We Americans in a democracy,
which is supposedly a happy medium between order and anarchy. Furthermore, we
under constitutional law, which promises us certain rights in good old
documents such as the Bill of Rights and the Amendments to the Constitution. Unfortunately,
human nature causes some of us to be denied these rights, while others abuse
these rights and stretch them to the furthest degree, often for their own
amusement. It’s this point William Golding attempts, and does a formidable job
of doing, to clarify this point in his excellent novel Lord of the Flies. Generally, citizens abide by the rules and
regulations of society, but unfortunately, there are those who will push the
tolerance of the law to its extremities.
Golding insinuates without
laws one would revert to a savage, chaotic existence, a plausible opinion, but
possibly blown out of proportion for the likes of literature. But what he has
his protagonist Ralph thinking regarding his fatiguing attempts to bring order
from chaos is quite realistic. Golding writes in Lord of the Flies, “He found
himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every path was an
improvisation, and a considerable part of one’s waking life was spent watching
one’s one feet.”
In America, no one is ruled
by a single being, nor is one all for themselves. But in Lord of the Flies, society on the Island could be considered a
monarchy with Ralph as the leader. As the story progresses, the conflict
between Ralph and Jack causes the true leader position to waive between them.
Toward the end of the story, Beelzebub, or “Lord of the Flies” as the novel is
appropriately named, has dominance over whatever civilized reason and order
that had still remained. Ralph becomes mostly incapacitated with all the
horrific events occurring in the latter days of the boys’ stay on the Island,
and Jack is being led only by the evil of the heart.
The devolution of society is
apparent throughout the course of the tale. But their former lives fade into
the background as time passes on. Littlun Percival Wemys Madison eventually
forgets his own name, the naughty Roger becomes unbearably violent and murderous,
and Ralph’s calmness and even keel attitude both deteriorate. From a wider
scope, the only one unaffected by the growing savagery of the group is Piggy.
Once Piggy is killed by the treacherous Roger, all order and sense is gone, one
of the numerous well-defined symbols Golding provides throughout his novel.
To finalize, “the infinite
cynicism of adult life” has evaded them, as they have not been on Earth long
enough to understand the intricacies of life. As there are no real enforced
laws on the Island, true order is overwhelmed by anarchy. It’s a reminder that
without enforced law, there would be no society as we know it.
~ Artemis Desertsong
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