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Unit 27: William Golding — Lord of the Flies: Themes and Characterization

• When given a chance, people often single out another to degrade to improve their own Notes
security.
• You can only cover up inner savagery so long before it breaks out, given the right
situation.
• It’s better to examine the consequences of a decision before you make it than to discover
them afterward.
• The fear of the unknown can be a powerful force, which can turn you to either insight
or hysteria.

27.1 Major Themes

27.1.1 Civilization vs. Savagery

The overarching theme of Lord of the Flies is the conflict between the human impulse towards
savagery and the rules of civilization which are designed to contain and minimize it. Throughout
the novel, the conflict is dramatized by the clash between Ralph and Jack, who respectively
represent civilization and savagery. The differing ideologies are expressed by each boy’s distinct
attitudes towards authority. While Ralph uses his authority to establish rules, protect the good
of the group, and enforce the moral and ethical codes of the English society the boys were
raised in, Jack is interested in gaining power over the other boys to gratify his most primal
impulses. When Jack assumes leadership of his own tribe, he demands the complete subservience
of the other boys, who not only serve him but worship him as an idol. Jack’s hunger for power
suggests that savagery does not resemble anarchy so much as a totalitarian system of exploitation
and illicit power.
Golding’s emphasis on the negative consequences of savagery can be read as a clear endorsement
of civilization. In the early chapters of the novel, he suggests that one of the important functions
of civilized society is to provide an outlet for the savage impulses that reside inside each
individual. Jack’s initial desire to kill pigs to demonstrate his bravery, for example, is channeled
into the hunt, which provides needed food for the entire group. As long as he lives within the
rules of civilization, Jack is not a threat to the other boys; his impulses are being re-directed
into a productive task. Rather, it is when Jack refuses to recognize the validity of society and
rejects Ralph’s authority that the dangerous aspects of his character truly emerge.

Notes Golding suggests that while savagery is perhaps an inescapable fact of human
existence, civilization can mitigate its full expression.

The rift between civilization and savagery is also communicated through the novel’s major
symbols: the conch shell, which is associated with Ralph, and The Lord of the Flies, which is
associated with Jack. The conch shell is a powerful marker of democratic order on the island,
confirming both Ralph’s leadership-determined by election-and the power of assembly among
the boys. Yet, as the conflict between Ralph and Jack deepens, the conch shell loses symbolic
importance. Jack declares that the conch is meaningless as a symbol of authority and order,
and its decline in importance signals the decline of civilization on the island. At the same time,
The Lord of the Flies, which is an offering to the mythical “beast” on the island, is increasingly
invested with significance as a symbol of the dominance of savagery on the island, and of
Jack’s authority over the other boys. The Lord of the Flies represents the unification of the

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