Lord of the Flies - Analysis

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the beginning of the power struggle between Jack and Ralph. The decline of Ralph’s once established order and democracy paves the way to the eventual savagery of the boys, as democracy without law and order is anarchy.

The Island in the story acts as a catalyst as the children are suddenly throw into a natural state of order which brings out the supressed animalistic nature present in them.

Chapter four also shows us that Ralph, who was the most controlled and civilized, the leader, has begun his descent into savagery too. By eating the piece of raw meat like a “wolf”, we see Ralph too giving into his primitive and animalistic side.

The way Jack treats Simon in that moment too Is symbolic of a Dictators attitude towards religion as Simon is seen as a representative of religion on the Island and Jack a representative of Dictatorship.

At the end of chapter four Ralph is once again the voice of order and civilization who calls them back, out of their primitive disorder, when he calls for an assembly.

In chapter five we see Ralph introspecting and questioning his abilities as a leader. When talk of the ‘beast’ begins again, we see only one of the boys, that is Piggy, outright dismiss the presence of any sort of beast.

Ralph is always associated with the sun as the sun is symbolic for innocence, purity and goodness. The growing of Ralph’s hair is a reminder that he is straying from civilization, but him flicking his hair away shows that he does not enjoy and does not want to be uncivilized.

The words “dirt and decay” are symbolic for the dirt and decay of the human soul and of their humanity.

When piggy tells Ralph to blow the conch once again and reclaim the order and his leadership, he says, “We’ll never be rescued.” This could mean rescued from their animalistic nature. When Piggy, Ralph and Simon are talking, the mention of keeping the fire going shows their lingering hope of being rescued. This is the last of hope and innocence we see on the Island.

The change in colour of the conch is symbolic for the change of power in the hands of different people, referring to the power shift from Ralph to Jack. This marks the beginning of Jacks tyranny.

In chapter six, a sign from the adult world arrives. But it’s a dead soldier, signalling that adult "civilization" also hides savagery within, the sign from the adult world is the beast and the ‘beast’ has put out the signal fire, which is the boys’ last link to civilization. This fear of the beast makes the boys crave a strong leader, giving Jack more weight.

The descent into savagery can therefore be traced right to the beginning of the book with the jealousy of Jack when Ralph is chosen to be leader and the unwillingness to obey rules shown by Jack. To the eventual loss of all rules and democracy and the rise of a dictator and the systematic destruction of all that oppose him, while he simultaneously brain washes and moulds the boys into savages.