Lord of the Flies uses the desire for power, civil Essays - Fiction

Lord of the Flies uses the desire for power, civilisation vs barbarianism and savagery to reflect the concerns of its time. Golding situated the book around the significance of World War Two. Golding concentrated on the aspect of the war, because of his personal participation in World War Two in the Navy. The war is significant in the book, as Golding believes is how we release the evil within ourselves. The young boys were chosen as the characters, to represent the innocence in society. Though their innocence is short-lived when they are suddenly left on an island together and eventually drifting into un-civilisation. The novel exhibits the desire for power, which is shown through the use of the conch'. The conch is a large horn-shell, that was found by Ralph, to assemble the boys. As there were no adults on the Island and the boys were left to make decisions for themselves. When Ralph blew into the conch, it signified to the other boys that he was in-charge or a dominant figure, as he was the closest thing to an adult they could look up to. When voting for their chief, Jack decides that he would like to be a candidate, as he can sing a C-sharp. This is quite ridiculous, as now a days, people would not consider that a good skill to have. Jack is out voted by the boys for Ralph to be chief, "You voted me for chief. Now you do what I say". Jack soon finds that he doesn't like Ralph's ruling and edges away from the group, seeking his own power to over-throw Ralph and to create his own clan'. Ralph soon realises that rules are only followed if people agree to follow them, 'I'm chief... And I've got the conch', "But you haven't got it with you. You left it behind". This shows that the boys didn't actually vote for Ralph as the chief, they voted for the conch to control their behaviour. The conflict between the civilising instincts and the barbarising instincts that Golding believes exists in all human beings is dramatised by the use of young boys to represent the e vil inside of us. The civilisation is represented through Ralph, as he strives for fair rules; "We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages". Whereas the barbarism is represented by Jack, who endeavours in every man for himself'. The mention of the beast is first introduced as an imaginary, snake-like figure, that was supposedly seen by one of the younger boys. Jack then takes on the belief that the beast exists and he uses the beast as a way to blame their actions on the persuasion of the beast, "Maybe there is a beast. Maybe its only us". Because of the conflict between the boys, it causes massive destruction to their mental states, their judgement of civilisation and the deaths of many of the boys. The story is over dramatised, as the boys only seem to last a few days before eventually becoming uncivilised', though in reality it would probably take much longer. Also it seems a bit strange that they just happened to land on a deserted island, as they could have possibly landed in the ocean and drowned to their deaths. This suggests that this type of situation probably would not have actually occurred, implying that un-civilisation could possibly not occur.Savagery is widely explored in the book as the deplorable level of cruelty follows them all over the island. Since the book was written post World War Two, Golding uses the story to reflect our actions throughout the war and the inhumane treatment that is brought to the surface in isolated places. This represents the diabolical nature of man as ethics and societal values are abandoned, by the boys. Initially the island is a representation of the garden of Eden. A paradise described as majestic and beautiful, "where flower and fruit grew on the same tree". But when Simon is killed, all hell is let loose. "The beastfell over the steep edge of the rock", which inverts the sense of moral goodness through the allusion to the devil, as Jack and his faction continue their