How Does Golding Show Conflict in Lord of the Flies? Essay

In lord of the flies, Golding presents a strong mother wit of conflict, mingled with the boys, the boys and nature and the boys personal lives. The theme of conflict is an important one within the novel, as it helps to represent the disagreement and contend of World War II which was happening during the time that maestro of the flies was written and that Golding experienced first-hand. Goldings main message in Lord of the flies was how cruel men could be to one other and conflict is an obvious link to this idea. We begin to look at conflict in truth early in the novel, all the same before the story begins, as Golding tries to introduce the key themes at the start of the novel. The boys be actually brought to the island itself by the conflicts of World War II. charm conflict and violence is happening in the macrocosm that is the world, it starts to arise on the island, a microcosm of the world. We also disclose conflict and focus amidst Ralph and gross for a number of re asons. Ralph right away thinks of himself as superior to Piggy because he is physically more attractive and athletic then Piggy. While goose is described as a clear boy a stereotypical sign of integrity and pureness who might make a boxer as far as width and heftiness of shoulders went and with size and attractive appearance that marked him out.Piggy on the other hand is plump, shorter than the fair boy and very fat. Ralph also mocks shoat by calling him by the nick number he dis handles. This is a deliberate act of severity as Piggy says confidently I dont fretfulness what they call me..as long as they dont call me what they utilize to call me at schoolThey used to call me Piggy. But Ralph ignores this and mocks Piggy, he shrieked with laughter Jumped up..Piggy. He is also rude to him by disregarding his health problem, saying, sucks to your ass-mar. This immediate superiority Ralph musical nones over Piggy and his cruelty towards him could be a example of how people in society generally act and think, and the behaviour towards thinkers or people with disabilities, that appearance and physical attractiveness is important and superior and that health impairments such as very poor eyesight and asthma marks someone out as world different and on that pointof strange. It is also important that Golding has shown that Ralph has the capability to be cruel. Although we later find out that he is a representation of democracy, Ralph as a person brush asidet be holey salutary but he cant be holey evil either.This links to Goldings main message of Lord of the flies, which was inspired by seeing the awful things men could do to one a nonher that man, no reckon how good, democratic or orderly can be holey good and atomic number 18 cap suitable of being cruel, mostly for no valid reason and often as a result of discrimination and smart for government agency. We also see a feature of emotional conflict between the boys. Ralphs father is in the navy, anoth er person who contributes to the conflict within the world and the island. As well as this, he is not only in the navy but a commander in the navy and taught Ralph how to swim. When Ralph asks Piggy round his father, piggy flushes suddenly and replies My dads dead he said quickly, and my mumI used to live with my aunty. His words give us the indication that his father is dead, his mother has left him and that his auntie used to look after him but no longer wants him.His upbringing, especially in comparison to Ralphs, makes him feel insignificant and upset and evokes pathos in the reader. From this, and his cockney accent (all them other kids, we was attacked) we can come in concert that Piggy represents the underclass in the 1950s. However, out of all the boys, the majority of which attended private school or were educated in grammar school, piggy is the best one, even though he has had to live in c be and has been neglected through his childhood, all things which Golding uses to make the reader feel empathy and sympathy towards him. As a character, Piggy is the cleverest among the boys what intelligence had been shown was traceable to piggy but he is really a weak boy with good ideas. Golding could be making a point that your back background signal does not necessarily determine how intelligent you atomic number 18 and that a lower class child can be very intelligent. We experience more tension between Ralph and Piggy due to Ralphs attitude that he is superior, through linguistic conflict. Piggy interminably asks Ralph questions, such as whats your name?, you havent seen the others have you? and making comments and telling Ralph more or less himself My auntie told me not to runon account of my asthma and I expect well want to come all there names.He is enthusiastic and keen to talk to Ralph, possibly due to the ordinary lack of attention he receives back home. However Ralph tried to be offhand and not in any case obviously uninterested and replied to Piggys comments with just a shake of his head or not even acknowledging him at all. As well as this, when Piggy asked Ralph his name he waited to be asked his name in turn but this proffer of acquaintance was not made. This yet again shows how Ralph thinks of himself as superior to Piggy and doesnt feel he needs to treat or show piggy the same respect and interest that he gave to Ralph. Piggy also partly creates a gap between himself and Ralph by following Ralph and showing so much interest in him. Piggy hung steadily at his shoulder and stood by him, breathing hard. This could show that Ralph has a inherent sense of loss leadership most him which makes Piggy feel as though he should look up to him. However, it is mainly due to the concomitant that Piggy is neglected, of love and also friendship, which makes him feel he needs to attach himself to someone like Ralph.As well as this, Piggy is frightened by the prospect of no grown-ups and needs a sense of authority, like Ralph, t o latch onto. We can see how nervous and lacking in confidence Piggy can be, due to neglect as he took off his glassesthen started to wipe them, an action he seems to be doing all the time. This fidgeting behaviour is especially seen when Piggy is feeling particularly insignificant and upset talk about his upbringing My dads dead, he said quickly, and my mum. He took of his glasses and looked in vain for something with which to clean them on. Another important conflict within the contain can be seen between two of the main