Schülerarbeiten zu William Golding: "Lord of the Flies"

Comment on the following statement by William Golding: "We need civilization, its schools, policemen and laws in order to keep us from throwing stones at each other. Without such things we would all be savages. Stripped of civilization the beast surfaces."

Humans have a wild side which is undeniable and present. They however do progress and are able of becoming civilized, that does not happen in a lifetime but in many hundreds of years. In order to conserve civilization there must be some control, rules and institutions that accelerate the natural process with education and laws. Men will always turn to their instincts at some points and in my opinion there has to be a system that prevents a man from killing each time he feels violent. Of course laws and policemen are needed for this to succeed but I agree the most on Golding´s point of education so that a person would not kill another one not because he knows he will be punished but because this person understands why it is wrong to kill.

I do not agree with Golding when he says those institutions are what keeps us from being savages, because just as the animal side there is a civilized side in each human being which becomes obvious knowing that that it was humans who invented laws and policemen. This means the institutions do not make us civilized but our inborn need for civilization made the institutions in order to control and find equilibrium of the animal and the civilized side in each one of us. When Golding says the beast surfaces he means this equilibrium is broken and the basic instincts take control of ourselves and make us act violently and wild but in my opinion civilization is also a part of these basic instincts because people all around the world and along time and history have pursued the ideals of it.

The following statement by William Golding can be considered as the thesis of "Lord of the Flies", in which he shows us how the kids turned to savages in the absence of civilization: "We need civilization, its schools, policemen and laws in order to keep us from throwing stones at each other. Without such things we would all be savages. Stripped of civilization, the beast surfaces."

I agree with Golding´s statement because the human condition, with its rational and irrational side, forces a community to be controlled by laws, ethical principles, education and, in most of the cases, by religion. If we observe an animal community, it is clear that the individuals have no necessity of rational rules in order to be able to live together and a special harmony is created through instinct and evolution. This natural perfection and balance is impossible to conceive in human beings. While animals only kill individuals of their own species as a result of the competition, feelings also play an important role in the human killings. In a society, people need to control not just their feelings, but also their fears, desires and impulses…their entire irrational side. This control is achieved by the rational part, which is the one that creates the laws, the ethical principles, the education and the religion. The thing that differentiates us from animals is also the one that makes us need a conscious form of control.
The real question that people should ask themselves is not whether we need civilization and control in order to live together because that answer relies on our human nature. The true question should be: how can we find the balance between control and natural freedom, in order not to repress completely our untouched by civilization human condition, which could have contrary consequences to the stabilizing and harmonic purposes of civilization?

Viridiana Alcantara Vb