Ralph's pack represents God or holiness. Simon seems the most holy of all the boys on the island. He is a pacifist, comes to the aid of others and keeps his innocence and purity. Ralph's pack is civil and relies on the structure of rules. Ralph and Simon use their power to protect the younger boys and advance the good of the group.
Jack's pack is the complete opposite. They represent Satan and demonic forces. They are vulgar, blood-lusting, impure, corrupt, violent, evil little boys. They act completely on their evil animal instincts, doing only what pleases them without regarding any morals. Jack and Roger use their power to gratify their own needs and treat the littler boys as objects for their own amusement.
Golding's message to the readers is portrayed through this contrast, it represents the bigger picture. Golding portrays the evil that corrupted the boys, a natural result from their increasing openness to the innate evil and savagery that had always existed within them. Golding is implying that civilization can mitigate but never wipe out the innate evil that exists within all humans beings. This touches upon Christianity in a sense that we are all born into sin and born into a sinful, corrupt world due to the first sins of Adam and Eve. This struggle that he hints at, the struggle in us to control our sinful, evil nature parallels the invisible battle the Bible mentions. The invisible battle is the spiritual battle between God and Satan and is invisible because we cannot see what is happening. In reality there are demonic forces working against us and God's forces shaping us and guiding us through life. The Lord of the Flies really signifies this, as we read the boys fall at the evil forces within them and Ralph and Piggy cling to moral goodness and civilization.
I made spaces and indents while i was typing but when i posted it, it posted a mass block of words.
ReplyDeleteHey, I loved this book! =] the introduction paragraph was pretty good, but at the same time, it felt weak with no hook or attention grabber. The last paragraph was very explicable. I like how you tied sin into Adam & Eve because Lord of the Flies does use biblical meanings in it.
ReplyDeleteAristinono: Sorry, I'm a Christian. I don't believe in Allah.
ReplyDeleteI remember this book from 10th grade, it was pretty crazy and I think it was cool of you to use it for this prompt. The only thing I would have to say is that maybe changing the location to where each group of boys (Ralph's vs. Jack's), it would seem more relevant to the question and avoid losing points on the actual test. Other than that, the biblical connections made some really strong parallels and the Satan stuff really blew my mind, it made for good supporting evidence. And it looks like you have a fan, haha ;) Can just anyone see our blogs???
ReplyDeleteSorry, I meant to say change the location to where Ralph and Jack lived with their individual groups, such as the cliffs where Jack and his wild boys lived being different from Ralph's spot on the beach (I think that's where it was right?), but that would have suited the opposing locations issue better :]
ReplyDeleteKonnie =D
ReplyDeleteI thought this was an interesting take on the novel and I enjoyed reading your essay. I have never before thought of both Ralph's and Jack's groups in terms of spirituality. I agree with Kaili about considering comparing the two camps or sides of the island that they stayed on to better address the prompt. Also, I would suggest staying away from using first person (in the conclusion) just to make the essay sound more formal. I thought that what you mentioned about people innately having a savage side to them was very true to the novel; I would have loved to hear more about how civilization represses this while being on the island brings it out.
Konnie,
ReplyDeleteI thought that it was an interesting essay but I think you needed to fill it out a bit more, and better address places because that is what the prompt was asking for. I like your writing style, and I LOVED how you connected spirituality to the two groups, but I agree with Lexi, that you shouldn't use first person because it doesn't sound like an essay. Other than that good job =)