Civilization Vs Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Essay

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a novel that revolves around the concept of civilization versus savagery. The boys argue about points that eventually split the boys amongst themselves. These disputes come up multiple times over the course of the novel. One of which being the fight over the leader of the boys. Some believed the leader should be Jack while others believed it should be Ralph. Ralph was the leader of the civilized group, and Jack was the leader of the savage and bloodthirsty hunting group. Important arguments between the civilized boys and savage boys come up in three important moments throughout the book: when the signal fire is allowed to go out and a boat passes by the island, when Jack leaves the civilized group to create his group of savages, and when the savages steal Piggy’s glasses to make their own fire.
The first key moment near the beginning of the book shows the growing tension between civilization and savagery. It comes up when

This is a key moment because the conflict between Ralph and Jack has grown from audible disputes, to a physical divide between civilization and savagery of the boys. “Later in the novel, he even breaks away from Ralph’s newly formed society, forming his own tribe of hunters.” (Neighbors,1) This split shows the growing tension between the boys because they are now also splitting the other boys between the two sides. Ralph states that getting rescued should be their priority while Jack thinks hunting is just as important. Jack says that he is unwilling to be a part of Ralph’s group any longer. This goes to show that he has left the civilized part of him behind in favor of his savage side. If Jack had stayed with the civilized boys, then the two groups would still be as one and the conflict between the Jack and Ralph would not have reached the high peaking point of which it