CHAPTER V
PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
In this chapter the interpretation and analysis of the true nature of man is thoroughly discussed through the presentation of the gathered data (situations, decisions, etc.) from the novel Lord of the Flies.
SUBJECT’S PROFILE
The subjects of this research are the characters in the novel who are young British boys with ages ranging from six to twelve years old. Due to a plane crash, these boys were trapped in an isolated island. In the island, there was no adult supervision that would guide in their conquest for survival and would also help in their aim to be rescued in the island. The novel didn’t really give the exact number of boys in the novel but it tells the readers that there were only a few big older boys than the young ones. This research focuses mainly on the characters of Ralph, Jack, Piggy and Simon because of their great importance in the flow of the story. These characters are very important because of their influence to the other characters in the novel through their decisions and actions.
The next section of this chapter presents the data gathered from the novel and the interpretation and analysis of data defining the true nature of man. The researchers used the decisions and actions of the characters in examining the different behaviors of the characters in each of the gathered situations. The data that was gathered was used in the psychoanalysis of the nature of man.
ANALYSIS:
Nature of Man
In psychological perspective, man is seen in two different personas by psychologists. Some psychologists like Allport (as cited in Coleman, 1960) and Rousseau (as cited in Fromm and Xirau, 1968) see man as naturally good. They believe that humans are gentle creatures who love to exist in a world where everybody can live harmoniously, to exist in a world of peace and order (Coleman, 1960).
In contrast to that, many believed that man is innately evil. Sigmund Freud, a psychologist that believe (faulty) man is innately evil, theorized a mental construct that states that one’s mind is divided into three aspects or psychological processes that works as one—id, ego and superego. Id refers to the part of the human mind where the other two aspects (ego and superego) originated (Rychlack, 1981). This implies that id is the part of a person’s mind that is innate from the time of birth while the other two branched out from the id as the person grows up. This id constitutes the egoistic desires of a person and therefore the pleasure seeking part of the mind (Hall, 1970). Its main function is to strive for satisfaction from what the person desires, not caring about the means of getting it whether it is evil or good.
The other psychological process of the human mind is the ego. The ego distinguishes what is real and what is imagination (Hall, 1970). It serves as the connection between the unconscious mind, where the id is located, and the conscious mind where motor actions are initiated (Rychlack, 1981). This means that the ego is the one that makes what the id wants to do in order to fulfill the pleasures the id wants.
However, even though the ego acts as the bridge to do things that the id wants, it does not always do what the id desires because of the interference of the third aspect which is the superego. Like the ego, superego is the aspect that branched out from the id. If the ego came to be because of the need to self-actualize to satisfy a person’s desire, the superego on the other hand, developed do to the societal influence of the environment the person lives in.
Superego represents the values and behaviors that are considered by the society as ideally correct (Hall, 1970). It infers that the superego differs in each person depending on how the people surrounding him/her behave and what they consider as right or wrong. It also indicates that superego actually inhibits the thoughts of the id if it is against his/her principles. Since the ego is the only connection in the mind that controls what to do and how to do it, superego tries to convince the ego to act according to what is morally correct for him/her rather than to what is more practical (realistic) (Hall, 1970).
The Theory of Personality of Sigmund Freud implies that the nature of man will depend on the habitat of a person and on how strong the societal principles from the person’s environment is etched in to the person’s own principles. Though the three aspects of the mental construct of the human mind acts as one, the decisions and actions of man differs depending on which aspect influences the most. This research aims to define the nature of man shown in the novel, depending on how many characters were able or not able to let their moral principles determine their decisions and actions.
Psychological Representations of the Characters
Jack
Jack represents the id in Freudian psychology wherein the satisfaction of his hedonistic desires is the very core of his decisions and actions. The first time Jack was mentioned in the story was after Ralph had blown the conch. He was described by the author as a “tall, thin, and bony; and his hair was red beneath the black cap. His (Jack) face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness” (p. 20).
