12-2-13 Post #13 Out of Order

        At the end of William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the true savagery of human nature comes out in full form. In chapter ten, Piggy's ordered mindset pushes the boys to try and find a peaceful solution with the other group of boys to improve their chances of survival. This was a very good and mature idea, yet the boys cannot communicate with any sense of maturity. "The shivering, silvery, unreal laughter of the savages sprayed out and echoed away," (Golding 182). The boys who took Piggy's glasses are now not even referred to as boys, but as savages. Ralph and Piggy do their best to have a peaceful interaction, but cannot overcome the primal instincts of the boys that used to be. The interaction comes to a fatal end when Roger, one of the savages, pushes a rock of the cliff and onto Piggy. Crushing the only two objects left that symbolize any sense of order/civilization; Piggy and the Conch shell. In the next chapter, Ralph loses his small sense of order and decides to take revenge. He finds the Lord of the Flies, the real beast of the Island, and compares it to the conch, "...looked steadily at the skull that gleamed as white as ever the conch had done...," (Golding 190). The flies had eaten away all of the flesh of the sow head, revealing the shiny, pure underlying skull. Just like the boys grew a flesh of barbaric and flesh over their innocent skin. Yet, unlike the sow head, nothing was left to clean them; until the navy appeared. "The other little boys began to shake and sob too," (Golding 207). All it took was one adult to end a savage assault to cease instantly. Every boy on that island was involved in a violent assault just minutes earlier, yet now peace flooded the beach. The naval officer helped Ralph realize that the way they were acting was completely crazy according to their everyday lives, yet on the island, it seemed inevitable that the brutality would erupt. This goes to show how the smallest slip in order can lead to a total collapse, especially when immaturity flourishes among the culprits.