Lord Of The Flies is a thought inciting book that contains recurring themes of darkness in human nature, as well as civilisation versus savagery. These themes are represented by the different characters in the novel and their actions, namely Jack and Ralph, who symbolise savagery and civilisation respectively. In the first few chapters of the book, Jack was shown to be torn between his civilised side and his savage side, with civilisation triumphing. In the later chapters, he ‘defected’ to the savage side and started to become warrior like, as if he was liberated from his conscience. Jack was originally a great follower of civilisation, with his emphasis on hierarchy as well as law and order. Despite that, he could not maintain that composure when confronted with his inner calling for bloodshed and bloodlust. This shows that Man has a deep, dark side to him that is savagery. This calling might originate from mankind’s primitive ages, where Man’s life consisted of mainly hunting and sleeping. These instincts may have been inscribed as some kind of DNA to tend for one of Man’s basic needs, food. Thus, all of us are actually born savage, with intent to hunt and kill to provide for our needs. However, civilisation, a way of life, is taught to us from a tender age, causing us to be very familiar with it and stick with it. This book has highlighted the existence of this innate darkness and depicts how it can come to life when man is exposed to savage intent.
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