Lord of the Flies- a Macrocosm of the Human Mind

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Lord of the Flies- A macrocosm of the human mind People act differently at different times; you can see this in everyday life. People naturally switch their way of thinking, in different situations, whether they are aware of it or not. In Golding’s view, Lord of the Flies is a microcosm of the human society at the same time, a macrocosm of the human mind. The makeshift civilization the boys form in Lord of the Flies, collapses under the weight of their innate savagery. So, we can say that when left to its own devises, without dominant authority and when given the opportunity, human nature will revert back to the inherent savagery, which will overpower the values/rules taught by society. Conflicts between Jack and Piggy shows the constant friction between savagery and civilization and how savagery had its way in the end. We can also see this friction between Jack and the civilized Ralph. Even Roger turned into a complete savage due to the lack of authority. Conflicts between animalistic Jack and the intellectual piggy, wh o holds the rules taught by society, shows the constant friction between savagery and civilization. During the first effort to create a fire when, Piggy says, “I got the conch…You let me speak”. The conch, equal to hand-raising in grade school, represents order to Piggy. Order that combats with Jack’s desires to speak whenever he pleases. And when the fire is allowed to go out, Piggy says to Jack, "You didn't ought to have let that fire out, You said you'd keep the smoke going”. Jack punches Piggy in the stomach when he hears this. This reflects the ruthlessness in Jack, revealed when given the right opportunity. Now we can see how the inner savagery in humans echo when given the right environment and that it will overpower them when there isn’t a dominant authority present. Altercations between Jack and Ralph portray the friction between
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