Beasts Unleashed : Lord of the Flies
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This novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding depicts the development of human nature and the depth of the darkness inside our hearts as it portrays through a group of innocent young boys, that we will break moral codes in order to satisfy our own needs, and desert social pressures and influences if given that chance, and that we will unleash the extreme; we will crack. Throughout the entire novel, we see the progression of violent hearts, as well as the deterioration of moral development in these boys actions, which reflect our own.
As the boys are launched into a whole new world, unfamiliar and terrifying; they realize that its entirely their responsibility to sustain themselves and survive on their own. No more parents, no more laws; no more anything familiar. At first, they do very well. They create a small system of hierarchy and law and order. They assign different people to different jobs, so that they may all work together as a community and take care of each other. They hunt, and attempt to build shelters. But as time goes on, and their young minds begin to boil over, things become much more chaotic. They desert moral codes, abusing each other and moving down on Kohlbergs scale of moral development. On page 168, Jack steals Piggys glasses. “He [Jack] was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggys broken glasses.” This is significant because it is theft, and unfair to Piggy who needs those specs in order to see and survive. This theft is also important because symbolizes the beginning of savagery as they begin to trample on each other in order to obtain what they need to survive. The specs are used to create fire, which is one of their primary necessities. Its a blessing and an absolute necessity to a tribes survival. This is because it can be used to create a smoke signal to get them saved, and it can be used to cook their food. Because there is only one pair of specs, but two tribes, their behavior towards it depicts moral fibers. This is shown through their actions, their abandonment of kinship, and how they behave as they push the limits on how far they are willing to go in order to posses it.
Later in the novel, we see this vast amount of savagery and barbarian behavior as they muster up the courage to kill the pig, in the most violent way imaginable.
Throughout the novel, as the boys grow further and further from the social pressures and norms of the society from which they came, they also desert the humanity which once occupied them. They are letting go of their morals, both those that we are taught, and those that theyve learned on their own as they turn against each other and commit unfathomable acts in the name of a force, which they are essentially unaware of. In chapter nine, the boys have been terrified of the “Beastie” for quite some time. Simon, however, has some light to shed on this subject. One day, while wandering aimlessly in the