Term Papers on Lord Of The Flies

Term Paper Title	Lord Of The Flies
# of Words	1215
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.86

Lord of the Flies

The Lord of the Flies

     The world had witnessed the atrocities of World War II and began to
examine the defects of their social ethics.  Man's purity and innocence was gone.
Man's ability to remain civilized was faltering.  This change of attitude was
extremely evident in the literature of the age.  Writers, who through the use of
clever symbolism, mocked the tragedy of man's fate.  One such writer was William
Golding.   An author who has seen the destruction of war and despises its
inevitable return.  Through the use of innocent and untainted children, Golding
illustrates how man is doomed by his own instinct.  The novel is called Lord of the
Flies, and is of extreme importance to help reconstruct the current wave of
revolutionary ideas that swept the twentieth-century generation.  Lord of the Flies
portrays the belief of the age that man is in a constant struggle between darkness
and light, the defects of human nature, and a philosophical pessimism that seals the
fate of man.  Golding's work are, due to their rigid structure and style,  are
interpreted in many different ways.  Its unique style is different from the
contemporary thought and therefor open for criticism.
     The struggle between darkness and light is a major theme in all the works of
William Golding.  Strong examples of this are found throughout Lord of the Flies.
The most obvious is the struggle between Ralph and Jack.  The characters
themselves have been heavily influenced by the war.  Ralph is the representative of
Democracy.  Elected as the leader he and Piggy his companion keep order and
maintain a civilized government.  The strength of Ralph's character was supported
by the power of World War II.  Jack, on the other hand, represents
authoritarianism.  He rules as a dictator and is the exact opposite of Ralph.  Jack is
exemplifying the Hitler's and Mussolini's of the world.  He is what the world fears
and yet follows.  This struggle is born at the very beginning and escalates till the
very end.  The struggle in the book is a negative outlook on life in the future.
One other example is the debate over the existence of the beast.  The idea of a
beast brings all into a state of chaotic excitement in which Ralph and Piggy lose
control.  Ralph and especially Piggy try to convince everyone that there is no such
thing as a beast to maintain order.  Jack and his choir of hunters do all to win
support of the hunt and in doing so he becomes an advocate for evil.  This struggle
between good and evil is a fairly clear picture of the way this post-war generation
viewed man and his journey through life.  This is done through Golding's masterful
use of allegory.  Therefor making it enjoyable for all readers.
     Golding himself stated that the purpose of the novel was to trace the defects
of society back "to the many defects of human society."  The use of children is an
extremely effective way of making the purpose understandable to readers of all
generations.
     "The idea of placing boys alone on an island, and letting them
     work out archetypal patterns of human society, is a brilliant
     technical device, with a simple coherence which is easily
     understood by a modern audience." (Cox 163)
This quote by C.B. Cox gives us the reason why this novel has survived so long
and is so well respected.  The children are left to react in ways that will test how
close they will resemble modern civilization.  The group at first tries to assemble a
type of demcratic government in which Ralph is elected leader.  At this instant we
see something that is  most important.  That is the reluctance of Jack to become the
leader. He and his choir singers, whic...

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