Without a
structured and
ordered society, all
civility and goodness
is lost. People
regress and morals
diminish.
Savagery
The fundamental evil in mankind.
Exists within our apparently civilised
society.
Ralph Vs. Jack
Jack
Showed signs of savagery in
Chapter 1. Still clinging on to a tiny
bit of civilisation, which prevented
him from stabbing the piglet.
"They knew very well why he
hadn’t [killed the piglet] : because
of the enormity of the knife
descending and cutting into living
flesh; because of the unbearable
blood."
Ralph
Clung on to
civilisation for as
long as he could
(until army officer)
"Ralph wept for the end
of innocence, the
darkness of man’s heart..."
Other Characters
Piggy
Clung on to
civilisation. Acted as
a voice of rationality
and reasoning.
His death (along with the conch) represents
the end of civilisation, and the boys were left
on their own, with no more 'grown-ups' with
them. (Piggy's role was similar to that of a
grown-up, as he possessed greater
intelligence that any of the others.)
Simon
The island's chief
commentator on evil. He
discovers that the beast
purely existed within the
boys themselves. "Man's
essential illness"
Roger
When throwing rocks at
Henry's direction, Roger
made sure that he
avoided Henry
completely.
"Round the squatting child
was the protection of
parents and school and
policemen and the law."
He still held on to the taboo of old life at
first. As the novel progresses, Roger drifts
towards savagery (with 'delirious
abandonment'), resulting in him pushing
the rock that killed Piggy.
The Conch
The shattering of the conch
represents the end of
civilisation on the island.
The conch (rules, law, society) was the
thing that suppressed evil on the island.
"...the conch exploded into a thousand
white fragments and ceased to exist."