Book Debate!

OK so now my next book: Lord of the Flies This book also has some good themes to it. The main theme and conflict to it is civilization vs. savagery. This expressed by two instincts that exist within all human beings: the instinct to live by rules, act peacefully, follow moral commands, and value the good of the group against the instinct to gratify one's immediate desires, act violently to obtain supremacy over others, and enforce one's will. Through this novel it is explored as civilization being good and savagery as evil. This conflict is driven through a group of young British boys who are stuck on an island. They are also stuck between their moral, civilized, and disciplined way of life to the savage and barbaric life on the island. This conflict is represented between the two main characters: Ralph who represents civilization and acts as the protagonist vs. Jack who represents savagery and acts as the antagonist. The question is if humanity will always be doomed to the problems of today which maybe lead to our self-destruction or not. That is one of the reasons why this book is good it debates on an important issue of humanity. Another theme is the loss of innocence because as the boys progress from being civilized to savages. The story shows this dramatic change as the boys in Chapter 3 who set up a democratic group and elected a leader and act civilized are far different than the ones who had by now turned into savages and had killed animals and humans alike who have no desire to return to civilization. What the author implies is that civilization can mitigate but never wipe out the innate evil that exists within all human beings. One of the best things you will find in this story is symbolism. There are far too many symbols in this story for me to explain, but all are important so I will explain three: The Island - The island represents a clean and new path for humanity that has not been touched. Its basically a brand new world that a new group of humans can start on to see how they will react. Will they be violent or will they be peaceful? Eventually the island is destroyed by a fire and this new path is destroyed basic the theme that humanity is doomed to trouble. The Beast - Early in the story many of the boys are concerned of a beast on the island. Only one of the characters, Simon, comes to realization that the beast they fear only exists within each of them. By the end of the novel they are treating the best as a god and leave sacrifices for it. The boys' behavior is what brought the fear of the beast and the more savage they act, the more real the beast gets. The Lord of the Flies - The Lord of the Flies is actually the cut off head of a pig on a stake in the ground, placed by the boys as a sacrifice to the beast. Simon walks up to the pig's head and it seems to speak with him. The head says that evil lies within every human. The Lord of the Flies in fact translates to Beelzebub in biblical texts which is the name of a powerful demon that is thought to be Satan himself. The Lord of the Flies is a Satan figure that evokes the beast within each human being. There are plenty more symbols including one for each character, but that is far too much to go through. But these ideas are why the Lord of the Flies is considered a classic.