The first reason why Jack represents the id is that he desires for power and total control. Jack is the leader of the group of choir and was a complete dictator to the group. When they were having an election for their chief he said with arrogance, “I ought to be chief because I’m chapter chorister and head boy” (p. 22). His statement implies that he does not care of the opinion of others as long as he gets what he wants. Another scene that depicts him as a dictator was when they were approaching the island. The group of boys had to line up marching to their destination and they need for Jack’s permission to sit down or even taking off their hats (found on page 20).
Jack also has this obsession to be the leader. Though he wanted to be chief, he was not elected because the boys wanted Ralph to be their leader. Upon knowing he is not chief, “the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification” (p. 23) But when Ralph assigned him to be the head of the hunters, “He started up, then changed his mind and sat down again while the air rang” (p. 23).This entails how being an influential person or to self-actualize as an important person is very essential for him. He always tries to prove that he is better than Ralph and that he should be the chief. Here is the best illustration for that:
He (Ralph) isn’t a proper chief. […] He’s not a hunter. He’d never have got us meat. He isn’t a prefect and we don’t know anything about him. He just gives orders and expects people to obey for nothing. […]He held the conch against his chest with one hand and stabbed the air with his index finger. Who thinks Ralph oughtn’t to be chief? pp. 126-127
After Jack’s speech he was not still elected as chief making him so enraged and humiliated that he announced out that he will quit being part of their lot.
In addition to the reason that Jack represents the id is that, just like the id, Jack also lusts for violence and blood. On the first part of the novel, before he separated from the lot (group), he was the head of the hunters. Though he led the hunters in hunting for meat, he and the hunters were afraid of killing and seeing blood. As the author phrases it, they can’t do it “because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood” (p. 31). However as the sense of id grow much stronger in Jack, the fear of killing has become an addiction to the extent that violence committed did not entail any guilt and remorse but instead he and the boys were enjoying and laughing reenacting what they did (Golding, 1954).
The combination of lust for power and violence led to the situation where two boys died because of Jack leadership to the group. The leadership of fear and violence used by Jack became the catalyst for the other young boys to become savages like Jack. The death of Piggy did not falter Jack’s conviction of becoming chief, so much that when they killed Piggy, his initial reaction was, “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone— […] I’m chief!” (p. 190). Because Jack’s mind is predominantly ruled by the id, he does not care if his decisions and actions may hurt or worse kill anyone.
Piggy
Piggy symbolizes the superego in the mental construct of Freud’s Theory of Personality. The superego is the part of the mind that contains the societal norms of an individual. It acts as a conscience of an individual because upon the upbringing of the child, the child is already taught what is right and wrong. What is learned by the child becomes his/her basis or guide in determining if his/her actions are good or bad. Relating to the character Piggy, he has this mannerism to relate what he does and recall things that was taught to him by his auntie like “My auntie told me not to run […] on account of my asthma” (p.9) and on other instances such as those on pages 13, 16 and 141 of the novel.
Piggy also represents the superego in a way that he always advice Ralph and the others to do what is right in terms of the norms of the society in the real world. As shown in this line, “We know what goes on and if there’s something wrong, there’s someone to put it right” (p. 83), Piggy believes that someone should correct the mistakes of others. For example, he was defending Ralph and scolding the others by saying, “You said Ralph was chief and you don't give him time to think. Then when he says something you rush off” (Golding, 1954, p. 46).
Another instance was on the task of maintaining the fire as shown in this line:
But nobody else understands about the fire. […] Can’t they see? Can’t they understand? Without the smoke signal we’ll die here? Look at that! A wave of heated air trembled above the ashes but without a trace of smoke. We can’t keep one fire going. And they don’t care. […] What ’ud become of us? Piggy took off his glasses, deeply troubled. I dunno, Ralph. We just got to go on, that’s all. That’s what grown-ups would do. p. 139
This conversation of Piggy and Ralph implies how Piggy really cares about being rescued. He has this attitude like the superego that aims to inhibit egoistic desires of others that do not help them in becoming morally correct.
