Civilization As We Know It-Lord of the Flies
             In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the book portrays a thought provoking tale about a group of young boys' survival on an uninhabited island, during the time of WWI in Britain. The way that they resolve their discrepancies show how their immaturity and ignorance push evolution to rewind itself through the battle between civilization and savagery, order and anarchy, and ultimately good and evil. Golding uses irony and symbolism to inform the reader that the purpose of Lord of the Flies is to state how the idea that although we have learned to follow the rules and live life through the understanding of what is right and what is wrong, when given the opportunity to break free of the rules many might go back to their initial nature that we have evolved from. Through the absence of parental guidance, there is a possibility the boys are able to abolish the necessary conduct that humanity needs to maintain the civilization in which it holds.
             Golding uses irony to deliver the idea that "the shape of a society must depend on the nature of the individual" (204) and its surrounding environment. When the officer arrives on the island, having interrupted Jack's manhunt, he prepares to rescue the boys in a ship that will participate in the war. "He turned away to give them time to put themselves together; and waited, allowing his eyes to rest on the trim cruiser in the distance" (202). Golding expresses irony in this quote to demonstrate how the officer, who arrived to save the boys, will soon "begin hunting its enemy in the same way" (204) that the boys began to do with Ralph. The boys behave the way many behave when engaging in war. When Jack applies a "mask" to his face, he uses it in order to hide and liberate himself from the shame and cruel actions he takes on will on the island. "He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself bu...