Post by Imorta Thaw on Oct 27, 2008 15:42:20 GMT -8
Our teacher had us type up this in class essay today. The first paragraph has been altered, but otherwise (exept for spelling) it's pretty much exactly what I wrote. I got 35/40 on it. Not bad, considering that this was my first real in class essay. (not history wise)
Though we try our best to deny it, our society uses appearance as a judge of character. In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a plane filled with school children crashes on a deserted island. Ralph is elected chief by common consensus even though Jack feels entitled to that position. Eventually, the kids break up into two groups with Jack and Ralph as opposing chiefs. Slowly Jack’s tribe consumes Ralph’s, and once Ralph is only one opposing Jack, the dominant chief begins a hunt for Ralph and doesn’t kill him only because the sudden arrival of rescue. Throughout the narrative, William Golding uses the symbol of the kid’s clothing to track the decay of civilization.
When they first landed on the island, the boys are eager to throw off their constraining uniforms and enjoy the island without thought to order and civilization. Only Piggy, the symbol of intelligence, is uncertain about undressing. He does not want to shed the few reminders of civilization that he has. However, at this point, civilization is still comfortably natural. After bathing Ralph puts on his shirt. Golding writes, “To put on a grey shirt once more was strangely pleasing.” Even though he seemed eager to enough to shed his uniform, even “lugging” it off of his body, he still feels comfortable returning to its binding embrace.
As the book progresses, order collapses, the kid’s attire becomes progressively more ragged and uncomfortable. After missing their first chance to be rescued Ralph decides to call a meeting “to put things straight.” (79) As he makes his way to the beach, Ralph reflects on his situation. He notices “how the folds [of his clothes] were stiff like cardboard, and unpleasant; noticed too how the frayed edges of his shorts were making an uncomfortable, pink area on the front of his thighs.” (76) This state of pre-decay mirrors that of the boy’s collapsing society. Though neither clothes nor order have completely fallen apart, they are uncomfortably close.
Towards the end of the novel, when everything colapses into chaos, the use of clothes as a symbol for decay becomes even more apparent. While on a hunt for the beast, the boys stop for a dance in which they nearly kill the littleun that was pretending to be the pig: “One by one they stood up, twitching rags into place.” (115) This is the first place in the novel where Golding uses the term “rags” to describe the kid’s clothing. This is significant because they have just nearly committed murder. This is a turning point in the novel in that all sense of order and rules is lost. Later, when Ralph is the only one left to oppose Jack’s Golding describes Bill as a “savage whose image refused to blend with that of a boy in shorts and shirt.” It is implied that even if the boys do get rescued, it will be impossible for them to return to the life they had before the crash. They have been irreversibly changed.
From the very first page, to the description of the officer who eventually saved the boys, appearance plays an important part in tracking the progression of civilization in the novel Lord of the Flies. Though at first the kids are still bound by civilization, they slowly shake off their bonds in favor of chaos. This shows that the collapse of order and structure causes savagery.
Signs of Chaos
Though we try our best to deny it, our society uses appearance as a judge of character. In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a plane filled with school children crashes on a deserted island. Ralph is elected chief by common consensus even though Jack feels entitled to that position. Eventually, the kids break up into two groups with Jack and Ralph as opposing chiefs. Slowly Jack’s tribe consumes Ralph’s, and once Ralph is only one opposing Jack, the dominant chief begins a hunt for Ralph and doesn’t kill him only because the sudden arrival of rescue. Throughout the narrative, William Golding uses the symbol of the kid’s clothing to track the decay of civilization.
When they first landed on the island, the boys are eager to throw off their constraining uniforms and enjoy the island without thought to order and civilization. Only Piggy, the symbol of intelligence, is uncertain about undressing. He does not want to shed the few reminders of civilization that he has. However, at this point, civilization is still comfortably natural. After bathing Ralph puts on his shirt. Golding writes, “To put on a grey shirt once more was strangely pleasing.” Even though he seemed eager to enough to shed his uniform, even “lugging” it off of his body, he still feels comfortable returning to its binding embrace.
As the book progresses, order collapses, the kid’s attire becomes progressively more ragged and uncomfortable. After missing their first chance to be rescued Ralph decides to call a meeting “to put things straight.” (79) As he makes his way to the beach, Ralph reflects on his situation. He notices “how the folds [of his clothes] were stiff like cardboard, and unpleasant; noticed too how the frayed edges of his shorts were making an uncomfortable, pink area on the front of his thighs.” (76) This state of pre-decay mirrors that of the boy’s collapsing society. Though neither clothes nor order have completely fallen apart, they are uncomfortably close.
Towards the end of the novel, when everything colapses into chaos, the use of clothes as a symbol for decay becomes even more apparent. While on a hunt for the beast, the boys stop for a dance in which they nearly kill the littleun that was pretending to be the pig: “One by one they stood up, twitching rags into place.” (115) This is the first place in the novel where Golding uses the term “rags” to describe the kid’s clothing. This is significant because they have just nearly committed murder. This is a turning point in the novel in that all sense of order and rules is lost. Later, when Ralph is the only one left to oppose Jack’s Golding describes Bill as a “savage whose image refused to blend with that of a boy in shorts and shirt.” It is implied that even if the boys do get rescued, it will be impossible for them to return to the life they had before the crash. They have been irreversibly changed.
From the very first page, to the description of the officer who eventually saved the boys, appearance plays an important part in tracking the progression of civilization in the novel Lord of the Flies. Though at first the kids are still bound by civilization, they slowly shake off their bonds in favor of chaos. This shows that the collapse of order and structure causes savagery.
