Lord Of The Flies

The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding is divided up into three sections. The first section is when the boys arrive on the island and everything seems to be perfect. The next section of the book is when the dead parachutists lands on the island and all laws and rules do not seem to apply to the children anymore. The final section of the book is the not so happy ending. The novel starts off as if the children were in paradise, but soon the children lose all sense of what is right and end up turning to complete moral anarchy, making the novel have an unhappy ending.

The novel starts off with a bunch of boys stranded on a tropical island. This is a perfect place for a group of kids to have tons of fun. The kids have no adult supervision and do not have to worry about getting in trouble by adults. “When the little kids land they are delighted to find hat there are no grown-ups about” (Pg. 210, Forester). This shows that they do not worry about getting in trouble, which will later come back to haunt them. The young boys plan on having a fun time on the island and plan on just goofing around. Ralph shows this several time in the first chapter by swimming in a lagoon and standing on his head. “Ralph lolled in the water”(11). All the kids seem to be happy about being together on the island and plan on being rescued soon. The children in the first section of the book still follow the laws and rules that they had before. Jack “The hunter” cannot bring himself to kill a pig in the beginning of the book. “In his first confrontation with a pig, Jack fails, unable to plunge his knife into living flesh, to bear the sight of flowing blood, and unable to do so because he is not yet far enough away from the вЂ?taboo of the old lifeвЂ™Ð²Ð‚Ñœ (246, Mueller). This shows that the kids still do have morals. Another example of the boys still following the laws and rules of society is when “Roger throws stones at Henry, but he throws to miss because вЂ?round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the lawвЂ™Ð²Ð‚Ñœ(238, Gregor). These rules and laws however do not apply much longer to these children. Things start to go down hill when work has to be done and they have to act more like adults to get things done, but most of them do not want to work, and all they do is bicker. This is where the first section ends. Ralph’s heyday is over. The kids had been on this romantic island having nothing but fun, but the fun comes to an end and reality sets in that they need to work but most do not want to work.

In the second section of the novel the kids no longer live by the rules and laws of their old society. This section of the novel starts when the parachutists land on the mountain (238, Gregor). Ralph cried out “If only they could send us something grown-up…a sign or something”(87). Ralph was answered and a dead parachuter landed on the top of the mountain. The kids think that the dead man is the beast they have all been talking about. The leader of the island is now Jack. Jack has all the boys wiled up about killing, he even gets Ralph carried away in the moment a few times. Jack got a lot of kudos for bringing pig food to the group. Now killing a pig is no big deal to Jack, and he no longer hesitates to do it, nor do the rest of the boys. “She squealed and bucked and the air was full of sweat and noise and blood and terror. Roger ran round the heap, prodding with his spear whenever pig flesh appeared. Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife. Roger found a lodgment for his point and began to push till he was leaning with his whole weight. The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands. The sow collapsed under them and they were heavy and fulfilled upon her” (125). This shows how much Jack and the other boys have changed from when first arriving on the island. They were first afraid of killing a pig, but now they thought it was one of the most fun things to do. The boys do a reenactment of one of the pig hunts, and it gets out of control when they start beating one of the littluns. “An ominous make-believe, a mock hunt in which Robert, one of the younger boys, plays pig, the others encircling hi and jabbing with their spears. The play becomes frenzied with cries of вЂ?Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!’ An almost dark desire possesses the boys. The terrified Robert emerges alive, but with a wounded rump” (246, Mueller). This shows how out of control the boys are and also shows that none of the old taboo remains. Jack and his hunters really over do it when they kill Simon. “’Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’ The blue-white scar was constant, the noise unendurable. Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill. вЂ?Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him inвЂ™Ð²Ð‚Ñœ(141). The whole group of boys were caught up in the moment and ended up killing Simon thinking he was the beast. “Simon is murdered not only without compunction but with orgiastic delight”(247, Mueller). The kids