Civilization Vs. Savagery LOTF - Charmaine Lee

Beginning

Ralph Attempting to Establish Order and Civilization

In the begining of the book, Ralph is elected as a learder amongst the crash landed boys. He, with help from piggy, decided it would be best to set rules and get everyone to build structures such as the signal fire, coconut cups and shelter for a standard society until someone rescues them all. It is not successful, as the boys on the island end up playing in the water and eating fruit. This is one of the first displays of savagery amonst the boys on the island, as civilization is giving them jobs and the savagery within them is telling them not to, but instead play and while time away.

Middle

The Powerstruggle Between Jack and Ralph

Jack and Ralph are always at arms with one another throughout "The Lord of The Flies". However, the real separation between the two was when jack decided to run off and start a new tribe for himself. He was too tiered of following Ralph's civilized and lawful society and decided to creat one of his own; where he was the one in control. He breaks away from Ralph's civilization and he becomes the savage. His rules and the way he does things have no order and no logic, unlike Ralph's.

Ending

Ralph's Struggle Against Jack's Tribe

Towards the end of the story, Jack manages to captivate the minds of the rest of the boys on the island and with Piggy an Simon dead and the twins captured and tortured, Ralph is left alone to fend for himself. Ralph was the leader of a civilization that had rules and jobs for everyone. However, Jack and his tribe are now beyond reason and will not listen to any sort of humanity left within thenm . nly when the Navy officer found them that they were automatically put back into their place.

The Conch

The conch has always been used as a call for the boys to gather around and dicsuss important matters. The conch in this case, represents civilization amd order. Towards the end of the story, Piggy is knocked against a boulder and the conch flies out of Piggy's hands and it breaks. This also symbolizes the breaking of what's left of civilization on the island. The conch now broken and drifting off to sea, shows how civilization can never make a come back on the island and how civilization is now so far out of reach for Ralph.

Piggy's Glasses

Piggy's glasses are the perfect representation of civilization and savagery at the same time. Piggy's glasses have been used to make the signal fire at the begining of the book and the glasses resembled a hope that the boys would be rescued soon and return to civilization. The glasses, later on in the story, was stolen by Jack and some of his tribe members to make a fire for their dances and to cook pigs, hence encouraging Jack and his savage ways. This shows that the glasses can both be used to encourage civilization or savagery.

Face Paint

The face paint, used by Jack and his hunters, showcases the animalistic nature within them that can only be brought out with the sense of protection. With the face paint forming a mask that hides Jack and his choir's physical features, The feel that they can do whatever they pleased and feel above it all. This encourages their savage behaviour, as the mask liberates them from their moral selves and they can allow themselves to kill and run amok.

Piggy and Jack

Piggy and Jack are always fighting, jack with his absurd emotions, logic and priorities and piggy with his scientific mind and morals. I feel that Piggy represents civilization itself and Jack represents savagery. Piggy is always the one Ralph confides in for advice on what to do next and Jack is always the one ramming against Ralph head on and is always questioning the rules of society. Piggy's and Jack's disagreements and fights turely represent the struggle between civilization and savagery.

Civilization In The World Today

Morality In The Decisions We Make

In today's society, civilization is everywhere. We are presented with rules and regulations to follow and because most days run smoothly with little to no complications, civilization is the right way to live by. Civilization is placed here to aid us, guide us and give us jobes to keep ourselves useful and a productive member to the progression of society.

Savagery In The World Today

Crimes And Flaws In The Decisions We Make

We all make mistakes, especially when we are not as educated as we are today. Maybe even more so if we have not yet matured. Savagery is when we choose the wrong rout, despite us knowing the right one and how to take it. For example, a little boy chooses to steal a wallet instead of give it back to the person he knows it belongs to. Savagery doesn't nesecarily have to go to the extent of killing one another, but it fits into the same caterogy; be it petty theft or murder.

The War Between Civilization And Savagery In The World Today

A Never Ending Battle Between Our Morals And Desires

Since the constant struggle between our morals and our desires lives within us, we are always chosing between right and wrong. Even in the most simplistic of things like chosing salad over fries or whether you should copy answers off someone else during a big test. All of these decisions shift us back and forth between the border of civilization and savagery, as we constantly have to choose either following the right path or giving into our desires.

Quote #1

“What can he do more than he has? I’ll tell him what’s what. You let me carry the conch, Ralph. I’ll show him the one thing he hasn’t got.” - "Lord Of The Flies", page 246

Piggy, desparate to get his vision back by retaining his glasses from Jack, preaches to Ralph that since he has the conch, he should be the one allowed to speak and with it, her will show Jack that he does have a say. Especially since this involves his own belongings. The conch represents civilization and since Piggy believes in the power of order and logic, he holds the conch highly in respect.

Quote #2

“Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?” - "Lord Of The Flies", page 260

Piggy says this as he tries to reason with jack's tribe, holding up the conch as he talks about the differences between Ralph's tribe's intentions and Jack's tribe's intentions. He says this in hopes to bring some humanity and reason back into the minds of the stranded boys. Piggy, being the voice of reason, compares the core of civilization an savagery on the island.

Piggy and Ralph - Civilization

The Voices Of Reasoning and Order

Ralph and Piggy are the two on the island to have shown real interest in going back to society. Piggy resisted at first. However, seeing that Ralph was slowly losing hold on the boys that are staranded, Piggy then became Ralph's supporter and together try attempted to bring order to the boys. Both Ralph and Piggy set rules and take turns holding the conch to set things straight amongst the survivors.

Jack and Roger - Savagery

The Voices Of Chaos and Temptation

Jack and Roger are the two that stood out in "The Lord Of The Flies" that show a strong distaste to Ralph's way of living and so, they have created a world of their own; where they play god and do what they wanted. Although the boys on the island later favour their way of living, a world without order leads to millons of possibilities both positive and negative. In this case since jack and Roger are the gods of that world, it is negative. They tempt the boys on the island with constant play and food when they should be focusing on getting back to society.