Ralph
Ralph is described in the book as a “fair boy” and that “[…] he might make a boxer…but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil” (Golding, 1954, p.10). Opposite to Jack, Ralph’s physical qualities are one of the reasons that make him a natural leader. Ralph is considered as natural leader because according to the research of McCroskey and McCain (1974), good looking individuals are able to attract more people making them more influential. People with good appearance are viewed more positively than the others (Collins, Dutta & Zerbrowitz, 1998). This is further supported by the research of Monnig (2005) that states that to be a leader is to be someone who attracts others and is able to persuade everyone to follow him.
Using Freud’s mental construct, Ralph represents the ego. Ego represents the process wherein what is practical or what is appropriate of the situation is being acted. It is where judgment of the decisions and actions takes place. If we relate ego to Ralph, he as the leader of the society they formed, it can be seen how he tries to do what he thinks is right and that is reflected in his decisions and actions. For example, Golding states:
There’s another thing. We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire. (Golding, p.38) (only the page no.)
Ralph’s decision in making a fire is one of the proofs that he is not thinking mildly of their situation in the island. Unlike the other kids who just wanted to enjoy the freedom they are experiencing because of the absence of adults, Ralph was thinking of the enormity and risk of staying much longer in the island without supply of food and proper shelters. He proposed a way for them to be saved, for them to go back to the real world. He was not only concerned of being rescued but also on how they would survive in the island while waiting to be rescued.
He proposed to have hunters for them to have meat to eat and also made into action the suggestions of Piggy like building shelters. While the others were playing, he and Simon were building the shelters.
Ralph as the representation of the ego is sometimes tempted with what Jack and the others do. An example of these was when they were reenacting the kill of the pig where “Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering.”(Golding, 1954, p.172) However, because Piggy is always beside Ralph, Ralph is always reminded to do what is right.
Simon
Simon represents the concept that man is innately good. Though there are many psychologists who believe that man is innately evil like Freud, there are also others that believe man is naturally good. Simon represents this psychological thought. Simon embodies a person who is naturally good.
Simon was always helpful to others. He helped in the building of the shelters together with Ralph. One proof of this was when Ralph was scolding Jack, he said, “And I work all day with nothing but Simon and you come back and don’t even notice the huts! […] Simon. He helps. He pointed at the shelters.” (p. 54). Similarly, he was also kind to the younger boys like for instance, “Simon found for them (littluns) the fruit they could not reach” (p. 56).
Other than being helpful Simon is also kind to everyone. When Piggy was being bullied by Jack, he defended Piggy by saying, “We used his specs…He helped that way” (p. 42). Another incident of Jack bullying Piggy was when Jack didn’t give Piggy meat to eat because Jack was angry at Piggy. Simon then “sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it“(p. 74). Another instance was when no one wanted to return to where Piggy and the others are and tell (check) them that Ralph and the others will be back after dark. Simon volunteered to go back alone even though it was very dark and there was this question of security because of the so-called beast. The following lines show this:
Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill. “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!” (Boys) The sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle crunched and screamed. The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abominable noise something about a body on the hill. The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws. (p. 152) (remove parenthesis)
This scene implies how Simon became the first victim of the savagery of the boys in the novel. His kindness to everyone did not help saved him from the brutality of the other boys that led him to his death. He had proven all along his statement of who the beast really is, “What I mean is. . . maybe it’s only us” (p. 89).
Factors Affecting the Decisions and Actions of Man
The situations in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding are jam-packed with a lot of factors that greatly affect the decisions and actions of the characters in the novel. These factors affect in such a way that they can define the true nature of man, taking into consideration how he/she reacted to a certain factor. In order to easily determine the differences of these factors, the researchers categorized the said factors into two groups: the environmental factors and the social factors.
Environmental factors
The instances that fall under the environmental factors are the first two items found in the pyramid of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. These factors are the characters’ physiological needs --- the need for fine food, clean water, and gratifying pastime ---and their safety and security needs --- the need for durable shelter, reliable protection, and immediate rescue.
