My Own View on This Novel
First and foremost
, as far as I am concerned, in exploring the
breakdown into savagery of a group of boys free from
the imposed
moral
constraints
of
civilization
and
society,
Lord
of
the
Flie
s
dramatizes a
fundamental
human struggle: the conflict between the
impulse
to
behave
morally
and
the
impulse
to
indulge
in
violence.
The
first
set
of
impulses
might
be
thought
of
as
the
“
civilizing
instinct
”
, which encourages people to work together toward common
goals
and
behave
peacefully;
the
second
set
of
impulses
might
be
thought
of
as
the
“
barbarizing
instinct
”
,
or
the
instinct
toward
savagery, which urges people to rebel against civilization and instead
seek anarchy, chaos, despotism, and violence.