How does Golding use conflict in Lord of the flies to develop themes about

survival?
Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding emphasises the presence of the boys
thoughts and speculations to construct a variety of man vs self (internal) conflicts which relate to the
topic of survival. It is evident that Golding has carefully constructed the book with a variety of
techniques to prioritise the mental circumstances of the boys above their physical circumstances
which consequentially conveys a variety of thematic messages related to survival such as that
survival requires mental strength in addition to physical strength. This is proved by the majority of
the text choosing to focus on the emotions and thoughts of the boys, rather than their physical
surrounds and how they are eating or sheltering. The most prominent example of Goldings intention
is the invention of the Beast within the book, when in truth, this beast is not a creature which is
physically present on the island, but rather mentally present inside the boys. We also see the conflict
of man vs self arise through character development throughout the book. For example, we see Jack's
inability to kill the pig at the beginning of the book, craft Jack's obsessive mentality for killing,
eventually leading him to even kill some of the other boys. In this instance Golding focused on Jack's
reaction to his inability to kill the pig and the conflict which arose within himself. The most subtle
example of Man vs Self conflict within the book is most likely Ralph's difficulty to lead the group and
his struggle to make decisions and prioritise factors because of the external conflicts within the
group. This instance of conflict is less evident because of the unfolding events of the book, but we
still see Ralph overcome this conflict and become more thoughtful about the decisions which he
makes. Ultimately, through the use of these examples, Golding creates a text which is much more
thoughtful about survival than most commonplace text and as a result, this creates a text which is
more engaging for the audience.