The descent into savagery in lord of the flies.

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In lord of the flies there is a traceable descent from civilisation into savagery. It starts with rules being ignored and cruelty towards unfortunate members of the group and ends with death and the burning of the island.  In the beginning the boys are very civilised jack marches hi boys around the island and a democracy is formed when Ralph is elected to be chief and jack agree to have ‘rules, lots of rules and anyone who disobeys will be punished.’ this already shows his willingness to hurt and punish but also shows that he believes that rules should be made and obeyed.

This system works until Jack realises that he is not above these rules and when not given he conch he shouts ‘bollocks to he rules!’ he is already defying the rules and probably inspires others to do the same.  He shows that if he didn’t make the rules or he doesn’t agree with them then they are stupid and he doesn’t have to follow them. This is a key moment in the descent because it is showing jacks true and savage side, which is encouragement for the others to do the same.

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Another key moment in the book is when roger is throwing stones at Percival and he misses purposefully because he felt guilt this shows that although he no longer as to be worried about being punished he retains the conscience that civilisation has given him. Golding describes it as a 1m circle around him that he dare not enter’. But we later see that the longer he lives on the island the more his conscience fades until he will quite happily beat and kill others without question. This behaviour is associated with soldiers who are ordered to do it ...

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A good response that considers the key points; I would like to see further analysis of setting as it is very important symbolically in this novel. Points should also have been made in more detail in order to demonstrate an in depth understanding of the text and the characters. 4 Stars