Physiological needs
According to A.H. Maslow (as cited in Green, 2000), the first factor that affects the “integrated wholeness” of a person is the physiological need, or the need for good food, fresh water, and enjoyable pastime. Consequently, the main factor that affects the decisions and actions of the characters in the novel is the characters’ need for food, water, and rest.
The Need for Sufficient and Healthy Food
The characters in the novel primarily need food, specifically fruits from trees and meat from the animals in the island. When the boys arrived in the island, they decided to first build a fire in order to give a signal that human life is present in that place. But as they rejoiced for the freedom they have had, their supply of food is also threatened. “Then when you get here you build a bonfire that isn’t no use. Now you been and set the whole island on fire. Won’t we look funny if the whole island burns up? Cooked fruit, that’s what we’ll have to eat, and roast pork.” (p. 45). “When the meeting was over… they (the other boys) wander off (into the forest to get fruits) or go hunting (p. 51). The previous statements stated by Piggy and Ralph (respectively) prove that the boys’ primary need is food. They desperately need ample amount of healthy foods in order to survive. However, the supply of nutritious and adequate foods in the island is scarce due to the existence of wildlife animals such as birds, bees, and butterflies. In order to get food and satisfy their hunger, the boys are left with these choices: to contentedly pick fresh fruits hanging from its branches and attain an unsatisfying meal, or to bravely hunt for the wandering boars in the forest and achieve a satiating one.
Picking fruits is not an easy task for the boys, since heaps of bees are also sating their hunger in the sweetness offered by the fruits. As Golding had described, “Everywhere was the scent of ripeness and the booming of a million bees at pasture.” (p. 56).Subsequently, the birds and the bees which predominantly satisfy their hunger on various kinds of fruits threatened the boys’ food supply. Nevertheless, the boys still eat the food in order to survive.
Jack, the leader of the choir boys who were also trapped in the island, believed that fruits can’t placate their hunger. To hide his dissatisfaction for not voted as the chief, he offered to be the leader of the hunters. Ralph, as the “chief” or the leader of the group, agreed that they needed hunters. “So you see… we need hunters to get us meat.” (p. 33). Thus the existence of the island hunters began.
The Need for Clean and Fresh Water
The second environmental factor, which still belongs to the physiological needs, is the necessity of having fresh, uncontaminated water to quench the boys’ thirst. At first, everything that concerns water is not a problem. However, as the days passed, the issue of unclean place emerged. Ralph, because of his frustration, called an assembly and raised his concern:
We decide things. But they don’t get done. We were going to have water brought from the stream and left in those coconut shells under fresh leaves. So it was, for a few days. Now there’s no water. The shells are dry. People drink from the river. […]There’s another thing. We chose the rocks right along beyond the bathing pool as lavatory… That was sensible too. The tide cleans the place up… Now, people seem to use anywhere. Even near the shelter and the platform… We’ve all got to use the rocks again. This place is getting dirty. p. 79-80
In this part of the novel, it is emphasized that if the boys don’t follow the rules concerning the cleanliness of their place, the probability of having a filthy environment is bigger. If they don’t dispose their waste properly, especially that the “littluns” or the little kids “were now used to stomachaches and a sort of chronic diarrhea” (p. 59), the tendency of drinking contaminated and unsafe water increases. Hence, the supply of safe drinking water is endangered.
Here’s another situation which proves that the boys’ in the novel need clean and safe water:
He (Ralph) led the way over the rocks, inspected a sort of half cave that held nothing more terrible than a clutch of rotten eggs… There was indeed a long green smudge halfway up the rock. They climbed up and tasted the trickle of water.
Jack: “You could keep a coconut shell there, filling all the time.”
Ralph: “Not me. This is a rotten place.” p. 106
In this situation, Ralph refused Jack’s suggestion of getting water over the rocks because of the fact that the source of water is very grimy.
