Today I will explore how the themes of civilisation and barbarity are presented in the lord of the flies. I will examine how the two themes contrast and change throughout the course of the novel.
What’s particularly striking is that at the beginning of the novel the boys obey the basic rules of society; they call “assemblies”, they use the conch to take turns in speaking and they elect their leader democratically. Even jack, who later on in the novel is the malevolent protagonist, accepts the fact that Ralph is chief. The civilised rules of their island also stop the boys being too violent. Jack can’t bring himself to kill the trapped piglet and Roger doesn’t throw stones directly at henry because of, as Golding explains, the “taboo of the old life”. This means that Ralph can organise people and can build shelters, collect clean water, light a signal fire and keep everyone living in a civilised manner.
The rules make the island a relatively civilised place, although the boys’ reactions to these rules are very different. Ralph is bitter about the fact that he has to be dutiful and mature one as all he wants to do is have fun however he obeys the rules none the less. At first Jack thinks they need rules. This is quite ironic considering his actions later on in the novel. Piggy is very anxious about maintaining the rules and gets cross and angry when they get broken he calls the others, as Golding puts it “a pack of kids”. The littluns spend their days eating and playing and their nights in terror. They automatically obey anyone who has a level of authority.