Lord Of The Flies Civilization Analysis

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is the story of a group of boys dropped from the heart of civilisation onto a deserted island where they discover their own anarchy. Golding shows the disintegration of their fragile civilisation through the removal of controls. Firstly, the introduction of fear into what have previously been protected and civilised lives causes confusion and a shift in power. The breakdown of the rules the boys create is the framework for their descent from civilisation. Finally, the physical appearance of the boys becomes more barbaric and savage as the novel progresses. In these ways, the civilisation the boys create is shown to disintegrate around them.

Fear only becomes a part of the boys’ lives after they are dropped onto the island. Golding’s boys know little of the adult world apart from a brief mention of “the atom bomb.” Ralph, a chief, …show more content…
At first, their departure from civilised appearance is solely for the purpose of practicality in the wilderness of the island. Heavy clothes become “stiff with sweat”, and it does not take long before the choirboys have “piled their black cloaks on the grass”. Soon “a pair of tattered shorts” becomes the attire of most of the boys. The decorum that clothes offer remains a small acknowledgment of civilisation. However, the continuing change in appearance becomes more sinister. The hunters design painted face masks, ostensibly to camouflage themselves. Soon, they discover that the anonymity of face paint makes them “safe from shame or self-consciousness”, and, when they behave as savages, the reason they choose is that “the mask compelled them”. The changes the boys make consciously and subconsciously to their appearance show that they are discarding the accountability and restraint their society needs. Therefore, the changes in appearance demonstrate the disintegration of

Show More