Lord of the Flies: Themes

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

Civilization versus Savagery

The central concern of Lord of the Flies is the conflict between two competing impulses that exist within all human beings: the instinct to live by rules, act peacefully, follow moral commands, and value the good of the group against the instinct to gratify one’s immediate desires, act violently to obtain supremacy over others, and enforce one’s will. This conflict might be expressed in a number of ways: civilization versus savagery, order versus chaos, reason versus impulse, law versus anarchy, or the broader heading of good versus evil. Throughout the novel, Golding associates the instinct of civilization with good and the instinct of savagery with evil. The conflict between the two instincts is the driving force of the novel, explored through the dissolution of the young English boys’ civilized, moral, disciplined behavior as they accustom themselves to a wild, brutal, barbaric life in the jungle.

Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel, which means that Golding conveys many of his main ideas and themes through symbolic characters and objects. He represents the conflict between civilization and savagery in the conflict between the novel’s two main characters: Ralph, the protagonist, who represents order and leadership; and Jack, the antagonist, who represents savagery and the desire for power. As the novel progresses, Golding shows how different people feel the influences of the instincts of civilization and savagery to different degrees. Piggy, for instance, has no savage feelings, while Roger seems barely capable of comprehending the rules of civilization. Generally, however, Golding implies that the instinct of savagery is far more primal and fundamental to the human psyche than the instinct of civilization.

Golding sees moral behavior, in many cases, as something that civilization forces upon the individual rather than a natural expression of human individuality. When left to their own devices, Golding implies, people naturally revert to cruelty, savagery, and barbarism. This idea of innate human evil is central to Lord of the Flies, and finds expression in several important symbols, most notably the beast and the sow’s head on the stake. Among all the characters, only Simon seems to possess anything like a natural, innate goodness.

Loss of Innocence

As the boys on the island progress from well-behaved, orderly children longing for rescue to cruel, bloodthirsty hunters who have no desire to return to civilization, they naturally lose the sense of innocence that they possessed at the beginning of the novel. The painted savages in Chapter 12 who have hunted, tortured, and killed animals and human beings are a far cry from the guileless children swimming in the lagoon in Chapter 3. But Golding does not portray this loss of innocence as something that is done to the children; rather, it results naturally from their increasing openness to the innate evil and savagery that has always existed within them. Golding implies that civilization can mitigate but never wipe out the innate evil that exists within all human beings. The forest glade in which Simon sits in Chapter 3 symbolizes this loss of innocence. At first, it is a place of natural beauty and peace, but when Simon returns later in the novel, he discovers the bloody sow’s head impaled upon a stake in the middle of the clearing. The bloody offering to the beast has disrupted the paradise that existed before—a powerful symbol of innate human evil disrupting childhood innocence.

Struggle to Build Civilization

The struggle to build civilization forms the main conflict of Lord of the Flies. Ralph and Piggy believe that structure, rules, and maintaining a signal fire are the greatest priorities, while Jack believes hunting, violence, and fun should be prioritized over safety, protection, and planning for the future. While initially the boys, including Jack, agree to abide by Ralph’s rules and democratic decision-making, the slow and thoughtful process of building an orderly society proves too difficult for many of the boys. They don’t want to help build the shelters, maintain the signal fire, or take care of the littluns. The immediate fun and visceral rewards of hunting, chanting, and dancing around the fire are more attractive than the work of building a sustainable society. Near the end of the novel, even Ralph is tempted by Jack’s authoritarian regime, regularly forgetting why the fire and rescue is so important.

Man’s Inherent Evil

The fact that the main characters in Lord of the Flies are young boys suggests the potential for evil is inherent even in small children. Jack, for example, is initially keen for rules and civility, but becomes obsessed with hunting, frightened and empowered by the promise of violence. Jack’s desire to control and subjugate proves more powerful than his desire for empathy, intellect, and civilization, and Jack becomes a brutal and leader. Even Ralph and Piggy, who both strive to maintain their sense of humanity, ultimately join in on the mass murder of Simon, momentarily surrendering to the thrill of violence and mass hysteria. While Piggy tries to ignore their participation, Ralph is devastated when he realizes that he is no better than Jack or Roger, and that he has a darkness inside as well.

But the character of Simon suggests humans can resist their inherently violent tendencies. The only boy who never participates in the island’s savagery, Simon has the purest moral code and is able to remain an individual throughout Lord of the Flies. While the others consider him weak and strange, Simon stands up for Piggy and the littluns, helps Ralph build the shelters, and provides thoughtful and insightful assessment of their predicament. Simon recognizes that the beast is not a physical beast, but perhaps the darkness and innate brutality within the boys themselves. After a terrifying conversation with the Lord of the Flies, Simon recognizes the paratrooper as a symbol of fear and the boys as agents of evil, and runs to tell the others. But Simon is never able to properly explain this to the other boys before they beat him to death in a frenzy of excitement and fear.

Dangers of Mob Mentality

Lord of the Flies explores the dangers of mob mentality in terrifying scenes of violence and torture. Early on, the boys sing “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood,” after a successful hunt, elevating their shared act of violence into a celebratory chant. By coming together as a mob, the boys transform the upsetting experience of killing an animal into a bonding ritual. Acting as one group, the boys are able to commit worse and worse crimes, deluding one another into believing in the potential danger posed by the beast justifies their violence. Similarly, the boys use warpaint to hide their identities as individuals, and avoid personal responsibility. Ralph, Piggy and Samneric both fear and envy the hunters’ “liberation into savagery.” Their desire to be part of the group leads to voluntary participation in the ritualistic dance and brutal killing of Simon. The mob’s shared irrational fear and proclivity toward violence results in a devastating act of ultimate cruelty.

War and the Future of Mankind

Set during a global war, Lord of the Flies offers a view of what society might look like trying to rebuild after a largescale manmade catastrophe. In their attempt to rebuild society, the boys cannot agree on a new order and eventually fall into savagery. Ralph comes to realize that social order, fairness and thoughtfulness have little value in a world where basic survival a struggle, such as after a devastating war. The paratrooper who lands on the island reminds the reader that while the boys are struggling to survive peacefully on the island, the world at large is still at war. Even in their isolation and youth, the boys are unable to avoid violence. In their descent into torture and murder, they mirror the warring world around them.

Next section Motifs