May 05, · I. Thesis statement: Though Ralph is the main character of Lord of the Flies, and much of the story is told from his point of view, Golding also reveals his Critical Essays Major Themes Consider the emotional basis of the boys' choice of leaders: Initially they vote for Ralph not because he has demonstrated leadership skills but because of his charisma and arbitrary possession of the conch Critical Essays Major Themes. Problem of Evil. Lord of the Flies was driven by " Golding 's consideration of human evil, a complex topic that involves an examination not only of human nature but also the causes, effects, and manifestations of evil
Lord of the Flies Critical Analysis Free Essay Example
Lord of the Flies is an important title for the novel because it is one of the most important symbols in the novel, lord of the flies critical essay. Jack is the power-hungry boy who is absorbed in his self-pride. He establishes himself as the head of the choir, holding a respectable place of leadership amongst them.
However, he is not chosen for chief because he is not thought of as interesting amongst the littler kids. He is outraged at the election of Ralph as leader, but submits to a position of semi-leadership over the hunters of the group. On his first expedition up the mountain, he, Ralph and Simon come across a pig stuck in an entanglement of vines.
Jack hesitates to kill it, which signifies his ongoing attachment to sanity and to the composure of decency. However, lord of the flies critical essay, this hesitancy is short-lived as he gains his own egomaniac ideas about killing and hunting.
He becomes bloodthirsty, basing his own principles on gathering meat with his hunters. His position of power shifts gradually throughout the book. As he gains more success in hunting and as he assumes a more savage role, he gains much more influence over the other boys in the group, whom he eventually aggregates to his own tribe.
The source of his power is not necessarily that he obtains food for the boys, but because he is able to manipulate life, to kill the pig and thereby bringing calm to the fears of a beast that the boys say exists in the forest.
Ralph is a smart and logical leader. He and Jack are strong foils of each other because of the contrasting views each have in how they should run the society in which they live. Ralph wisely attempts to prioritize their rescue by constantly promoting the idea of a fire on the top of the mountain.
He is elected the chief of the boys and is resisted by Jack, lord of the flies critical essay. When things get into sway, Ralph makes the suggestion of building shelter, which he prioritizes over hunting. Jack in his lust for blood, disregards this and lord of the flies critical essay off to hunt. Ralph, lord of the flies critical essay, along with one or two other boys helps to build shelters, while most the other children play.
The major issue Ralph struggles with is control over the boys of the group. Although his methods are strong, reliable, and practical, most the other boys eventually decide to stick with Jack because he eases their fears of the beast, and gives them a false sense of security over no particular danger in the forest. Ralph in this way is stranded, which symbolizes the diminishing role of sanity and civility in the society the boys create. Piggy is one of the first characters introduced in the book.
He is segregated from the group because of his inability to perform physical tasks and because of his obesity. He is clearly the most intellectual of the group. When everybody decides to scramble up to the top of lord of the flies critical essay mountain to build the fire, Piggy is the only one who realizes that there is a child that is missing from the group. Piggy represents the oppressed and the ignored, lord of the flies critical essay.
Jack despises him mostly because he is absorbed in himself and also because Piggy is different from the rest of the group, lord of the flies critical essay. The novel is set in some remote island near Europe sometime during World War II.
This is important because it increases lord of the flies critical essay tension created by the savagery of the characters in the society they create.
Golding is trying to comment on the fallacy in society and the contrast between civility and savagery. Because they are on a remote island, the boys are very desperate to escape, lord of the flies critical essay, which brings forward primitive characteristics in some of the boys, namely Jack. Ralph and Piggy, in the end, seem to be the only two characters who are still set on maximizing their chances of rescue, while Jack cares more about power and of survival.
The location of the fire is also an important factor in the setting of the novel. In the beginning, the boys place the fire on top of the mountain, so to maximize the chances of being discovered. However, fears arise as time passes which causes delusion as the younger boys believe that there is a beast in the forest. When Roger, Jack, and Ralph go up to the mountain to check if a beast existed, their primitive instincts caught hold of them which caused them to make assumptions about false things.
This effectively ends the earlier ideas of a possible fire on the top of the mountain. Golding uses a very distinct structure in how he accounts for each of the events that occur. In the novel, he breaks up each of the twelve chapters into the twelve most distinct changes in the nature of the society. In the first chapter, for example, the society is first created and order exists. Ralph is chief, and although Jack is jealous of his power, he is content with having a position of leadership over the hunters.
In the second and third chapters, Golding presents two examples in which the boys take on a childish nature. A very important shift occurs in the fourth chapter. In order to fit in with the environment, they adjust their physical appearance to match that of their surroundings.
In this chapter, the boys begin to struggle between the ideals taught to them in their old lives and the new challenges that face them on the island. In his other life Maurice had received chastisement for filling a younger eye with sand. Now, though there was no parent to let fall a heavy hand, Maurice still felt the lord of the flies critical essay of wrongdoing.
