Evil and Primitivism in Man. Essay on "Lord of the Flies" by Golding

Essay by Anonymous UserHigh School, 11th grade February 1997

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In the story Lord of the Flies Ralph, the democratic character, and Jack, the dictator are the most important main characters. Ralph is the voice of hope on the island, and without that, the boys would have turned to savagery much faster, and under the control of Jack. William Golding uses Ralph and his character foil, Jack, to show how civilization works and how it doesn't. Jack, the chief of the hunters, represents the hidden human passion and almost animal cruelty, and Ralph, who represents human common sense to show how civlization is.

This story is an allegory. This means the character, events and setting represent deeper truths or generalizations then those suggested by the surface story. There are four main characters, and each character represents different types of people in the world. Jack is the dictator who uses force to show his thoughts and feelings. Therefore he is the destructive side of man.

He is the type of person who would rather have fun and gratification over work. On the other hand Ralph is the believer in democracy and fairness. He is the voice of hope, and the responsible type of person. The boys on the island, allegorically show what the human civilization is like.

Ralph stands for order and conduct of society. Each chapter begins with order, which means that Ralph has control. Ralph uses the conch to show order and the right to speak. By the end of each chapter there is no order and there is usually chaos, this shows that evil and/or fear has control, meaning Jack has control. Allegorically in the world it would be a legislative government versus a military type of government. Where Ralph is the legislative and Jack is military. The disorder caused by Jack, threatens the island and the society...