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Lord of the Flies

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In the midst of a nuclear war, a young group of British boys find themselves lost on a tropical island without the supervision of adults. The group stumbles upon countless problems in Lord of the Flies during their duration of being stranded on the island, resulting in multiple disputes between the boys. Conflict is apparent through the novel, whether it's being man versus man, man versus himself or man versus nature. Author, William Golding, portrays conflict through two of the main characters, Ralph, leader of the civilized group, and Jack, leader of the savage group. Golding reveals the growing tension between civilization and savagery from when a signal fire is let out, Piggy’s glasses breaking, and the pig hunts by Jack. The adventure that the boys encounter in Lord of the Flies explores the dark side of humanity showing the civilized versus the savage-like nature of human beings. Golding attempts to unearth the flaws of society back to the flaws of the nature of humans.
The first key moment in the rising action that shows the growing tension between civilization and savagery is when Jack and his hunters let the fire die out, causing a ship to pass by without a smoke signal showing and allowing the group of boys to miss an opportunity of being rescued. This key moment is important because it marks the first dispute between the antagonist and protagonist in the novel. Ralph’s priorities are to build shelters and keep a signal fire going in order to get rescued, however Jack’s priorities are to hunt meat for the boys and have fun. Tension is shown in this moment when they argue and Jack ends up taking his built frustrations out on innocent Piggy. Golding writes, “he took a step, and able at last to hit someone, stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach” (71). This event reveals a clear difference between the savage and the civilized as Jack uses violence, whereas Ralph suppress' his anger. Golding writes, “Unwillingly Ralph felt his lips twitch; he was angry with himself for giving way” (72), which conveys his attempts to hide his spite towards Jack. Without this moment the climax would not be possible because it prevents the boys from being rescued. If the fire had been kept alight then this first spark in their growing conflict would not exist and would never have thrived over the course of the story. While the fire symbolizes hope for rescue it also symbolizes a means for destruction.
Jack’s irresponsibility of not watching the fire was because of Jack’s excitement of killing a pig. The hunt for pigs symbolizes man's bloodlust, or the capacity humans have in certain circumstances to commit acts of violence (savagery). This killing led to Jack’s inability to recall what their main goal was: to be rescued. It is apparent that Jack does not want to be rescued. If he is to be, it is only after he kills more pigs. This conflict foreshadows the possible outcome of Jack’s already evolving personality.
While the boys on the island are busy stripping naked to hunt pigs with sharpened sticks, there's still one symbol of advancement, innovation, and discovery: Piggy's glasses. On the one hand, the glasses are a pretty simple symbol. They're intended for looking through, and looking = vision; vision = sight, and sight = a metaphor for knowledge. Piggy knows things the other boys don't, like how to use the conch, and the necessity for laws and order. When the boys take his glasses, he can't see anything. "Seeing" is Piggy's greatest attribute. It's the one reason the boys don't exclude him completely; it's the one way he's useful. Without his glasses, he's useless—and the world he represents is useless, too. The only way to start the fire is through Piggy’s glasses because the boys are not wilderness savvy enough to rub two sticks together. Later "Jack smacked Piggy's head. Piggy's glasses flew off and tinkled on the rocks. Piggy cried out in terror: 'My specs! One side's broken.’” (chp 4). Symbolically, the glasses were significant because they represented the intellectual and ordered side of humanity. However after the breaking of the glasses, it represented the breaking of the last tie to humanity that the boys possessed.
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