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Lord Of The Flies Zeitgeism Analysis

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A zeitgeist describes the general mood or essence of an era.The novel,Lord of The Flies,by William Golding, is an example of a literary work that captures the zeitgeist of its time.The novel involves a group of boys stranded on an island with no adult supervision and the demise of rule and order. It is meant to be shown as a microcosm for the post atomic world that was occurring during this time.The novel exemplifies the boys downward spiral from civilization to chaos and their use of violence and disregard for science.
In the literary piece,Lord of The Flies by William Golding, a recurring idea is anarchy leads to chaos is exemplified throughout the book further shown by the downfall of the boys civilized behavior to acts of savagery that …show more content…

In the Myth of Innocence by Paulette Michel-Michot,the boys adventure is described as “At first it is fun, a boy scout adventure,But gradually more sinister elements in their nature take over” They arrive on the island innocently and their freedom is going on the beach with a lack of clothes. The focus of many of the boys shifted from having the hope of rescue to hunting for pigs and their savage acts. As shown by Jack who misses killing the pig early one, an urge develops to kill pigs and they continue to hunt. They eventually kill one and they worship the head and see it as god like. Then there wrath of terror continues when they kill Simon, and later Piggy. They the capture Samneric and force them to Ralphs location and almost kill Ralph as they set the island ablaze. The group of hunters becomes infatuated with hunting a mythical beast that terrorizes the littluns. The boys even begin to chant “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!(Lord of the Flies 152)“A zeitgeist book reflects the spirit of the age in ways that its author and his/her readers don't quite understand.” The reliance on violence and tendency to do evil captures the zeitgeist of the

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