of power" #he spe s be ame the middle of a primitive onfli t" #he paint be ame the literal fa e of savages" Ea h symbol no longer represented order and ommon sense% but plunged into illustrations savagery and haos"