The Need to Play and Rest
The last physiological need that affects the decisions and actions of the characters in the novel is the necessity of having enough rest and good pastime. Having enough rest includes having adequate amount of sleeping hours; on the other hand, having a good pastime includes indulging oneself in a pleasurable game.
The character’s necessity of having a sound sleep is also illustrated in the book. Like the twins Sam and Eric (often referred to as Samneric) who fell asleep during their duty of watching/guarding the fire in this incident:
In the darkness of early morning… two boys rolled out a pile of brushwood and dead leaves… talking sleepily to each other. They were the twins, on duty at the fire. In theory one should have been asleep and one on watch. But… since staying awake all night is impossible, they had both gone to sleep. p. 96
This situation proves that even though the characters in the novel need to keep the smoke going, their need to have rest greatly affect their need to watch the fire.
The characters in the novel also need time to play. Despite their need to hunt for meat and build shelters, they also need time for playing. The situations below highlight the boys’ need to have fun:
“Aside from food and sleep, they found time for play, aimless and trivial, in the white sand by the bright water.” (p. 59)
The hunters, even though they’re tired “have been swimming” (p. 51). “From beyond the platform came the shouting of the hunters in the swimming pool.” (p. 54)
The littluns, despite their fears, “had built castles in the sand…” (p. 59)
Safety and Security Needs
In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (as cited in Green, 2000), the need succeeding the physiological needs is the necessity to feel safe and secure. Coincidentally, the second environmental factor that affects the decisions and actions of the characters in Golding’s Lord of the Flies is the need to be free from danger and threats. This includes the characters’ need to have a shelter that could assure their safety, the characters’ necessity to have a dependable protection that could make them feel secure, and their need for an immediate rescue that could save them from supplementary destruction.
The Need for Durable Shelter
Aside from having food and water to survive, there was also the need to protect their bodies from the harshness of the weather in the island. Piggy emphasized the desperate need of humans to have a shelter good enough to free them from any harm, when he blurted out, “Just you listen! The first thing we ought to have made was shelters down there by the beach” (p. 45).
In the early days of their stay in the island, the boys need shelters only for the sole purpose of keeping them from the extreme heat and excessive rain. However, as their number of days (on staying in the island) increases, the boys need shelter not only to guard them from the harshness of the rain and sun, but also to keep them away from any harm brought by the “beast”. As what Ralph had said, “If it rains like when we dropped in we’ll need shelters all right. And then another thing. We need shelter because of the ---“(p. 52).
The Need for Unswerving Protection
At first, the boys were overjoyed by the mere thought of having the total freedom they dreamed of that they hadn’t wished for any adult existence. This is presented in Ralph’s reaction upon realizing that there are no adults in the island. “… The delight of a realized ambition overcame him. In the middle of the scar he stood… and shouted “No grown-ups!” (p. 8)
The thought of having no adult to fall a heavy hand is overwhelming for the boys. However, they need someone who can act as an adult to put things in order. To use the words of Piggy, “We know what goes on, and if there’s something wrong, there’s someone to put it right” (p. 83-84). Hence, the boys elected a leader. The leader is the one who is expected to build the rules and regulations of the place. The leader acts as the man who resolves what is right and wrong for the safety and protection of his/her members. This is attested by Ralph, “Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things” (p. 22).
Ralph said, “If you were to be a chief, you were to be wise.” (p. 78) If this belief be followed, there’s a higher probability that Piggy can be the leader. “What intelligence had been shown was traceable to Piggy, while the most obvious leader was Jack. But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance” (p. 22). According to Collins, Dutta, & Zebrowitz ( 1998) , physical appearance plays very important role in human’s social environment. Even though Piggy has the intellect to lead the boys, Ralph has the outward appearance that influences others to follow him.
