Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies is a novel that expresses the author’s, William Golding, opinion on society. It uses the characters, conflicts and final outcome to describe his opinion. The comment that Golding is making about society is that everyone has a savage and evil side to them.

The characters within the novel are used to represent different parts of society and how each of them can go wrong. Jack is a character who is from an upper class background; he represents the amoral nature of society. Even though he is from the choir, which is Christian, and the upper class, he is the first to become corrupt within the group, which ultimately leads to his savageness. Ralph is from a middle class background and represents the disillusioned realist who is forced to see the world and its people for what they are. He is only corrupted by others actions, Jacks, and is able to see the corruptness in others. Simon is from a middle-upper class background and he represents Jesus or an incorruptible figure. He is incorruptible and thus sides with neither Jack nor Ralph, but more so with both. The characters are used to represent each part of society and how each is savage and evil.

The conflicts are used to show people’s evil and savage sides by the arguments getting physical. When Ralph is first elected Chief Jack calmly obeys most orders but the second time around Jack storms off and starts a new tribe which all of the choir but Simon join. This got physical when Jack took it a step further and raided Ralph’s tribe twice, which were brutal just for getting simple items, like glasses. Simon’s death is another brutal act that everyone participated in, including Ralph and Piggy, which saw the savage side of everyone by mauling him and not regretting it. Piggy’s death also saw things get physical when Jack and Ralph squared off Roger panicked and killed Piggy. This led to Ralph’s attack and then retreat. The conflict has been used to show savage sides of people who didn’t show it anywhere else, showing that everyone was evil and savage on the island.

The final outcome of the destroyed society is used to pose the question, is man inherently good or inherently evil?

The comment on society that Golding is making is that everyone has a savage and evil side to them. The characters are used to show who has the most savageness within them. The conflict is used to show that everyone has this evil side to them regardless of their previous behavior. The final outcome is used to show that having savageness can be a good thing. The novel has given a comment on society about people’s savageness and evilness towards others.