Corruption In Lord Of The Flies

In the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the characters start out dull and obedient to the laws, but as they spend more time on the island, they start to get out of hand when their actions become violent for instance, sacrificing animals and murdering other boys, affecting their lives on the island. Each boy has in some way altered the lifestyle on the island. Ralph, Roger, and Jack are examples of taking an innocent situation and corrupting it; their degree of effectiveness varies depending on their level of arrogance. Arrogance is a big component of the book, which represented most of the characters. Although they are young boys their ego influences the choices that were made. The authority and dominance that each boy strives over create a society where the law is not essential and utilized.

Ralph started off as a carefree leader who did take the task to seriously. The first day that Ralph was elected leader he offered to leave the group under the temporary guidance of Piggy, to go and explore the island. When the boys began to create a fire, which began to spread into a forest fire; Ralph did not take into account the dangerous situations that could have occurred. The result of these actions cost a little boy his life, as the fire began to slow down the boys went missing and it became known that he died in the fire. This event caused Ralph to toughen up as a leader, telling them “you [are] going to do what I [say]”, now focused on getting off the island, even though surviving on the island is still the main priority. (Golding