Theme in Lord of the Flies: Children and Fear
Children are innocent and free-spirited; this is why they are so naive. Which in turn makes them makes them to be easily frightened. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding writes about a group of boys who are stranded on a deserted island. At first, the boys try to make a government to keep the island under control; but their fears start to govern them towards the end of the of book. Fear is a major theme in this book.
The boys in the beginning of the book are trying to make best of the situation at hand. They construct a government choosing, Ralph as the chief. Things were not perfect but the boys, being children, didn't seem to worry too much. They were busy either playing, swimming, or exploring. When fear got introduced onto the island, this is when trouble begins. The children are in the middle of a meeting, when an unnamed little boy, with a mulberry-colored birthmark asks Ralph what he is planning to do with the "snake-thing" later naming it "Beastie". Ralph tries to convince the little boy that there is no snake-thing or beast, while the rest of the boys laughed at the boy. However, each time Ralph says there was no such beast; the boys begin to think to themselves that maybe there was a beast living on the island. Everything seems to go back to normal, when Ralph says that they need to build a fire on the mountain. But now that the fear was instilled in them, things seemed different on the island. It's this little spark that makes the children generate different ideas about life on the island and ultimately make the children paranoid.
Ralph's fear of being stranded on the island forever becomes his top priority since becoming...
Reviews of: "Theme in Lord of the Flies: Children and Fear"
:
In an ideal world "empathy and reason" would abound. In a utopian society, they would indeed be "essential to keeping us civil." Unfortunately, William Golding did not view the world as being ideal because of human nature. We may not agree with Golding's views, but it is essential to understand what he was saying if a mature appreciation of his novel is to be gained.
We may all hope for a world filled with empathy and reason, but Golding felt that laws kept mankind civil. The island setting of his novel was a microcosm of what Golding felt the world would become in the absence of laws because of what he viewed as the darker nature of mankind.
Fantastic essay. I somewhat disagree with a comment by another reviewer:"Golding did not have much faith in human nature and felt that society would deteriorate into anarchy without rules to constrain conduct"
Rules do not necessarily keep us civil.I believe that empathy and reason are essential to keeping us civil.
Ralph had empathy and cared about all the boys, especially the peaceful, thoughtful, reflective and sweet little Simon. Ralph wanted to do the right and caring thing and used logic to protect the boys and to better effect a rescue.
Jack had no empathy but vied for authority. He used fear, intimidation and coercion to get many of the boys to follow him. Without empathy, he lost focus on the desire for a rescue and instead became obsessed with hunting for meat and then killing for protection. He also lacked reason an logic, resulting in the death of the peaceful Simon instead of the imagined beast.
Again, great essay!
More European Literature
essays:
The Lord of the Flies by Sir William Gerald Golding
... symbolism and it shows how the boys probably will never know what the beast is because they are all too afraid. Golding, William. Lord of the flies a novel. New ... then used her head as an offering to the beast. I think that the boys are just going to get into trouble by killing all of the islands ...
Utopia: the naive dream. a book comparison between "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding, "1984" by George Orwell and "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
... Cited Brook, Jocelyn. Aldous Huxley. New York: Longmans Green, 1954. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 1997. Hillegass, C. K. Cliffs ...
how the many characters are really much alike one another in "Lord of the Flies" written by William Golding, and in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert louis Stevenson
... how the many characters are really much alike one another. The first book was Lord of the Flies written by William Golding. The character ...
"Lord Of The Flies" by Golding Viewing the various aspects of the island society .
... aspects of the island society in Golding's Lord of the Flies as a symbolic microcosm of society, a converse perspective must also be considered. Golding's island of marooned youngsters then becomes a macrocosm, wherein the island represents the individual ...
"Lord of the Flies"- civility and violence
... by. "Lord of the Flies" demonstrates these extremes by forcing young schoolboys to separate to their natural extremes, while staying connected by the boundaries of an island. When ...
Leadership and Dictatorship: "Lord of the Flies"
... The Lord of the Flies", by William Golding, tells about a group of kids that are stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere. As they try to build a civilization on their new uninhabited island, things slowly start to ...
Lord of the Flies - Book Review
... on the message the William Golding was trying to convey when he wrote Lord of the Flies. "In Lord of the Flies he [Golding] showed how people go to hell when the usual social controls are lifted, on desert islands real ...
Religious persecution, an underlying theme in "Lord of the Flies" by Golding
... works, William Golding's novel, The Lord of the Flies can be read on many different levels. It is possible to read the book literally, as a mere story about boys marooned on an island. It ...
Lord of the Flies
You have written a good essay on William Golding's timeless novel. I'm an admirer of Franklin Roosevelt, who was arguably the greatest president of the twentieth century, and I agree with the famous quote of his with which you conclude your report. Golding, however, might not have agreed. He might have remarked, "We have nothing to fear but human nature itself."
Regardless, a different quote comes to mind when I think about this book: "We have met the enemy and they are us." Golding did not have much faith in human nature and felt that society would deteriorate into anarchy without rules to constrain conduct. It's a disturbing thought but he may have been right. At any rate, yours is a wonderful effort!
5 out of 5 people found this comment useful.