Lord of the Flies

Essay
"Who/what determines what civilized means? Was what the boys created on the island civilized?
Why or why not?"

A civilized society is, first of all, the level of ethical and moral standards of its members. Under
normal conditions, we unconsciously follow the norms adopted by society and the law adopted
by the state, so as not to be punished. However, in extreme conditions, the characters of the
"Lord of the Flies" felt complete impunity and their inner animals began to appear. Therefore,
they were faced with a choice: to comply with the norms of the society in which they were
before or to follow only their natural instincts.
During their time on the island, the boys built two societies: the society with Ralph as a chief and
Jack's tribe. These societies had completely different goals: when Ralph was the chief, the main
goal was to maintain a signal fire for being rescued, and in Jack's tribe, the goal was hunting and
having fun. They also had different structures: the first society could be called a democracy,
while the second was an absolute dictatorship. One of these societies symbolises civilization, and
the other represents barbarism.
The society with Ralph as a chief was built as something temporary to await salvation. It could
be called civilized for several reasons. Firstly, the main goal uniting the boys was to be rescued,
so the most attention was paid to the signal fire. The signal fire was a kind of symbol of
connection with civilization and the only hope for returning home. Secondly, there was the
conch that symbolized the law. Everyone respected the conch and the person who used it. An
example of boys' attitude towards a person with the conch is, "The children gave him the same
simple obedience that they had given to the men with megaphones". Moreover, the conch gave a
person the right to speak. Thirdly, there was a division into roles: hunters, people watching the
fire, people making huts.
This system worked for a while, but then it started ruining because inner animals began to
awaken in the boys. This process can be traced to the example of Roger, "Roger gathered a
handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six
yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the
old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and
the law. Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in
ruins". Each character faced a choice to stay on the side of civilization or create a new society.
After that, when most of the children forgot the value of the signal fire and became addicted to
hunting, Jack created the tribe. It was a totalitarian society built on fear and dictatorship. There
were still a system and a division into roles (hunters and people guarding the castle rock), but
there was no longer compliance with moral standards. These boys killed several people and
would have killed more just because they simply did not realize their game was out of control.
These children forgot about civilization and began to follow their instincts, while fear became
their main driving force. That is why their society could no longer be called civilized and
became barbaric.
While on the island, the boys were able to create a civilized society with laws, an army and a
common goal. However, under a sense of complete impunity, children's characters begin to
degrade by following natural instincts instead of moral standards. Instead of a common goal, the
boys began to be driven by fear and their society turned from civilized to barbaric.