Lord of the Flies By William Golding Jack and Rogers sprial into Savagery

Essay by knowfx108A+, December 2004

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" "You don't know Roger. He's a terror." "And the chief-they're both-" "-terrors-" "-only Roger-" (189; Ch. 12). As Lord of the Flies races to its conclusion Jack and Roger have become the dread the boys fear, but cannot escape. Cruel and sadistic these two boys do as they please, torturing children and hunting a fellow boy, the price of their humanity they gladly pay. At the beginning of the novel, a reader would think Jack and Roger were just two innocent Christian choir boys, but as the novel progresses, we see that even the most innocent have the evil of human nature in their souls. Thomas Hobbes describes the internal nature of the boys perfectly "man is untrustworthy, corrupt being who has to protect himself from his fellows just as beasts in the jungle do." As the edenic island turns into a fiery hell, the innocent souls of two boys deteriorate into a savage and brutal state.

As Lord of the Flies unfolds Golding portrays this group of boys marooned on the island as mere children, they laugh and play and worries are not prevalent. Although first portrayed in threatening uniformity even the group of boys formerly of the church choir enjoy the idea of no grown ups to ruin their fun. "As if released from class, the choir boys stood up, chattered, piled their black cloaks on the grass" (23; Ch. 1).

Hobbes writes of the competitive nature of man and how "competition impels men toward violence, distrust of others..." Golding foreshadows this competitive nature when Ralph is elected chief over Jack.

Alright. Who wants Jack for chief?" With dreary obedience the choir raised their hands. "Who wants me?" Every hand outside the choir except Piggy's was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the...