Lord of the Flies: An Analysis of the Two Sides of Man and the Two Sides of Nature
...il and then, through his allegorical novels he attempted to enlighten mankind on his own faults. Lord of the Flies takes place in the middle of World War II. The novel start out in an ominous scene that portrays the young British school boys having to flee their native island due to an enemy threat. The boys escape only to crash upon another Pacific island. Since their pilot has died the boys are forced to live in a world they have never experienced before, a world with out adults. The children elect a light-haired boy named Ralph as their leader. Ralph won against a sharp-featured choir boy named Jack Merridew. Jack and his choir tend to always stay together as they hunt for meat, whilst they “liluns” gather fruits, create a shelter and tend to a signal fire. There is also a heavy set child with severe asthma that the other children call Piggy. Just as everything seems alright Ralph become upset with the fact that Jack and his choirboys have left the fire unattended. To rebuttal, Jack argues that he and his self proclaimed “hunters” were out searching for food. They both agree on the fact that some serious changes need to be made, the changes they want are radically different. This little argument enflames into the separation of the choir boys and "liluns" into two separate “tribes”. Ralph and his group which is composed of mostly “liluns” and a few various medium aged children, stay on the lighter or good side of the island. While, on the other hand, Jack and his choir boys move to the darker, more satanic part of the island. Slowly as the novel progresses Ralph becomes more and more insane, due partially to the fact that he is losing everything to Jack. When Ralph loses Piggy’s glasses to Jack, he views that as the last straw, in that, now he and the left over members of his tribe walk over to the dark side demanding revenge. The two sides talk for a little while, and then words turn into actions when a member of Jack’s choir throws a boulder at Piggy’s head, killed him and then tossing him out to sea. The other boys then start throwing rocks at Ralph, now that he has no-one left to hide with, he runs and he keeps running until he is found by a British soldier. The soldier then brings them back to England. Lord of the Flies is based, on a tropical island in an undisclosed region of the Pacific. The planes crash landing on the island leaves it with a scar which is described to be located all the way toward one end of the island. Then toward the middle of the island there is a spot that is clear of all dense jungle growth, this area becomes referred to as “Simon’s spot”. This is an area very near to that of where the “Lord of the Flies” is found. On the same side of the island as the scar there lies a mountain, this is the mountain where the signal fire is made and also the dead parachutist was found. Then on the total opposite side of the island is where “castle rock” can be found. “Castle rock” is where Piggy dies and Jack and his tribe reside. Most importantly the entire island as a whole is described as a boat. From an Arial or bird’s eye view, the boat is said to appear as if it was moving backwards. The book describes the island as if there were two distinct sides, a good side and a bad side. The good side of the island is on the side where the scar is located. Due to the way the novel progresses, with the children slowly devolving, as one moves to the other side of the island the more barbaric the children become. On the good side on the island the conch is found, this symbolizes “justice and democracy” (Rosenfield). Also, there is a bathing pool that shows willingness to hold onto the ways of civilization. The meeting place, amongst other things, can also be found on this side. The meeting place is where most, if not all, of the civilized discussions were held. The signal fire is located on top the mountain, near to where the scar is. The signal fire represents the will of the boys to be rescued, and as long as the fire burns, their quest to return to civilization continues. Most of all, the good side of the island is very lively and “fruitful” (Hadomi). But on the contrary the good side of the island is also badly “scarred”. Yet there is more than just a good side, as we find out Jack and his tribe also introduce one to the evil side. “The scar shows that things are not well in paradise.” (Zelcer) The fact that the plane crashed onto the island shows the downfall of man. Then the scar formed by the crash shows that no matter how much one tries no hide it or recover from it, things will never actually be the same. The scar also shows the way that the island loses its virginity, in that, what was once a peaceful innocent tropical island is now similar to a ravished, used, and tormented island, that in essence, is the sole source of its own barbaric actions. Simply the best way to put it would be to say “The scar is a blemish on paradise, an indication that trouble exists even on the good side of the island.” (Zelcer) Jacks side of the island ...