The Lord of the Flies
The Lord Of The Flies ends with the rescue of the school boys from the island when the British navy sights the fire meant to smoke out Ralph. At first sight, this does look like a typical happy ending: the children are rescued before the "hero" is killed, and go back to civilisation... but if you think about it, this ending only serves to highlight the greater tragedy of what happened during their relatively short time on the island, for example when the officer asks:This last chapter lets us see what the boys have now become, and their change from the beginning of their arrival: "Other boys were appearing now... with the distended bellies of small savages". We see them as being older adults now, taking care of themselves without anyone's help, acting older than their actual age, but in reality, they were only young boys, and nothing more. After the plane had crashed on the island, as time passes, the boys begin to change from well behaved schoolboys who try to follow rules given by society t
However, the novel shows that even the so-called grown-ups are having a war, this can be seen from the plane crash at the beginning, the parachutist who was shot down on the island, and even the officer, who seems to be a knight dressed in white, but in reality, he is also fighting a war. Jack, who often disagrees with Ralph, the "elected chief", and some of his hunters, split from the main group and move to another place on the island: Castle Rock and became a distinct tribe. Soon, hunting takes over and they begin to perform ritual chants and dances. When the officer appears, all the boys (except Ralph), have suddenly become quiet and shy. Therefore, I believe that the ending isn't a simple "happy ending", instead, it reinforces this message as can be seen in the main character's reaction: "Ralph wept for the end of innocence". Most boys have sharp sticks in their hands, and he is shocked at their appearance: "You're all British aren't you? - would have been able to put up a better show than that". This redimentionalizes the boys, because the children appear so small and insignificant near a grown-up - yet when they were alone, they appeared fiercer and older. All this is shown to remind us that even if this man represents rules and order, he is involved in violence.
Common topics in this essay:
Lord Flies,
You're British,
Castle Rock,
William Golding,
Coral Island,
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Acceptance Essays
