Savage Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

“Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. They were glad to touch the brown backs of the fence that hemmed in the terror and made it governable” (152). This quote is from “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. A group of young boys are dumped onto an island while being a part of an air attack. While waiting to be rescued, they the boys find themselves losing what civilization they had in them. What is civil and what is savage is twisted; when a dictorial boy is not voted chief, he challenges everyone’s ability to tame the savage from within. In this novel, Golding demonstrates how we need civilization to tame the savage within us. This is shown through

One way that the boys need civilization to tame themselves is in chapter two; it says “A fire! Make a fire! At once half of the boys were on their feet. Jack clamored among them, the conch forgotten” (38). In this quote, it is showing that the civilized side of the boys is quickly forgotten when given tasks to survive. Although the when the fire is made it symbolizes hope for being rescued it is created in a very savage way. Also when the fire is created it is untamable and kills off the boy with the mark on his face; when the boy is killed they think nothing of it. Another example is when Piggy, Ralph and Samneric go to talk to the savages in chapter eleven. Ralph says they should clean up and look their best to go address them. He says that they are still civil and that they need to look clean. So when they go they are the most civilized that they are the whole book at this point, and they are going against the boys that are the most savage that they are the whole book so far. When Ralph tries to bring them back to civilization by asking for the glasses back the boys laugh at him. At this part in the book Ralph turns a little savage and starts to yell and call Jack a Thief; completely forgetting that he is supposed to be getting Piggy’s glasses and protecting him. When Jack gets the best of him the only one left that is completely civilized is Piggy and he also has the conch

One symbol that is clearly shown is the conch. The conch symbolizes democracy from the beginning. When Ralph blew into it and it brought all the boys together, it was the start of their journey together trying to create a democracy. They voted Ralph chief because he was the one holding it and he was also the one that blew it. Another symbol that is used in the novel is the fire. The fire is the symbol for hope; hope that they will be rescued from the island. The fire keeps them civilized by reminding them that this is not a game and that they are actually trying to be rescued. A third symbol that is used is Simon. Simon symbolizes a Christ figure in the sense that he does not do any wrong, he continues to help without complaining and when he is killed it is as if he is being sacrifices and he floats away with the plankton around his head like a halo. The scene when Simon is killed tells us that the savages are no longer capable of identifying right from wrong and civil vs