However, as days passed by, the boys’ feeling of gaiety for the acquired freedom started to fade. As days passed, they longed for steadfast protection. This started on the day of the second assembly --- the day “when a little boy (with a mulberry-colored birthmark on one side of his cheek) timidly asks the bigger boys on what they will do about the snake-thing.” (p. 35) Instead of answering the question, “Ralph laughed, and the other boys laughed with him.” (p. 35) In order to lighten the issue, Ralph said, “He is dreaming. “, and then “looked for confirmation round the ring of faces. The older boys agreed; but here and there among the little ones was the doubt that required more than rational assurance” (p. 36). Though the other boys’ initial reaction upon hearing the child’s question is to laugh, that day marks the birth of their fears. This assertion is proven by this statement: “There was no laughter at all now and more grave watching” (p. 36).
The situation gets worse when the child with the mark in his face disappeared without a trace. Since then, the boys’ fears grew bigger each day. The little kids, better known as the littluns, “suffered untold terrors in the dark and huddled together for comfort.” (p. 59) In order to seek for security, Phil, a littlun, recounted his dream to the other boys.
Last night, I had a dream, a horrid dream, fighting with the things… Then I was frightened and I woke up. And I was outside the shelter by myself in the dark and the twisty things had gone away. I was frightened and started to call Ralph and then I saw something moving among the trees… I was asleep when the twisty things were fighting and when they went away I was awake, and I saw something big and horrid moving in the trees.
p.84–85
As Phil narrated his story, the other boys had discovered their own uncertainties too. Golding described the boys’ reaction to Phil’s story as this: “the vivid horror of this, so possible and so nakedly terrifying, held them all silent” (p. 85).
The situations above illustrate how the little boys urgently need security as they stayed longer in the island. All of them need the assurance that the there’s someone who will protect them. Borrowing the words of Ralph, “If only they could send us something grown-up…” (p.94).
The Need for Immediate Rescue
The boys in the novel also need abrupt rescue. Hence, they formed an assembly and decided on the things they need to do first. Then Ralph, the chief, suggested on building a fire. “We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on the top of the mountain. We must make a fire! (p. 38)
“The best thing we can do is get ourselves rescued” (p.53). This statement demonstrates that Ralph believes that they should build a fire for a greater propensity to be rescued. However, some of the boys, particularly Jack, the leader of the hunters, don’t like the idea of building a fire. Jack has the inclination of hunting for meat than being rescued. The following situation proves that Jack prefers to hunt than to build a fire:
Ralph: “The best thing we can do is get ourselves rescued.”
Jack had to think for a moment before he could remember what rescue was.
Jack: “Rescue? Yes, of course! All the same, I’d like to catch a pig first ---“
(p.53)
As Jack and Ralph’s conversation prolonged, the latter becomes impatient because of the previous’ cavalier treatment of being rescued. “I was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig” (p.54)! This situation portrays Ralph’s desperate attempt to be rescued in order to evade further harm.
Social Factors
Social factors include the three basic needs found after the first two needs of Maslow’s Theory of Motivation. These are the need to belong and to be accepted, the need to be respected and to be recognized, and the need to be self-actualized. Social factors have got something to do with the society a person lives in and how he/she is treated in that society. Consequently, the social factors in the novel Lord of the Flies deal with the boys’ relationship to the other. In this part, the researchers will discuss how these social factors affect the decisions and actions of the characters in the novel.
The Need to Belong and to be Accepted
The third part of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is the need to fit into a group and be accepted (as cited in Green, 2000). In the novel, the boys yearned to belong and be accepted by their fellows. However, this yearning is not easy to obtain. As what Nash (1985) states, to belong to a group is not easy because people (from the social framework) look for a “stigma” --- an aspect of a human being that can be considered undesirable by other people, thus making such person a "social deviant" of the community . In the novel, the need to belong is dominant in the characters of Simon and Piggy.
