Savagery does not distinguish between a man and an adolescent. This is prevalent in the microcosm that is represented by the island. The island reflects upon the actions of the adults who are participating in savagery themselves the act of war. In ‘Lord of the Flies’ by William Golding a group of English school boys are trapped on an island after their plane has some sort of issues ranging from technical to possibly being a casualty of the war. With no adults or resources to survive by, the boys will have to assemble together to work out a game plan. They even had an elected leader until Ralph who was the one that blew the conch. Even while he was leading, Jack was undermining his authority. In each of the four boys, you see a part of society. The setting from what is given to us in the text is in a possible nuclear war sometime in the 50’. There are many examples of Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and Simon representing different groups or people in society.
The first example of the island being a microcosm would have to be with Ralph. Ralph represents democracy, he was the elected leader of the boys, and he represents civilization and order along with the conch. “A conch that is what he called it. He used to blow it and then his mum would come. Its ever valuable” (Golding, 15). The conch along with Piggy gave Ralph the power of democracy on the island as in democracies the thing that gives the representatives power is an oath to the democracy. When Piggy says it's ever valuable, neither Piggy nor Ralph understands what the conch will represent or what lack of importance it will have later on in the book.
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The second example of the island being a reflection of the adult world is Jack. Jack represents the dark side of society, as well as the island. Looking at the text, we will find examples of autocracy and savagery: “The chief was sitting there, naked to the waist, his face blocked out in white and red. The tribe lay in a semicircle before him. The newly beaten and untied Wilfred was sniffing noisily in the background” (Golding, 160). In this quote, it is pointed out what actions cause him to receive the title of savage with his face paint and ruthless beating of Wilfred. In this quote, we see a prime example of savagery in Roger, stemming from the influences of Jack. “Roger who carried death in his hands” (Golding, 196). Roger’s primal instinct took over and he eased his way from hunting pigs to hunting people. He represents the blind followers of leaders, but more importantly, he represents the executioner of society.
And finally, the third example of the English school boys being a reflection of the outside world is Simon. Simon represents the intellectual part of the civilized world. We see examples of this in the text. “Maybe it is only us we are afraid of” (Golding, 80) is an example of Simon's representations of intellect in society. He has the ability and strength to recognize where the beast lies. He sees that the beast is within rather than an external entity that haunts them day and night. Simon has the strength to look for the truth and challenge the information handed to him. We can see in the text before Simon’s untimely death he muttered: “It was crying out against the abominable noise something about a body on the hill” (Golding, 152). It is noticeable that he represents intellectuals because in many cases out of the box thinkers are punished and killed for their truth or stance.
Thus, the island on which the characters of William Golding's novel ‘Lord of the Flies’ found themselves is a microcosm, a reflection of the outside world, in which each of the boys represents a different part of society.
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