In Lord of the Flies, William Golding presents pessimistic view of society. He uses the story of a group of boys stranded on a deserted island to examine a multitude of specific social issues, such as leadership, sadism, and the role of intellectuals in society. Taken together, this presentation of opinions on social issues brings the reader to the question of the nature of society. As to this question, Golding asserts that society is an inherently corruptive influence and illustrates this through the breakdown of social order on the island. Golding begins his indictment of society with an illustration of innocence. One of first things that Ralph, the central character of the novel, does upon his arrival on the island is to strip himself of his clothing and go swimming.
During this opening sequence, Piggy rambles about eating candies in his aunt’s store. Even Jack first appears as a choirboy. Golding is careful in the novel to introduce each of the boys as the picture of innocence, emphasizing that they are children and nothing more. This is shown in the following quote, ” He (Ralph) patted the palm trunk softly, and, forced at last to believe in the reality of the island, laughed delightedly again and stood on his head. He turned neatly on to his feet, jumped down to the beach, knelt and swept a double armful of sand into a pile against his chest. Then he sat back and looked at the water with bright excited eyes.” (Golding, William Lord of the Flies Wide view/Perigee page 10).
By doing this, Golding strips his characters of any motives that they may have for their actions down to bare human nature, as the author has shown them to be carrying no emotional baggage. Because of this, these innocent children become the perfect subjects for Golding’s test of human nature. Also, by establishing this innocence at the beginning, before the boys form their society, in such a concrete manner, Golding suggests that man begins as innocent, before entering society. After establishing the boys as innocents, Golding wastes little time in mixing them together into a society. That natural state that they exist in upon arrival on the island is shattered by Ralph’s first unifying blow of the conch. Golding uses the scenario of the isolated tropical island to demonstrate the effects society has on individuals.
One of the first things the boys do after assembling is to make fun of Piggy’s weight. Jack does this to impress and entertain the other boys. Ralph chimes in to impress Jack, as well as the group. Because of this desire to belong by Jack and Ralph, Piggy is isolated from the group. To show this in the text, ” ‘Then,’ went on Piggy, ‘that boy- I forget-‘ ‘You ” re talking too much,’ said Jack Merri dew. ‘Shut up Fatty.’ Laughter arose ‘He’s not Fatty,’ cried Ralph, ‘his real name’s Piggy!’ ‘Piggy!’ ‘Piggy!’ ‘Oh, Piggy!’ A storm of laughter arose and even the tiniest child joined in.
For the moment the boys were a closed circuit of sympathy with Piggy outside: he went very pink, bowed his head and cleaned his glasses again.” (page 20). This only begins the social problems that the boys experience. The that boys inadvertently create immediately isolates all of the younger children by giving them no purpose. This caste system also serves to separate the boys who are not in the choir from the rest of the group. Aside from the caste system and the overwhelming need to belong, a fear of ridicule exists in the boys that prevents them from communicating properly. This was demonstrated best at the meeting where Simon was trying to suggest that the Beast wasn’t a physical thing, as is shown in the following passage, “Simon was close to him, laying hands on the conch.
Simon felt a perilous necessity to speak; but to speak in assembly was a terrible thing to him. ‘Maybe,’ he said hesitatingly, ‘maybe there is a beast’ The assembly cried out savagely and Ralph stood up in amazement. ‘You, Simon? You believe in this?’ ‘I don’t know,’ said Simon. His heartbeats were choking him. ‘But…
.’ The storm broke. ‘Sit down!’ ‘Shut up!’ ‘Take the conch!’ ‘Sod you!’ ‘Shut up!’ Ralph shouted. ‘Hear him! He’s got the conch!’ ‘What I mean is… maybe it’s only us’ ‘Nuts!’ That was from Piggy, shocked out of decorum. Simon went on.
‘We could be sort of… .’ Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness. Inspiration came to him. ‘What’s the dirtiest thing there is?’ As an answer Jack dropped into the uncomprehending silence that followed it the one crude expressive syllable. Release was immense. Those who had climbed back on the twister fell off again and did not mind.
The hunters were screaming with delight. Simon’s effort fell about him in ruins; the laughter beat him cruelly and he shrank away defenseless to his seat.” (pigs 80-81). Because of this fear of embarrassment, Simon is isolated at this point in the novel. However, as well as demonstrating the isolating aspects of society, Golding also uses this scenario to look at other degenerative evils of society, such as the tendency towards laziness and the desire for privilege. At the first meeting, the boys collectively acknowledged a need for shelters and a signal fire, yet these tasks fell to only a few of them, while the others went swimming or hunting.
Specifically, at that first meeting, Jack volunteered the choir, himself a member, to keep a lookout and a signal fire going on top of the mountain, yet the job soon fell to Samneric. Likewise, Piggy constantly made suggestions as to what needed to be fixed, yet never acted on any of it. He espoused his opinions on how to keep the fire going properly and how everyone should participate in building the shelters, yet he never did any of this work that he suggested, himself. This brings us to the idea of the desire for privilege. Piggy wanted work done, but did not want to have to do it.
Jack wanted to only have to hunt and not participate in Ralph ” side as of how the group should run. Jack was also envious of Ralph’s position as leader and wanted that privilege for himself. It was this desire that eventually led to the schism in the group, with Jack forming the tribe at the Castle Rock. With this split, Jack was able to enjoy the position of leader and did not have to do anything that he didn’t want to do. Asso on as the government was formed on the island, the boys began to tear away from it until it ceased to exist. This is symbolized by the shattering of the conch that occurs in chapter eleven, completing that social drive towards anarchy.
By looking at these two social evils that Golding vividly demonstrates, we are led to the conclusion that there is a tendency towards anarchy in human nature as people would rather obey their wants than their needs when given the chance by society. By presenting a view of innocence, the effects of society, and direct social evils, William Golding shows that society is a corrupting influence.