Domenic A.

Bellino
Mr. Owain Phillips
English 9A
23 March 2014
Insanity
Would you consider talking to a decapitated pig head insanity? The loss of sanity
in Lord of the Flies is made clear to the reader with mindless killing, and the lord of the
flies. There are three characters who can clearly demonstrate the true meaning of
insanity. The victims of this epidemic are Roger, Jack, and Simon.
The Urban Dictionary defines insanity as: The label given to people who open
the door that sane people keep closed; the people who are consumed by the awareness of
their existence, when everyone else is blind to their own (urban dictionary). Or in short,
people who have gone crazy due to intense exposure to human nature, which can be seen
in the boys stuck on an island.
Roger, the sadist, shows his true colors as Samneric lay looking up in quiet
terror. He strides towards them as the One wielding a nameless authority (182).
Roger, throughout the book is known as the most violence-inclined of all of the boys on
the island. He is bigger than everyone, and enjoys bullying the little kids. However,
throughout the story, he grows into a ruthless murderer; he has lost all reason and gone
completely insane. He is the one who impales the pig and laughs at its pain. He is also the
one who kills Piggy with a boulder. The quote describes him advancing on Samneric to
torture them. To the boys he is the one wielding a nameless authority, given to him
for his dark personality.
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Roger, however, is not the only one thirsty for blood. Jack comes painfully close
to killing Ralph: Viciously, with full intention, he hurled his spear at Ralph. The point
tore the skin and flesh over Ralphs ribs, then sheared off and fell in the water(181). We
can see that Jack has always been hungry for power. His position as choir leader made
him accustomed to it, and he is not going to give up easily. His breaking point comes
when Piggy is killed, and he aims to kill as well, as he hurled his spear at Ralph. He has
to consort to violence as his thirst for power grows (181). He has lost his sanity as well.
Simon is an increasingly interesting character. You notice that he represents the
embodiment of insanity itself. He thinks about the beast and its influence on the kids. As
Simon thought this, he turned to gaze at the poor broken thing that sat stinking by his
side. To him the beast was harmless and horrible. His opinion had to reach the others
as soon as possible (147). Simon was known to be a bright and cheery kid, but the island
soon weighs on him. He begins to lose his sanity as time goes on, and soon enough, he is
talking to a decapitated pig head he calls the Lord of the Flies. To him, the beast is
Harmless and horrible." He has found the beast indeed; the beast inside all of the boys;
or more appropriately named, the Id. Simon ends up paying the price for his insanity as
he crawls out of the forest attempting to spread his newfound knowledge (147). He is
killed by the hunters as they mistake him for the beast.
Now of course, it can be argued that not everyone on the island is completely
insane; and the prime suspects are Ralph and Piggy. Ralph claims they need "Special
people for looking after the fire," He believes that "any day there may be a ship out there"
(42). They are the ones who stress the keeping of order through the use of the conch.
Ralph is the leader of the boys, and aims to escape the island. To accomplish this, he uses
fire, which is very symbolic to this story. It represent the boys one and only hope of
escaping the island. However, just like the others, nobody can stay completely sane.
In truth, Ralph and Piggy have gone insane as well. This is shown when they are
bystanders, witnessing the brutal killing of Simon: "Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of
the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure
society" (152). By then, their will is broken, and they cannot help but join in on the fun.
They end up assisting in the death of Simon. And although they drown in a state of denial
afterwards, they cannot deny the fact that they too, have become killers, insane killers.
Obviously, killing innocent people is never the right thing in any situation, but the
boys tend to enjoy it! The fight against the island has clearly driven each and every
character mad in their own personal ways; Jack and Roger have resorted to killing, and
Simon has resorted to talking to pig heads, and got killed for it. And then again, talking to
pig heads on sticks appropriately named Lord of the Flies is not right? Or is it?















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Works Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Coward-McCann, 1962. Print.
"Words Related to Insanity:." Urban Dictionary. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=insanity>.