Rabbani 1

Golam Rabbani

Professor Ali Arefur Rehman

Asst.Professor Rubaida Akhtar

Course: 504

16 September 2010

Demoralization of Democracy in Lord of the Flies

Sir William Gerald Golding was born on September 19,1911 Saint Columb Minor in
Cornwall, England. He got his primary education at Marlborough, Oxford. He took his
degree in English literature. He began his career as a schoolmaster at Bishop Wordsworth’s
School in Salisbury. During the Second World War (1939-1945), he joined the Royal Navy
and was involved in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck. In fact, William Golding
was a naval officer who saw much action during the Second World War. His novel Lord of the
Flies was published in 1954 and for this novel he was awarded the Nobel Prize. This novel is
a parody of one of the most famous adventure stories for boys, R.M. Ballantyne’s The Coral
Island. As he was, therefore, the naval officer in Royal Navy, he witnessed the atrocities of
the impact of the Second World War; and so, he tries to represent the Demoralization of
Democracy in the novel, Lord of the Flies.

Demoralization of Democracy : In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding provides
important characters and they are depicted as embodying a determined social stereotype. The
novelist also represents the Island – as a microcosm of the world, the speech, the fire and the
conch to show how demoralization of democracy prevails in the novel. In fact, the conch
functions as possessing the democracy and it generates enough envy, power and conflicts
creating their effects to organize themselves under a rational thought.

William Golding, however, alludes to the story of Beelzebub. In fact, Beelzebub is the
Lord of the Flies mentioned in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Milton used
this name for one of his first fallen angels. Like Jack, Beelzebub also tried to dishearten the
principles of democracy and to create a hierarchy among the angels. Therefore, William
Golding uses the term “Lord of the Flies” in the novel to show how demoralization of
democracy is produced.

In addition, William Golding says that there is an atomic war going on and that is why
the aeroplane crash-lands on the Island, especially to rescue the school boys from the cruel
clutches of the war. William Golding, actually, wants to allude to the struggle between Britain
and the Fascism and Nazism. Apart from this, he also tries to show how the Jewish were
terribly killed and deprived of the principles of democracy. All these incidents are depicted
through the characters of Ralph, Piggy, Simon, Jack and Roger. In fact, Jack and Roger
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embody the evil characters; and they demolish the rules and ideals of democracy and yield
savage and neurotic society in the novel. However, at the beginning of the novel, Jack is
thought to a good boy, especially from his speech:

I agree with Ralph. We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages.
We’re English; and the English are best at everything. So, we’ve got to do the right
things. (Golding 55)

But later on, Jack becomes the evil incarnate. We can find an example on Jack’s use of
fear to get his purposes fulfilled. Therefore, the group’s fear towards an unknown beast ends
up driving all the group into Jack’s fascist hands; in other words, the primary ideas and events
which united the group, are finally disintegrated. Jack not only uses his fear but also
leadership to recover his pride and his prestige within the group. This pride grows when the
tribe is formed. Hence, to reinforce his pride Jack hides his own image behind a mask; a
mask which has something to do with the fascist imagery, like the paint of the faces. The
paint institutionalizes the group and makes personal identity disappear; and in this way the
ideas of democracy lose its ethical values.

William Golding, furthermore, uses many aspects of a novel to reflect the ideas of a
modern-day society and to infuse the story with greater depth and meaning. Throughout the
novel, Golding effectively exploits three distinct politically related symbols; the Conch, Jack
and Ralph. These are used mainly to represent how the power of savagery and hierarchy
dominates the ideas of a democratic society.

Moreover, the Conch also symbolizes law and order as well as the freedom to speak
one’s mind. Whoever passes the Conch is the only person permitted to talk at the time. It is
also important to know when Piggy shouts:

“Let him have the Conch! Let him have it!” (Golding 46)

In actual fact, Piggy is admonishing one of the older boys to let a younger boy have a
chance to speak. This quotation shows that Piggy embraces the ideology of democracy and
feels that the Littluns, in this case, deserve the right to speak. Moreover, in Lord of the Flies
when the Conch is blown, it is a signal for the group to assemble at the platform to discuss
important thinks such as the shelter and maintenance of the signal fire, the pigs and the beast
of which they are terrified.

In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Golding uses the fire to uphold his ideology; the fire plays
a vital role in the novel. It is exploited for their everyday life and protection of the community.
Ralph says:

You hunters! You can laugh! But I tell you the smoke is more important than the pig,
however often you kill one. Do all of you see? (Golding 101)
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Therefore, though Piggy’s glasses are firstly used to make fire, it later on becomes an
object which triggers a major conflict and hence demoralizing the ideas of democracy.

At a point in the novel, Jack invites all the boys to start a mock hunt; this time Roger
pretends to be the pig and the hunters make a circle round Roger. Therefore, all the boys
are busy with attacking Roger but in the meantime, a figure comes out of the forest and
their attention turns totally to that figure; and the hunters say:

Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in! (Golding 188)

If we, anyway, consider this incident, it turns out to be the causes of disparaging the
morale of democracy among the group. Therefore, Golding reveals the gradual process
from democracy to dictatorship from Ralph’s democratic election to his lecture of law
enforcement to Jack’s strict rule and his violent enforcement. In fact, Golding portrays
Ralph as possessing the ideology of democracy and attempting to please the majority. He
also symbolizes the representation of the ego, which governs the id and is associated with
practicality.

Furthermore, as the Island civilization erodes and the boys descend into savagery,
the Conch loses its power and influence among them. Its appearance or its gradual loss of
color from exposure to the air also parallels their descent into a savagery. The other boys
ignore Ralph and throw stones at him. When Ralph attempts to blow the Conch in Jack’s
camp, the boulder that Rodger rolls onto Piggy also crushes the Conch signifying the end
of the civilized instinct among almost all the boys on the Island. When Piggy and the
Conch are destroyed, Jack jumps up and screams wildly:

See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I mean that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore!
The conch is gone ……. I’m chief! (Golding 223)

This is the point at which Jack finally gains total control from Ralph; and this way
democracy remains on the wane and paves the way for hollowness in human soul.
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Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Great Britain: Faber and Faber,1954.
“Inherent Evil in Lord of the Flies.” 123HelpMe.com.29Jan.2010
http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=9701.
“Philosophical and Political Aspects of Lord of the Flies.” 123 HelpMe.com.29Jan.2010
http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=9699.
“The Use of Symbolism in Lord of the Flies.” 123HelpMe.com.01Sep.2009
http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=9981.