Hobbes Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

Humans, according to the philosopher Thomas Hobbes, are selfish by nature. In his landmark work, Leviathan, he explains the importance of a strong government in society. According to Hobbes, without a strong system of government people would revert into a primitive state; war would run rampant, the natural law would not be abided, and those once tamed by society would become evil. William Golding based his novel, Lord of The Flies, on a similar idea. In this novel, many characters digress from civility into savagery. This digression is caused by the absence of adult supervision on the island, specifically affecting Jack, Roger, and Samneric.

Upon arriving at the island, Jack Merridew is a beacon of civilization. After hearing the call of the conch, Jack leads a group of boys dressed in uniforms through the jungle, walking in military fashion. As it states in the text, “the creature was a party of boys, marching approximately in step in two parallel lines and dressed in strangely eccentric clothing” (19). This quote signifies Jack’s participation not only in a group, but in a society. This civilized state begins to fade as Jack becomes more enveloped in the idea of hunting, and becomes solely focused on killing a pig. Jack describes hunting in an extremely obsessive way, stating “‘If you’re hunting

Jack, Roger, and Samneric are three primary characters that succumb to this, and dramatically transfer from civil to savage throughout the course of the novel. This transformation is caused by the absence of proper government as well as adults to guide the children. As many philosophers have assumed, humans adhere to the morals of the society they live in. Jack, Roger, and Samneric all succumb to the absence of this societal norm with proper morals, and react by participating in cold-blooded murder, despite their young ages and civilized