William Golding Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

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People never realize what they are capable of doing until they have free reign to do as they please. Through the writing of William Golding in Lord Of The Flies, the readers see many examples of this. Golding proves in this book that laws are needed to ensure civilized behavior. Everyone as a kid is taught basic things like, this is the bathroom, this is the kitchen, this is the living room, etc. They understand what to do in each area and what not to do. Well, what if there were no restrictions on what is allowed and what is not? The readers see a prime example of this in Golding's book. It says “There’s another thing. We chose those rocks right beyond the bathing pool as a lavatory.” Ralph then continues saying, “Now people seem to use everywhere even near the shelters and the platforms.”(pg 80). This proves why laws are necessary. Even though they all know how unsanitary this is, they all just ignore it because they simply …show more content…
But imagine the wave of guilt someone would feel after having no laws or restrictions and having to face someone of authority, like a police officer. The readers see the boys react to the guilt that has been eating at them after talking to the officer: “‘Nobody killed I hope? Any dead bodies?’ ‘Only two. And they’ve gone.’ ‘Two killed?’ Ralph nodded”(pg 201). Shortly after conversing with the officer Ralph breaks down followed by the other boys. “He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body.”(pg 202) With the word grief the readers can tell that Ralph and the others do feel awful for their actions and the deaths of the two boys. Freedom and having absolutely no rules or restrictions can really affect how humans can act even though they do know right from wrong. Golding's book and through these examples truly does show that laws are necessary to ensure civilized