Two Faces of Man

Authors Avatar

Two Faces of Man

William Golding was inspired by his experiences in the Royal Navy during World War II when he wrote Lord of the Flies (Beetz 2514). Golding has said this about his book:
The theme is an attempt to trace the defeats of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shapeof society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable. The whole book is symbolic in nature except the rescue in the end where adult life appears, dignified and capable, but in reality enmeshed in the same evil as the symbolic life of the children on the island. (Epstein 204)

In the novel he displays the two different personalities that mankind possesses, one civilized, the other primitive. Golding uses the setting, characters, and symbolism in Lord of the Flies to give the reader a detailed description of these two faces of man.

The story's setting is essential for the evolution of both sides of man. When an airplane carrying a bunch of school boys crashes on an island, only the children survive. The island the children find themselves on is roughly boat-shaped (Golding 29; ch. 1). It is ironic that the children are stuck on an island shaped like the thing that could save them (a boat). Despite this irony, they are trapped. They are surrounded by ocean and no one knows where they are. The boys, isolated from society, must now create their own.

The children soon realize that there are, "No grownups!" (Golding 8; ch. 1) This means that the boys must fend for themselves until they are rescued. There are no parents or adults to give the boys rules or punish them if they do wrong, so they must learn how to control and govern themselves. Their first attempt mimics the society that they have grown up with, that of a civilized democracy (Michel-Michot 175). A conch shell is used to call assemblies and decisions are voted on (Golding 17, ch. 1). The fire that they try to keep going on the top of the mountain is a symbol of their civilized society because it represents their hopes for rescue and a return to their ordinary lives (Michel-Michot 175).

Unfortunately, the children soon grow tired of this civilized life. They want to have fun and quickly lose interest in whatever job they are doing. Ralph states the problem when he says to the group of children, " ŒWe have lots of assemblies. Everybody enjoys speaking and being together. We decide things. But they don't get done. We were going to have water brought from the stream and left in those coconut shells under fresh leaves. So it was for a few days. Now there's no water. The shells are dry. People drink from the river.' " (Golding 79; ch. 5) All of their resolutions soon degrade and fall apart. The society gives into its more primitive side and now only concerns itself with having fun. Hunting, which originally was only a practice of getting food so that they could survive until they were rescued becomes all important. (Michel-Michot 175-6) All of the children's fears become condensed into a monster that they fear and awe. They make sacrifices to "the beast" to appease it and keep themselves safe (Golding 137; ch. 8). In the end, their grand society becomes no better than a bunch of savages in this lush island setting.

Join now!

The island is abundant in resources, with lots of fresh water and plentiful fruit ripe for the picking. "He walked with an accustomed tread through the acres of fruit trees, where the least energetic could find an easy if unsatisfying meal." (Golding 56; ch. 3) Although rich with nature's splendor, the children are sorely lacking in the technology with which they have become accustomed to. They do not even have matches. If not for Piggy's "specs", they would not be able to create fire (Golding 42; ch. 2). This lack of technology both hinders their attempts to be civilized and ...

This is a preview of the whole essay