Are They Really All Savages?

In Lord of the Flies, it is evident that there is a separation from Ralph, Piggy, and Sam and Eric to Jack, Roger, and the tribe. Ralph and his group are trying to hold on to civilization and a society with some order. This is evident because Piggy especially and Ralph still hold on to the value of the conch. The conch is the symbol of society. Jack and his tribe could care less about a well organized society and the conch. All they care about is hunting. Jack and his tribe are very savage and Ralph and his group aren't. At one point in the novel, all of the boys become savages for a short period of time. This was when all of the boys, including Piggy and Ralph, did the dance in the circle. When they did the dance, they killed Simon. All of the boys were involved in the death of Simon too. Ralph and his group had the capability to be savages just like Jack and his tribe. This backs up Golding's belief that men are mostly evil. Ralph and Piggy were good people, they just had a temptation that they couldn't resist. They gave in to the evil. They wanted a well organized society, but when the evil looked like fun, they didn't think about what was right, they were just involved in the moment. This holds true in our society today. Many people are good on the inside. When they get caught up in the moment or with the wrong crowd, they tend to do things that they know are wrong. This helps prove that all men have the capabilty to be evil, and it also backs up Golding's main theme for the whole novel. Men are mostly evil. Even the mostly good people do bad things.

Molly Gamble