Introduction
The Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding that allegorically connects the boy’s behavior to the fundamental behavior of the human being. The central motif of the novel is the conflict between the instinct to live by the rules, follow moral commands and value the good of the group against one's self-desire, and acting violently to enforce one's will. The two instincts are the driving force of the novel, which are depicted through the resolution of the youthful English boys’ civilized, moral behavior, barbaric, and brutal life in the wild. Golding, through characterization of the boys’ distinct behaviors, builds an argument that without morals or laws, the human will be corrupted by their inherent flaws since it will hurt civilization and peaceful coexistence.
At the onset of the novel, the author uses several characters and motifs, for instance, Jack, Roger, and fear, to show that morality can be abandoned but with a price. From the beginning, Jack is obsessed with power. This is noted when he becomes furious after losing the leadership election to Ralph. Jack's thirsty for power makes him abandon morality. At first, Jack feared killing; he freezes and unable to kill a pig in his first encounter. Henceforth, he becomes obsessed with hunting, and he paints himself like a barbarian in a contest to be perceived powerful in the group. He lost his morality and does nothing but killing. "Kill the beast, cut her throat, spill her blood" (pg.75). The transformation of Jack from civilized to a savage killer is complete. He is obsessed with hunting at the expense of power. His behavior worsens and cannot be rescued. The rhythmic chant after the pig hunt shows Jack comes from the tribe of no rules, no boundaries allowing to become immoral. Finally, Jack hunts, tortures and kill animals and human being, depicting ultimately lack of civilization. This is opposite to the Ralph regime, which requires abiding by rules and democratic decision making to build a peaceful and orderly society.
Also, the novel establishes a crude democracy where everyone is involved in voting for a leader. This election ensured Ralph is granted governance. As democracy comes with the majority, the minority are necessary to monitor the majority and maintain a natural form of competition. As a concession, Ralph appoints Jack the chief hunter, a leader of his own desire rather than peoples' representative. Ralph unknowingly allows jack's desire to power growth, which would lead to the demise of the island. As jack dominates in hunting and killing, his powers become appealing to several boys. Jack corrupts the boy’s minds to believe that democratic leadership of self-governance was the best. “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong – we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat-” (pg. 99). They succumbed to their immediate desires. Jack crashes civilization and peaceful coexistence by bringing contradiction to Ralph's regime. The children are reduced to animals and driven blindly by desires. It can be seen when they blindly kill Simon, who bursts from the underbrush with a message from the beast. “…Simon's dead body moved out toward the open sea" (pg. 154)
Conclusion
Therefore, it is clear that society cannot function without moral rules and structures. Human beings would turn into savages and destroy each other. For example, had there been rules and structures on the island, the murder of Simon could have been avoided. Therefore, to lead a peaceful and civilized life, society must be governed by specific rules and morals.
