Lord Of The Flies

The novel Lord of the Flies was full of challenges that the boys overcame in order to survive. Conflicts within themselves, with nature and with each other constantly test the children's ability to endure. Struggles against the natural elements of the island, rival groups or fear of the unknown continually appear throughout the story. Some of the boys on the island did not survive the quarrels that they faced. They perished because they were lacking something that the surviving boys did not. The survivors had a natural primal instinct or a physical or mental advantage over the boys who did not make it. 'Only the strong survive' is an important element that runs through the novel Lord of the Flies because in order to survive the boys must turn to their primitive instincts of physical strength and savagery.

One of the three children who did not survive the island was the mulberry colored birthmark boy. He represents the weaknesses and insignificance of all the littluns that are on the island. The littluns are younger, less developed and less experienced compared to the older children. As a result the littluns are at a disadvantage to the other boys. The mental weakness of the littluns is evident when they talk about their fear of a monster on the island: "He still says he saw the beastie. It came and went away again an' came back and wanted to eat him."(35). As most young children do, the littleuns confused fantasy with reality and as a result a monster was believed to live on the island. The littluns lack of maturity and concentration is shown when Ralph and Simon are building the shelters and Ralph says, "I bet if I blew the conch this minute, they'd come running. Then we'd be, you know, very solemn, and someone would say we out to build a jet, or a submarine, or a TV set. When the meeting was over they'd work for five minutes then wonder off."(51). The death of the mulberry colored birthmark boy clearly shows that the littluns are insignificannot

to the other children on the island. When the children built the fire on the mountain and the flames caught on the canopy below Piggy realizes that the mulberry colored birthmark boy was not with them. Piggy shows the littluns' insignificance when he says, "That little 'un-' gasped Piggy-'him with the mark on his face, I don't see him. Where is he now?"(46). The point that the mulberry colored birthmark boy was left uncounted for in the burning canopy shows that they were not important. Their unimportance is again show at the end of the book when Ralph responds to the Naval Officer's question about how many people died: "Only two. And they've gone."(223). When Ralph tells the Officer that only two people died he is referring to Simon and Piggy, not the mulberry colored birthmark boy. Similarly, the fact that the littluns are always referred to as a whole rather then as individuals exhibits their unimportance to the novel itself. The littluns' lack of ability, strength and skills made them insignificannot

and weaker compared to the other children.

Simon was very significannot

but he was lacking the ability to be savage and ruthless. He was plagued of an emotional superiority over the other children. Survival does not require being sensitive or caring