Lord of the flies, creating a society

Lord of the Flies It is the most recognized work of the British William Golding, published in 1954. It did not have a great impact at its time, but it would be revalued years later, becoming a classic of post-war English literature that has been made into a film twice, in 1963 and 1990.

It is an allegory of human nature, where each character represents an important aspect of people. It explores the creation of a society from scratch and founded by children, raising interesting questions: how are roles assigned? How is a leader chosen?

The plot begins when a plane, whose passengers are children, suffers an accident near a desert island. Thus, the survivors must organize themselves in order to survive and try to be rescued. On an island, in the middle of nowhere, where rules do not exist and populated by children, a new society emerges. Throughout the novel we discover how evil can be born in any person, regardless of their age. Lord of the Flies It is a journey towards evil, towards the various faces that human nature can present.

Children, leaders and allegory

The title of the work itself is, in part, allegorical, since it alludes to Beelzebub, to evil. In the novel we find this image of evil in the boar’s head that the children place on a spear; The head, in a state of decomposition, is surrounded by flies.

Upon arriving at the island, The children come together in the hope of surviving and being found as soon as possible, demonstrating that human beings are social by nature. Perhaps conditioned by the society in which children have grown up, they decide to elect a leader and do so in a democratic way. The leader is Ralph, who is not the smartest child, but he is agile, strong and generates confidence in others.

What could have been an opportunity to challenge adults, to show that children can be more fair and rational, ends up becoming a real catastrophe. From the moment the leader is chosen, rivalry arises and from there hatred will be born that will lead to a tragic and uncontrolled situation. Without adults, without laws, they are the ones who decide.

Characters

Ralph is the chosen leader of the rest of the children.. It represents democracy, order and civilization. His intentions are good and he wants the children to stay together. She is the one who decides to keep a bonfire lit in the hope of being seen and rescued. Despite his good intentions, he always consults Piggy and ends up losing control and leadership.

Jack is the opposite of Ralph. He is another born leader, but authoritarian. He is the oldest of the group and, having been at school for less time than Ralph, he is not elected leader, something that bothers him. His attitude is arrogant and pessimistic, he has lost hope in being rescued and, little by little, he is falling into irrationality, becoming increasingly violent. Instill fear among the rest of the children and, thus, get them to join him. In this way, his character represents the desire for power and the evil of society.

Piggy: His name means little pig and He is the main object of ridicule for his appearance and for his asthmatic condition.. However, he is one of the smartest characters. He presents rationality, but because of his appearance and his poor physical condition, no one considers choosing him as leader. Despite this, Ralph trusts him completely and always asks him for help.

Simon, Like Piggy, he is not in good health. He is a reserved child and described as strange, however, he shows great sensitivity, especially towards animals. This truly revealing character discovers the “lord of the flies” and is something like a bearer of truth. In the plot, Simon represents the natural goodness of man.

Roger is one of the characters that shows the greatest evolution, standing at Ralph’s side at the beginning and becoming Jack’s right-hand man towards the end.. Roger seems like a quiet and shy boy, but he soon discovers a new side of himself. Seeing that there are no laws and that his actions will not be condemned, he resorts to violence. Therefore, his final version of the character represents cruelty and sadism on its greatest scale.

The nature of evil in Lord of the Flies

These children establish a hierarchy, an order inspired by the world they know, but which will gradually break down and become radicalized. In the face of fear, they do not need a rational leader, but rather a strong one who assures them peace of mind and food..

Lord of the Flies aims to “destroy” Rousseau, who said that human beings in their natural state were kind and did not know evil, it was society that corrupted them turning it bad. In the novel, the opposite happens, the children are free, they are in a completely natural state and, however, since there is no society, since there are no rules, they allow themselves to be carried away by that evil nature, acting in a totally irrational way.

The other side of the coin would be Hobbes, who defends that it is society that regulates this evil, the one that makes us behave like rational beings. At this point, we would place Golding’s work, that despite having tried to choose a leader and establish a society, the children cannot help but feel that on the island they are free, that they do not have to obey anyone.

We see that, at first, they try to imitate the behavior of the world they know, of adults. They find a conch that will become a democratic symbol, which they will use to give the floor to others; They will organize to keep the bonfire lit, to get food and work together, but soon this entire democratic utopia will end up failing.

Some children see the island as a dream place, without parents, without teachers… Why would they obey? Why behave according to rules? Leaders will play a crucial role and children will choose which side they want to be on. until a war breaks out.

The rumor that a beast inhabits the island will make the children afraid and support whoever is stronger; Others will feel the freedom of being able to give free rein to their wildest instincts. Thus, the island, initially paradisiacal, will end up becoming a true locus terribilis of destruction.

Lord of the Flies, reflections

Lord of the Flies It not only talks about human nature or the loss of innocence, but also about the organization of society. In their own way, these children create a new hierarchy out of nothing, in which we see various roles that remind us quite a bit of the real world.

Children will divide, just as we do with political ideas, they will confront each other as in wars and rationality will be left aside. They do not reward intelligence, they do not look for a leader who follows reason, but rather a strong one who protects them from their fears..

All of this reminds us of the world as we know it, of how we elect our leaders, and leads us to question whether democracy really exists or is possible.. Understanding democracy as that world in which we all have a voice, that utopia that the children proposed at the beginning and that they themselves will destroy.

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