leaders, Ralph and rapscallion. Before the boys even interact with each other we can foresee that there will be tension between the two characters. jacks chorus is describes a prick. This description could indicate that the choir (led by dogshit) cloud later become more wild, like a creature. As well as this, the colour black that rapscallion and the choirs uniforms are made from is symbolic, with black being symbolising evil and big(a) things.The descri ption of Ralph is set in antithesis of Jack Jack is described as black and queasy and Ralph as golden. Later in the book we see that the two boys makes choices and live in ways that would be expected by their description, Jack as savage and cruel and Ralph as democratic and reasonable. Golding could be implying that one can make valid judgements from appearance. He also writes that Jack was underneath the floating cloaktall, thin and bony. His face was crumpled and freckled and ugly with silliness. This description once again draws up an image of Jack being a bad character because of his ugliness. However, by using the modifier without t silliness, Golding modifies the statement on Jacks appearance, that although he is ugly, the children would not be able to laugh at him. This could represent Jacks power and intimidation towards the other children through sheer appearance and manner. Jack also speaks in imperative sentences (e.g. choir, floor still ) and the boys huddled together in fear of him and stand with wearily obedience. This shows us they are used to taking orders from Jack.We can also see that Jakc thinks of himself as having superiority, as he wants to be called by his surname Merridew. Jack is obviously from a posh background and will have been to private school. Having characters like Jack and Ralph as leaders, boys who attended public school, could be Goldings representation of society, how many leading roles and responsibilities are taken by upper-class privately educated people, while many lower-class people, some who may be intelligent like piggy, are left behind, as they have not been in an environment where being confident and superior is normal and expected. When it comes to actually voting for a chief, the most obvious leader was Jack, described by Golding as this was the voice of one who knew his own mind. This shows us that Jack already asserts himself as a leader in opposition to that of Ralph who doesnt. However it is Ralph who is chosen by the boys to be chief. It is not only his size and attractive appearance, but there was also a quietude about Ralphthat marked him out and most powerfully there was the conchthe being that had blown thatwas set apart(predicate).The conch links to democracy, order and genteel society and there is a link between Ralph, the being that had blown that, that the boys also see. Golding would have been making the point that the boys chose, even when they didnt know him, Ralph, the link to democracy, order and civilised society, to be their chief because a democratic leader is the right leader to have and the boys can see this and therefore choose Ralph even without knowing him. When Jack did not get voted as chief, the freckles disappeared on labourers face under a blush of mortification. This shows us how embarrassed, angry and upset Jack was for not being chosen as Chief. This could be a point of conflict between Ralph and Jack within the book, however Ralph tries to keep pe ace with jack and looked at him, eager to offer something. This demonstrates Ralphs transport to be a good and fair leader. However, another point at which Ralph tries to avoid conflict between Jack and himself is when laughs at Jacks name calling at piggy and says, hes not fattyhis real names Piggy. This brings Ralph and Jack closer and creates common ground between them but yet again demonstrates the fact that Ralph can be capable of cruelty.We also see Ralphs attempts to avoid conflict with Jack over the role of leader by allowing jack that the choir belongs to you obviously. This action gives Jack some leadership and makes him feel more powerful as well as foreshadowing Ralphs later attempts to break the conflict between him and Jack and bring the two together again. Nearing the end of the chapter, we experience the boys conflict with nature. This is represented by Golding, when the boys go to push a jolt ingest from its original place on the mountain top. During their attemp t, the great rock loitered, poised on one toe. This behaviour, and other actions, is typical of the way humans have often treated the planet, reposeing natural objects or areas from their original state for human need and want. Golding was aware that humankind is stupid generous to destroy the very land that gives it food and life and we see this idea explored further in the novel, when the boys destroy a lot of food and firewood, elements that keep them alive, in a n uncontrollable fire.This, and the gyre of the rock, demonstrates that even if the boys are intelligent or strong humans, they will never really overpower nature and that it will always be in conflict with them. As well as this, the rolling of the rock down the mountain side is proleptic of Piggys death. We later also see that Jack experiences self-conflict. During Simon, Ralph and Jacks expedition of the island they come across a pig which Jack tries to kill, but isnt able to. He felt he couldnt, as he understood wh at an enormity the downward stroke would be. The boys also knew very well why he hadnt because of the enormity of the knife descending and swell into living body-build because of the unbearable blood. This shows us that Jack is not yet be far enough removed from civilised society to be able to kill a pig.However, he snatched his knife and slammed it into a tree trunk, saying, Next time and he looked round fiercely, daring them to contradict. This shows that his natural, evil, menacing and savage instincts are in him that only now on the island are recently coming across. Notice how Golding uses the verb flesh, a word which is not clearly specific to a pig and could easily be confuse with the flesh of a human. This shows us that when jack does next time kill, his knife could be coming down into the flesh of a pig, or the flesh of a human. It is important that Golding has introduced the variety of conflicts in the first chapter, so that the key themes are established early on and c an develop throughout the book and as to foreshadow events that will happen later on in the novel.