Lord of the Flies

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Compare and contrast the presentation of civilisation and savagery in Lord of the Flies and Coral Island In both Coral Island and Lord of the Flies, the writers explore how children enforce responsibilities and civilisation. In the books both authors differ, in Coral Island, they encounter evil through savage people and conflicts whereas in Lord of the Flies, evil is within the children and as civilisation depletes, the children become increasingly savage. Also Ballantyne and Golding explore the contrasts in behaviour of the children and the way in which they deal with problems that cause trouble amongst themselves. Firstly, a difference which is used heavily in the presentation of civilisation and savagery is the contrariety of the quality of the boys in each book. The boys in Coral Island are very good at heart, compared to the boys in Lord of the Flies where the boys are complete savages at heart. Ballantyne’s protagonists Jack, Ralph and Peterkin are all honourable and have a special bond which they keep throughout the novel and remain close. However Golding’s characters are all his interpretation of British boys (Yobs which if they roam away from adult control, plunge into savagery). In Lord of the Flies they begin as innocent children that are lonely on an island. Then, in a way, they become megalomaniacs who are unutterably savage. In Lord of the Flies all the children are at a very young age and the oldest is only twelve years old. This would mean they have a tendency to disobey rules and subsequently create a disorder within the group. This is suggested by ‘You’re breaking the rules’ (LOTF, Chapter 5, page 114). As a result of the children being very young, they don’t have the knowledge or experience to deal with important situations. In Lord of the Flies this leads to murders and isolations of other children, which is very savage. In contrast to this, in

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