Even though the characters have an initial hesitancy to the life of hunting and killing, the attitudes presented by the younger kids in chapters two and three represent those of a child. Therefore, it is a very shocking change when all the little children gang up and tear Simon apart like he were some savage beast.
The reader is immediately reminded of the nature of the children, and of the blind savagery that the children show in their actions. The younger, impressionable children, although they know moral values, allow themselves to kill even though they know very well that it is wrong to do so; Jack manipulates their fears in order to do what he wants. This pattern continues until the culmination of the struggle between civility and savagery, when Ralph battles Jack-which is somewhat ironic because civility is battling with savagery, both embracing the Darwinistic approach to survival of the fittest.
Golding makes sure, however, that the reader is reminded that although Piggy is physically blinded, he still holds firm to the characteristics of self-containment and restraint. This novel is written from a third-person, limited point of view.
Instead, the reader can sense the emotions and jealousy occurring in Jack through their actions, reluctance, and arguing. He started up, then changed his mind and sat down again while the air rang. This novel, written as a critique on society, may have been written for governmental figures and people in positions of power.
Golding writes this novel in the perspective lord of the flies critical essay adolescents, so perhaps the novel was directed towards them also. However, the reasoning behind choosing adolescents in the book is probably because they are under the control of adults in society and the book released that idea, furthering the idea of loss of control. Lord of the Flies was likely written towards an older audience, concerning human nature and the maintenance of control in society.
When in meetings, the conch is used as a symbol of control, that only the person with the conch could talk. This becomes the basis on which the boys make their arguments. This use of language suggests that the reasoning and control processes of society are not very strong in society.
The tide was low and there was a strip of weed-strewn beach that was almost as firm as a road. A kind of glamour was spread over them and the scene and they were conscious of the glamour and made happy by it. They turned to each other, laughing excitedly, talking, not listening. The air was bright. But I tell you the smoke is more important than the big, however often you kill one. Do all of you see? Here, Ralph is explaining the necessity of rescue in their quest for survival.
Fire is one of the most important symbols in the novel. It represents the goal the boys have, and their courage to try and overcome their situation to survive long enough to be found and rescued. However, it has a double meaning. It represents the failure lord of the flies critical essay motivation and the change in direction the boys take in how they choose to live on the island.
Jack had him by the hair and was brandishing his knife. Behind him was Roger, fighting to get close. The chant rose ritually, as at the last moment of a dance or a hunt. This quote addresses the inhumaity the boys undertake as they undergo their fight for survival. Power is one of the most important factors in the novel that contributes to the conflict between civility and savagery.
Ralph and Jack from the start argue with one another on how the society should run. He suggests the ideas of building shelters, keeping a constant fire to serve as a beacon to passing ships, as well as the conch system of speaking. These ideas are very crucial in creating a society in which they can survive and still be rescued. Jack, however, is egocentric and lustful for blood. His opposing views on how to run the group of boys is based on his selfish need to hunt and kill. The journey the boys take is a very difficult one.
The boys have to learn to survive in a different environment, and have to fend for themselves in finding food lord of the flies critical essay shelter. These conditions lord of the flies critical essay a change in the boys. Jack, as he attempts to make a name for himself and gain the trusts of the boys, takes on a increasingly savage. The fire is originally symbolic of a beacon for help. Throughout the book, Ralph desperately tries to convince the other boys that keeping the fire lit was of utmost importance in being rescued, lord of the flies critical essay.
The fire also symbolizes the common sense that Ralph tries to convince everyone to understand, lord of the flies critical essay. He understands the priorities are to be rescued. However, everybody else takes hunting for a priority, and their fears of the island keep them loyal to Jack. Returning home is a very important archetype in the novel because it represents the initial goal the boys shared in the first place.
It symbolizes the diminishing goal that eventually disappears from the minds of the boys as they all-save Ralph-become savages. The egocentric, Jack, is another archetype presented in the novel. Most the change that occurs in the boys is due to the selfishness Jack displays.
For example, he is so obsessed in the hunt, that he recalls two of the fire-watchers to go hunt, which costs the boys a chance for their freedom.
Writing an Essay about 'Lord of the Flies'
, time: 7:46Lord of the Flies: Critical Essays | Major Themes 2 | CliffsNotes
Lord of the Flies Critical Analysis Essay Words4 Pages In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, Golding illustrates many different themes. One of the themes he demonstrates is being away from a civilized society causes a person to become barbaric Critical Essays Major Themes. Problem of Evil. Lord of the Flies was driven by " Golding 's consideration of human evil, a complex topic that involves an examination not only of human nature but also the causes, effects, and manifestations of evil Jun 02, · Essay Sample: Lord of the Flies is an important title for the novel because it is one of the most important symbols in the novel. The Lord of the Flies, or the pig's Now Accepting Apple Pay Apple Pay is the easiest and most secure way to pay on StudyMoose in blogger.comted Reading Time: 9 mins
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