Lord of the Flies

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1. 
   luannw Teacher
   High School - 11th Grade

   Golding's message in the book is that everyone is capable of being savage; that each of us has evil inside of us and it is only the rules of society that keep us from letting that savage evil out.  To show the reader this idea, he creates the characters of Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric to be civilized.  They don't give in to the basic savagery that Jack's crew has - until chapter 9 when Simon is killed by boys during their frenzy around the fire.  By having Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric participate in the frenzy and the killing, Golding shows the reader that anyone can become savage under the right circumstances and that anyone and everyone is capable of evil.

   Jack uses the dance to create the frenzy.  He seems to instinctively know that people caught up in mob mentality are more easily led and he very much wants to be the leader of the boys.  If he can get them excited and focused on a single event, he can manipulate the boys.

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/flies/

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   Posted by luannw on Thursday August 21, 2008 at 3:26 PM
   
   

2. 
   eabettencourt Teacher
   High School - 10th Grade

   It is exceedingly important to Golding's use of Simon as a Christ figure that all the boys on the island participate in his murder.  Christ was arguably killed by his own followers, who he was trying to warn about the inherent evils of mankind; Simon was killed by his peers, both "good" and "bad," on the island while also trying to warn them of the discovery he had made about the inherent evils of mankind via his discussion with the Lord of the Flies.

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   Posted by eabettencourt on Friday August 22, 2008 at 1:53 PM
   
   

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