response paper of lord of flies

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Shanshan wang

5/28/06

utopia and dystopia

                               Fate

In the lord of the Flies, the author vividly represented the sinful nature of man through the heavy symbolizes in the book. Jack, Ralph, Piggy and Simon are all can be seen as the symbols to the different kinds of people in our society. Symbolisms in the book displayed Golding’s belief of the nature of mankind. He believes that the change from civilization to primitivism and anarchy is unavoidable if there is not any direct authority over people. It emphasized the human tendency to obey rules.  Further more, the desire for power, selfishness, and violence of human ultimately determined the savagery of mankind. It made utopia impossible to achieve.  

   Golding makes heavy use of symbols throughout the book to present dramatic conflicts of the novel. So it clearly indicated the different political sides in the society. In the same time, through the flamboyant description of the behavior of boys who were isolated in the island, it showed us the struggles between the ordering elements of society. When a group of boys with different backgrounds were marooned on an unknown island, they firstly attempt to recreate a society, they elected a leader, established a division of different labor, people also set off for an expedition on the island. But their desire for power ultimately breaks the bond of their friendship. Savagery, a tendency of human nature was shown noticeably on this group of boys who represent innocence and purity in a normal society.

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    Ralph is the definitely the most charismatic ones among those boys. He was initially chosen as leader due to many of his positive personalities, such as his excellent leaderships and clear idea about the way to get rescued—to put on the fire. He maintained a conflict with Jack throughout the entire novel. At first, when Ralph got elected as a chief, Jack displayed was furious about the result. “The freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification.” The tension mounted when Ralph attempted to keep order whereas Jack isn't concerned with it. Two of these guys ...

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