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Lord of the Flies by William Golding
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 14, 2025
Poor Piggy.
February 15, 2025
Poor Piggy!
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February 25, 2025The Grizzly Descent into Savagery
Beneath every civilized society, there's always a chance for chaos to break through. Lord of the Flies digs into how fragile civilization really is and how darkness exists in human nature. As the boys slowly lose their sense of order, William Golding shows just how thin the line between society and savagery is. Since he lived through World War II, Golding had a unique way of seeing human nature, showing how easily everything can fall apart. He uses intense, graphic descriptions of violence to highlight how fear, power struggles, and a lack of rules can destroy basic human decency. As the boys try to take charge of themselves, things quickly spiral out of control. What starts as a hopeful attempt at survival turns into a complete disaster, where instinct wins over logic. Golding shows that civilization isn’t something people can rely on—it’s weak and can crumble under pressure. Without rules to keep them in check, the boys lose control, proving just how easy it is for people to slip into savagery when there’s nothing stopping them.
Simons Brutal murder is one of the most terrible moments in the book, exposing the complete loss of humanity among the boys. As the novel says, “At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (Golding 152). The boy’s actions mirror those of a beast, wild animals, emphasizing the dehumanizing effects of fear and mentality. The comparison to “teeth and claws” suggests they have abandoned all sense of reasons of human decency. This also has a violent mix of words struck, bit, tore portrays a shocking animalistic scene, illustrating the utter naos of savagery. Simon, who symbolizes innocence and mortal truth, was tragically destroyed killed by the mob, representing how fear and hysteria can have a liberate reasoning and compassion.
Piggy’s murder is a distinct variant from Simon’s death in its deliberateness, symbolizing the complete breakdown of civilization and the embrace of calculated violence, as the novel states, “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways and fell forty feet, landing on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened, and stuff came out and turned red” (Golding 181). The clinical tone of the description makes the violence even more unsettling, highlighting how the boys have descended into brutality. One more point is that the phrase “stuff came out and turned red”-this is a super traumatic event for anyone, and seeing that no one cares is direct proof of the boys going into deep savagery and turning into bloodthirsty monsters! The destruction of the conch in the same moment symbolizes the complete collapse of societal order; in the beginning, the conch brought them together, but now it is broken, ending attempts at peaceful governance. Roger’s intentional act of violence shows that, by this point, some boys have clearly embraced violence with no moral hesitation, marking a clear departure from civilized boys to more savage ones.
The graphic depictions of violence in the Lord of Flies is not gratuitous they play a critical role in Golding’s larger critique of human nature. The grotesque details of violence especially Simon’s and Piggy’s deaths – force the reader to confront the possibility of humanity’s capacity for brutality, should society’s rules break down, the novel suggests that without rules and order, humans revert to savage instincts. The boys in the Island devolve into chaos, where violence becomes the ultimate form of power and control. The pig’s slaughter and the lord of the Flies itself add to the theme of the moral decay and corruption. The imagery of the pig’s head surrounded by flies symbolizes the rotting of the soul when unchecked by civilization.
The novel Lord of the Flies written by William Golding is a compact and complicated story. The disturbing nature of the deaths of many poor souls is heartbreaking. The grotesque imagery can leave the readers with, and unsettling realization Goldings’s depiction of violence exceeds, it may not be just fictional, but a reminder of fragile boundaries between civilization and savagery that exists within all humans. Though the book might have and uncertain ending there could be many things in and on their future. For this novel many unaccounted events may happen more deaths and depth into savagery or a new path that could lead to a civilized.
Beneath every civilized society, there's always a chance for chaos to break through. Lord of the Flies digs into how fragile civilization really is and how darkness exists in human nature. As the boys slowly lose their sense of order, William Golding shows just how thin the line between society and savagery is. Since he lived through World War II, Golding had a unique way of seeing human nature, showing how easily everything can fall apart. He uses intense, graphic descriptions of violence to highlight how fear, power struggles, and a lack of rules can destroy basic human decency. As the boys try to take charge of themselves, things quickly spiral out of control. What starts as a hopeful attempt at survival turns into a complete disaster, where instinct wins over logic. Golding shows that civilization isn’t something people can rely on—it’s weak and can crumble under pressure. Without rules to keep them in check, the boys lose control, proving just how easy it is for people to slip into savagery when there’s nothing stopping them.
Simons Brutal murder is one of the most terrible moments in the book, exposing the complete loss of humanity among the boys. As the novel says, “At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (Golding 152). The boy’s actions mirror those of a beast, wild animals, emphasizing the dehumanizing effects of fear and mentality. The comparison to “teeth and claws” suggests they have abandoned all sense of reasons of human decency. This also has a violent mix of words struck, bit, tore portrays a shocking animalistic scene, illustrating the utter naos of savagery. Simon, who symbolizes innocence and mortal truth, was tragically destroyed killed by the mob, representing how fear and hysteria can have a liberate reasoning and compassion.
Piggy’s murder is a distinct variant from Simon’s death in its deliberateness, symbolizing the complete breakdown of civilization and the embrace of calculated violence, as the novel states, “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways and fell forty feet, landing on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened, and stuff came out and turned red” (Golding 181). The clinical tone of the description makes the violence even more unsettling, highlighting how the boys have descended into brutality. One more point is that the phrase “stuff came out and turned red”-this is a super traumatic event for anyone, and seeing that no one cares is direct proof of the boys going into deep savagery and turning into bloodthirsty monsters! The destruction of the conch in the same moment symbolizes the complete collapse of societal order; in the beginning, the conch brought them together, but now it is broken, ending attempts at peaceful governance. Roger’s intentional act of violence shows that, by this point, some boys have clearly embraced violence with no moral hesitation, marking a clear departure from civilized boys to more savage ones.
The graphic depictions of violence in the Lord of Flies is not gratuitous they play a critical role in Golding’s larger critique of human nature. The grotesque details of violence especially Simon’s and Piggy’s deaths – force the reader to confront the possibility of humanity’s capacity for brutality, should society’s rules break down, the novel suggests that without rules and order, humans revert to savage instincts. The boys in the Island devolve into chaos, where violence becomes the ultimate form of power and control. The pig’s slaughter and the lord of the Flies itself add to the theme of the moral decay and corruption. The imagery of the pig’s head surrounded by flies symbolizes the rotting of the soul when unchecked by civilization.
The novel Lord of the Flies written by William Golding is a compact and complicated story. The disturbing nature of the deaths of many poor souls is heartbreaking. The grotesque imagery can leave the readers with, and unsettling realization Goldings’s depiction of violence exceeds, it may not be just fictional, but a reminder of fragile boundaries between civilization and savagery that exists within all humans. Though the book might have and uncertain ending there could be many things in and on their future. For this novel many unaccounted events may happen more deaths and depth into savagery or a new path that could lead to a civilized.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2025
poor piggy
May 29, 2025
Besides the fact that they were in a plane crash where only the adults died and they basically got out of it without a scratch… It was good:)
June 10, 2025
William Golding has a timeless masterpiece depiction of human nature in the classic conflict of man vs man shown through the actions of a group of boys stranded on an uninhibited island.
November 9, 2025
Although I like what it stands for, the book moved slowly and was hard to read.
June 21, 2025
classic book, it was good, suspenseful, and my heart also got so sad.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews