Anarchy On The Island

In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the island represents a microcosm. In the beginning of the novel the boys elect a leader and establish rules, in order to survive. Even though rules were set, they get broken by the evil within each boy. When the boys begin to neglect their assigned tasks on the island, society starts to fall apart. The boys stranded on the island and their actions are similar to the larger world.

The boys decide that the first thing they ought to do, to be rescued, is to have a chief and to make rules. The boys want to belong to a group with a leader to feel safe. They decide to have some sort of Government. They chose to have one chief to follow. Once Ralph is selected as chief, he starts assigning jobs and tasks.

"'Jack is in charge of the choir. They can be-what do you want them to be?'

'Hunters'" (Golding 19).

It was necessary for the boys to fulfill their duties, and to work together to establish good grounds for the society. Jack and the choir needed to hunt in order for the boys to nourish. Everyone needed to do their part to keep everything rolling smoothly. In addition, the boys decided that rules should be made.

"'And another thing. We can't have everybody talking at once. We'll have hands up like at school!' He held the conch before his face and glanced around the mouth. 'Then I'll give him the conch'" (Golding 31).

This rule was an important rule. It gave everybody the right to speak and to have opinions. Giving a boy the conch meant that he was given power and authority. The boys made some wise choices when they set up their rules and tasks. Just like in the real world, the boys needed someone to tell them what to do, someone with good leadership skills. Ralph seemed to be that person. To wrap it up, the boys acted with thoughtfulness and decided to adapt rules, and to vote for a leader so things like savagery would not exist. This is very alike to the real society running with a Government.

Consequently, the evil inside each boy manages to escape, and rules are broken without punishment to follow. When rules are broken and there are no consequences towards the person breaking it, it is common for the action to become a habit, and may come to the point were society sees it as acceptable. Usually small rules are broken first, and as time increases, the crimes committed get bigger of importance. For example, more towards the beginning of the novel a small and more insignificant rule is broken.

"'I got the conch,' said Piggy indignantly. 'You let me speak!'

'The conch doesn't count on top of the mountain,' said Jack, 'so you shut up' (Golding 42).This shows that little rules were broken. Although it was not a life or death kind of rule, it is the constant breaking of small rules that may slowly cause the decay of civilization. Events low of importance are what permits things of bigger value to happen, like when Jack let the fire out, and a ship sailed by.

"'There was a ship. Out there. You said you'd keep the fire going and you let it out!' He took a step towards Jack who turned and faced him" (Golding 74).

The letting out of the fire was an important task that was neglected. Would Jack have kept the fire alive and the smoke going, they might have gotten rescued. However, he did not and others suffered from his mistake.

At one point or another, the boys show the evil within them. Living on an island without grown ups was confusing, dangerous, risky, and out of the boys hands. They did things they would not even imagine doing. In survival situations, humans are capable of doing anything to survive, even kill one another. When people are frightened they act out of fear, therefore many boys were pressured to follow Jack's tribe.

"Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. They were glad to touch the brown backs of the fence that hemmed in the terror and made it governable" (Golding 152)

This shows why Ralph and Piggy joined into the chanting and dancing, no matter how wrong it may have seemed to them. They were scared, and everyone else was doing it. They felt that if they acted like everyone else, they would feel safe and protected.

Jack's hunger for power grew throughout the novel, coming to the point were he threatened people to join his