Friday, September 5, 2014

What are the themes in Lord of the Flies? In points.

There are quite a few themes that you could write about concerning this story. I'll try to list out as many as I can and give a brief description of that particular theme.
Good and evil. Readers are introduced to a group of boys that are essentially good at the beginning of the story. However, as they explore their freedom and lack of adult supervision, their "goodness" begins to fall victim to more base and evil desires. Murder and cruelty become the prevailing mentality of Jack and his followers.
Morality. This theme is closely linked with the good and evil theme. The boys lose sight of their morality as they embrace their evil desires.
Civilization. It is possible to tie this theme with morality. In a civilized society, the boys are able to maintain their morality, or the society itself helps to maintain group morality. Once out of civilization, many of the boys embrace primitivity and its lack of morality.
Rules and order. Rules and order are important to this book. Civilization offered this to the boys, but the island does not. Ralph and Piggy recognize the need for rules and order, and that is why the meetings and the conch are so central to the story.
Power. The book presents two views of power. There is Ralph's view of power that essentially calls upon each citizen to do his civic duty for the good of the group, and there is Jack's view of power that is essentially a version of "might makes right."
Wisdom and knowledge. Although Piggy is made fun of for having knowledge, his intelligence is critical in showing Ralph how to use the conch as well as using his glasses for making fire.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Why is the fact that the Americans are helping the Russians important?

In the late author Tom Clancy’s first novel, The Hunt for Red October, the assistance rendered to the Russians by the United States is impor...