Dystopian Elements in Lord of the Flies

A society will never be able to function smoothly when it has elements of a dystopian lifestyler In William Golding‘s book Lord of the Flies, a group of boys crash on an island they believe to be paradise, but in reality it is a devolving society. Throughout the book factors of a dystopia start to show immediately This is shown through a lack of control over the island, their lack of authority, as well as how savage the boys slowly become.

Forfeiting control is one of the first steps of a community losing all order. During the introduction of the novel, the boys create their first fire and unintentionally set the forest ablaze. One of the main characters, Piggy, becomes upset due to the boy’s carelessness, which is shown when he states “How can you expect to be rescued if you don’t put first things first and act proper?”

This forest fire could have been prevented if the children had self-control and did not act so irresponsibly.

Another incident where the boys lost control was when another character, Simon, was coming back to inform the children that the beast was not real, The boys are in the middle of re»enactlng how they killed a sow and chant “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!” (Golding 152), They become so enthralled with their actions that when Simon came in to tell them the news, they viewed him as the beast and murder him. At this point the boys lost complete control of their actions, unable to regain any form of discipline or regulation, This, in turn, goes to show that losing control can be fatal.

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Lacking authority, as well as Ralph‘s and Jack‘s competition as to who has the right to be leader, causes many problems on the island.

Upon arriving to the island, the boys notice there are no adults and decide to elect a chief. Jack states right away that ”I ought to be chief because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.”(Golding 30). Ralph gets elected and this causes some tension between them. This relationship between them is ultimately why everything turns into chaos; for instance, when the boys are not being rescued in the beginning because Jack did not think that keeping the fire was as important as hunting. Another reason as to why this power struggle turns this island into a dystopia is because it separates the island Jack is unhappy with Ralph becoming chief therefore he overthrows Ralph‘s authority and starts his own tribe. Jack convinces the others to join his tribe by stating “Who’ll join my tribe and have fun?” (Golding 150) which causes the separation among the boys, This comes to show that wanting to have authority has consequences. Savagery is the main characteristic that sparks a dystopia, At the end of the book, it is clear as to how brutal the boys have become when, “Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever,” (Golding 260) releasing the boulder and killing Piggy. Purposely killing him and having no remorse comes to show how violent the boys have become.

Another example of how savage the children have become is when Jack’s tribe steals Piggy’s specs, In the text it describes what great lengths the boys went through to steal his specs, “Someone tripped over Ralph and Piggy’s corner became a complication of snarls and crashes and flying limbs, Ralph hit out; then he and what seemed like a dozen others were rolling over and over, hitting, biting, scratching.” (Golding 241) Being savage means being uncivil and primitive, and the characters in the book demonstrate these characteristics, Order being lost on the island and turning into chaos, Jack being power hungry and wanting to be in charge, and also how ruthless the boys gradually become overtime, are all factors contributing to a dystopian society, if the boys contained themselves and had some self-control, Jack not desperately being obsessed with power, and not turning into savages> the island could have been a utopia