All Play and No Work
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of
preteen boys trapped on an island are able to show how human nature works.
Being left alone with no adult leader on the island, the boys start a war.
Their desire to get away from work and have more fun is the main reason why
they start a microcosm of the whole world’s war. In the heat of the moment,
Jack and his new tribe kill Piggy and Simon during the war. The root of the
issue on the island was that the boys did not want to work.
The boys do
everything to avoid working. They will not help Ralph build the huts, and Ralph
cries out saying that he needs them to help. Ralph says, “They keep running
off. You remember the meeting? How everyone was going to work hard until the
shelters were finished?” (50). This is the first sign in the book that shows
the boys do not want to work, and just want to have fun while on the island.
Despite having a meeting regarding helping build a shelter, the boys choose to
hunt, and upon their return from hunting, they goof off rather than pitch in to
help. In order for them to survive on this island, they would need to have
shelter. However, Ralph and Simon were the only ones working to be sure that
they would survive. This is the beginning of the tension between the hunting
boys and the working boys that will eventually lead to war.
Work involves doing what you need to do and not just what
seems fun. This is demonstrated when Jack and his gang kill the pig. They
portray complete savagery, as they chant with blood on their faces. The scene
shows that the boys have tons of fun killing pigs, and while they are doing it
they all sing a grotesque chant: “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her
blood” (69). They would rather hunt and kill than do anything else, especially
work. However, Jack forgets that it was his job to stay and guard the fire
while the boys went on their hunt. Instead of staying near the fire, he chose
to join the others in the quest to kill the pig. While Jack was away hunting,
the fire diminished and a ship came by that could have seen the fire. They missed
their opportunity to go home. This strengthens the tension between the two
groups, the hunting and the working boys, because the hunting boys are putting
all of their chances of being rescued at risk. Ralph gets filled with anger
when Jack lets the fire go out, because it could have saved them, and this
ignites the hatred between the two groups.
Work often
involves getting along with others. A good worker does not just abandon the
group. As the tensions between the groups rise after they kill the pig, Jack
decides to leave the group. He only wants to hunt, and he feels like the
working groups should allow him to do so. However, when they don’t allow him to
just hunt, he leaves them. Jack says to the group, “I’m going off by myself. He
can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too” (127).
Jack says this because he doesn't want to listen to Ralph's orders anymore.
Jack does not like taking orders about things that he does not want to do. He
does not want to help Ralph; he only wants to hunt. Jack leaves and all the
other boys leave with him except for SamnEric, Piggy, Simon, and Ralph.
A responsible
does not place the blame for his wrong action on other. The first time the two
groups see each other after their split, Roger drops a huge boulder on Piggy,
while he's holding the conch. This results in the death of Piggy. After his
death, Jack is telling Ralph that none of this would have happened if Ralph would
not have tried to make all the boys work, “See? See? Thats what you'll get! I
meant that! There isn't a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone” (181). Piggy was holding the conch when the boulder
crushed him, so the conch was destroyed with Piggy. Jack blames the murder of
Piggy and destruction of the conch on Ralph and his want for everyone to work.
Not only does this heighten the strain between the two groups, but the conch
also represents peace and order on the island. When the conch explodes, it
means that all peace and order on the island is gone. The island is now in
complete anarchy. This is the turning point from government into anarchy. The
boys’ refusal to work split the group up into two groups, which leads to
anarchy and war.
Responsibility
can only put off for so long. After Jack decides to burn the forest to try and
find Ralph, he sees a captain of a ship standing on their island. The reality
of this situation finally hits Ralph:
The tears began
to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island;
great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose
under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island;
and infected by emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And
in the middle of them,
with filthy body, matted hair, and unwired nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness
of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true wise friend called Piggy (248).
This is the return to reality, as the boys realize that their
actions were complete savagery, and end up feeling horrible for killing Piggy
and Simon in the way they did. When Ralph sees the ship captain standing on the
island, all of his emotions that had been built up on the island finally burst.
The split
between the two groups of boys leads to anarchy and war. The division among the
groups reflect their newfound hate of each other. When Jack only wants to hunt,
but Ralph needs them to work, tensions among the boys rise. The split between
the boys leads them to being
vicious towards one another. Their unified government eventually
turns into anarchy which leads to violence and war because of the division
between Jack and Ralph. In the end, the want to get away from work almost leads
the boys to destroying their chances of survival on the island.
Works Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the
Flies. Penguin, 1954.
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