The Lord of the Flies Section: Book Reports
The killing of Simon as the beast but saying the beast was still alive, showed Jack had used the beast to keep his power as leader of the tribe. In a way, it became a religion as Jack's ritual of killing pigs for their heads to keep the beast happy. This was his method of promoting hunting. Other examples of this in real society are the Vikings whose promise of Valhalla made them among the best warriors of all time in the world. In today's society, religions can give power and money to many people. Fear of gods or protection from all fears in society can make person donate to a religious unit material goods or loyalty. Even traditional religions like Catholicism can allow the leaders to lead a life of luxury. Violence in the book increases as it does in society today. At first, the intention of killing the first pig was there and then when a pig was finally killed, killing became easier. The restraint that deemed killing unacceptable in society was broken. Next came the killing of the beast or Simon. They recognised him as the beast although they knew it was Simon but as they all joined in, killing Simon became a cheered event and not a tragedy. The boys realised that nothing would happen if they killed humans as their peers were also killing and so the restraint was broken even further. The killing of Simon was not an event enjoyed by all as Ralph and the twins realised the mistake because the restraint was still strong inside then. The feelings become more intense as this happened. In every step, "the darkness of man's heart" became an ever greater presence amongst Jack's group but when the realisation of fault happens to Ralph and his group, their wish for peace becomes even more great. Savagery and civility or, evil and good both become more intense and defined. Piggy's death shows the ultimate in disregard for death as Jack declares that he meant to kill Piggy and starts a completely defined death hunt for Ralph. Our society today, has changed to a completely defined peace push after the world wars. However, disregard for human life is still trying to match the push as thousands still die under the hands of others in civil and international wars, in muggings and robberies, and generally in hatred killings of personal, racial, religious and revenge reasons. The significance of the officer in the final scene is the way he turns a blind eye to the boys and waits for them to pull themselves together. In conclusion, the Lord of the Flies is a picture of our society today. It shows the darkness of man's heart and where the break down of restraint can result in killing and violence. When laws and morals can no longer apply to man then the darkness of man's heart will escape. This anarchy is a picture of our society today in war, greed, fear, and is the other half of our "civilised society". It is a picture that exists and will remain with man no matter how far we bury the darkness whether we bury it shallow like Jack and Roger or deep like Ralph and Piggy
Words: 541
