Lord of the Flies: Levels of the text
If the civilization around you collapsed, would you try to work with others to remain civilized or would you simply think of yourself and your own survival? In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of boys marooned on an island must face this same conflict. The boys try to make their own society but because of the different influences around them they ultimately fail. Although the book seems simple with an easy message, there are actually many different important levels to the text. Through various intricacies in the novel, Golding allows the reader to see the psychological, sociological, and allegorical effects that fear and the need for power have on mankind when society is destroyed.
In the novel Golding shows the reader the impact that psychological influences such as fear have on the development and evolution of society, which greatly influence the decisions made amongst the boys. The fear that the boys have leads to the starting of the forest fire and the rushed election of a leader. When the boys are first stranded on the island they become frightened by the prospect of not being rescued, which leads to them becoming careless in their actions. This carelessness, which started the forest fire, was caused by the fear that if they did not act fast enough, the boys would not end up being rescued. The boys also fear for their survival on the island, which leads to the quick election of a leader, based on first opinions not actual intelligence. These rash actions show how the boy’s fear for survival overshadows the boy’s logic and reasoning, leading to other problems on the island. Ralph states, “ “Well. They’re frightened… They talk and scream. The littluns. Even some of the others. As if-” “As if it wasn’t a good island” ”(52). This quote shows how everyone’s innate fears of the unknown can come to the surface and affect the actions of others. The littluns fear the unknown things in the forest...