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Comparing Utopia And Dystopia In 'Lord Of The Flies'

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For my term paper I have chosen the book by William Golding called “Lord of the Flies”. This, perhaps his most popular novel, played a significant role for him receiving a Nobel prize for literature in 1983.
In relation to the subject of utopia and dystopia Lord of the Flies is a perfect example of the transition between these two concepts and so in this paper I will especially focus on this matter. I will describe what caused the decay of the planned functional society. I will highlight and analyze relevant themes and elements as well as the relationships and conflicts that has let to the transition from utopia to dystopia, but in order to do so I will start with brief summary of the novel itself.
The story is set in the middle of World War 2, a plane evacuating a group of schoolboys from Britain is shot down over a deserted tropical island. There is no one but young boys on the island, no adults, no authority and all of a sudden everything left upon them. There are some older boys but the majority of them are younger. They will realize that they need some supervision, someone who will be in charge of them and who will be giving orders so that they do not become savages. By elections they put one boy named Ralph in charge and he proceeds to choose his “assistant” named Jack. We can see an attempt of creating a functioning society. Ralph’s main …show more content…

Idealistic ideas are usually impossible to remain permanent. Dystopia presents a revolting world, where man loses his individuality and humanity to forces beyond his control. More specifically in regards to Lord of the Flies the question is that given the chance to return to the “natural” state, what does man become? This is what is being described in this

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