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“Chaos was the law of nature; order was the dream of a man.” (Henry B. Adams) Civilization is the force that keeps us all in order. From an early age, one is taught that if we break the rules we are punished; this is how society works. If we took society, civilization, and punishment; what would be the result? Eventually, human nature will take its course one will and natural evil within man’s heart outweighs the order within society and inevitably leads to their destruction. William Goulding’s Lord of the Flies, set during WW2 portrays a story of a group of boys who survive a plane crash and are left stranded on a deserted island with no adults. They create rules and a system of organization, but without any adults the desire for civilizing decreases; letting human nature take its course causing the boys to become violent. The Fear of the beast and each other, The boy’s savagery, and Jack's desire for power over others all contribute to the chaotic downfall of society.
The fear of the beast contributes to the destruction of the island society. Samneric tend the fire on the mountaintop, they begin to notice something out of the ordinary between the gaps of the rocks. Afterwards, the tent falls showing a shadow of light towards the tree. The boys begin to hear the sounds of the parachute inflating. Terrified, the boys flee to Ralph with a story exaggerated by fear: “It was furry. something was moving behind its head-wings.” (Golding,108). The fear of the beast and the arguing of what it is becomes a problem immediately. Soon the question of what the beast is is answered once Simon discovers a dead parachutist tangled in strings making it appear as a monster “He turned the poor broken thing that sat stinking to his side. The beast was harmless and horrible; and the news must reach the others as soon as possible.” (Golding, 162). As Simon runs to tell the others what he saw, he is mistaken for the beast and is killed by them. This demonstrates that fear leads to violence which overall contributes to the downfall of the society on the island. Another example of how fear contributes to the downfall of society is how Jack utilizes the fear of the beast to control the boys.”'This head is for the beast. It's a gift.''(129) This shows Jack trying to convince the boys that the beast is real, for the boys to feel protected by Jack; so that Jack can ultimately have brute power. This event is similar to those of the Holocaust, where people followed Hitler because of anti-semitism. Since both the boys in Jack’s tribe and the people of Europe were unable to speak up out of fear, this truly proves that fear is “mankind’s essential illness” (111); it not only creates problems, it prevents them from getting solved. As one could see fear is one of the contributing factors of the destruction of the civilization.
Savagery leads to the termination of civilization. From the start of the book, the boys try to have rules and a civilized society but as the story progresses the boys begin to grow more savage. In the book Roger is symbolized as the evil in human nature in chapter 4 “Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space around Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dared not throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law.” this is an early step to the decline of savagery. At this point, the boys are still building on their society and still have civilized instincts. Roger is still able to distinguish right from wrong. As the novel progresses, however, he fully embodies his role on the island, revealing mankind’s sadistic nature. Another quote “Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever.” (Golding, 200) Roger lets the boulder go aimed purposely at Piggy, this time not intending to miss. He immediately crushed Piggy and he flew 40 feet through the air. Along with Piggy, a conch shell that the boys use to maintain order fell and cracked into hundreds of tiny pieces. These events prelude the inevitable future, as once the conch disappears, order on the island will too, and chaos will reign. With chaos at the fore, the inevitable destruction of society on the island soon follows.
The desire for power drives humans to do unthinkable things to stay in total power can lead to destructive leadership and the downfall of a civilization. One prime example of this is Jack Merridew; Jack desires power over all things. “I’m not going to play anymore. Not with you...I’m not going to be a part of Ralph’s lot—” Jack decides to leave the group and make his tribe. When he creates the tribe, the way that Jack begins to rule in a dictatorial way. He used violence and fear as a tool to have power “The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face… the beast struggled forward, broke the ring, and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leaped onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws (152-153).” this signifies how Jack uses violence to lead. Another example of this is when he threatened Samneric and inevitably had to join their tribe. The final example is when Roger and Jack chase down Ralph.
In conclusion, the destruction of a society is due to the mutual fear of the beast and each other, savagery within the boy's human nature, and Jack's instability for power, are contributing factors to the destruction of society. The fear of the beast causing arguments inevitably contributed to the downfall. Secondly, savagery consumes the boys making them make poor decisions factoring in the downfall of society. And finally Jack's invisible being in charge and having absolute power is another cause of the downfall. As one could see Fear, Human nature, and power can lead to the destruction of a society.
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