Simon really wanted to belong in the group. This is evident in the situation found in page 143, wherein the Lord of the Flies (which is actually his inner self) talks to Simon: “You don’t want Ralph to think you’re batty, do you? You like Ralph a lot, don’t you? And Piggy, and Jack?” However, despite his need for belongingness, Simon is often ignored and laughed at because Ralph and Jack (the symbol of the people from the social framework), thought that “he’s queer” (p.55). This belief that he’s odd becomes worse when he said to the boys that maybe, the beast exists. “Maybe… there is a beast … What I mean is… maybe it’s only us.” (p. 89) His need to be accepted plummeted when, after articulating his belief, the boys laughed. Golding described Simon’s feeling this way: “Simon’s effort fell about him in ruins; the laughter beat him cruelly and he shrank away defenseless to his seat” (p.89). The feeling of being powerless experienced by Simon is a natural reaction for not achieving acceptance. As what Goldstein (2006) had written, to be socially alienated is like living in a desert wherein neither no one can help you nor no one wants to aid you.
Eventually, Simon achieved the feeling of acceptance as the story goes on. “Diffidently, Simon allowed his pace to slacken until he was walking side by side with Ralph… Ralph glanced sideways, smiled as though he had forgotten that Simon had made a fool of himself… For a moment or two, Simon was happy to be accepted” (p. 103- 104).
Another boy who aches for acceptance and belongingness is Piggy. He yearns for the group’s acceptance so that he can freely raise his concerns and give suggestions to the group. However, his propositions are always neglected. Whenever he talks, Ralph or Jack would shut him up. His predicament is emphasized through these lines: “You said you wanted a small fire and you been and built a pile like a hayrick. If I say anything, you say shut up; but if Jack or Maurice or Simon – “ (p. 43).
Aside from being the outcast, Piggy is also the laughingstock of the group. When the boys knew that his name is Piggy, “a storm of laughter arose and even the tiniest child joined in… he went very pink, [and he just] bowed his head…” (p. 21) The main reason why he’s often the subject of indifference is his physical appearance. He is very fat and he wears thick spectacles. In their research, Collins, Dutta, & Zebrowitz (1998) wrote that physical appearance plays an enormous role in human’s social environment. Good-looking individuals are viewed “more positively” compared to the less-attractive ones. The former were recognized as “more sociable, socially skilled, more popular, more competent, and more dominant than the latter (Collins, Dutta, &Zebrowitz, 1998).
As time goes by, the group, led by Ralph, had learned to accept Piggy. The situations below portrayed how Piggy reacted to the fact that Ralph has already accepted him:
Ralph turned and smiled involuntarily. Piggy was a bore; his fat, his ass-mar, and his matter-of-fact ideas were dull, but there was always a little pleasure to be got out of pulling his leg... Piggy saw the smile and misinterpreted it as friendliness. There had grown up tacitly among the biguns the opinion that Piggy was an outsider... Now, finding that something he had said made Ralph smile, he rejoiced…” (p. 65) “When he understood how far Ralph had gone toward accepting him, he flushed pinkly with pride. p. 140
These situations also portray how belonging and being accepted to the group gives satisfaction to Piggy.
The Need for Self- confidence, Strength, and Respect
The boys in the novel Lord of the Flies need to have self-esteem --- self-confidence, strength, and respect --- in order to survive.
One example is when the little boy with a mulberry-colored birthmark on one side of his cheek tried to speak up, “The small boy held out his hands for the conch and the assembly shouted for laughter… he snatched back his hands and started to cry” (p.35). This scene clearly depicts how the absence of respect from the others affects the persona. The little boy cried because his little confidence is daunted by the booming laughter of the assembly.
However, when one has the self-esteem, everything is very different. He has the self-confidence to give commands to the group and the strength to lead the group, thus giving him the recognition and respect he desired. Just like Jack. “Jack was loud and active. He gave orders, sang, whistled, threw remarks at the silent Ralph” (p. 72).
It can be remembered that Piggy is used to be ignored and neglected. But when he knew that Ralph had already accepted him, his self-confidence is developed. Consequently, he hit two birds in one stone: he got the strength to boldly face Jack and he got the recognition he dreams to have since the first day he’s trapped in the island.
I’m going to him with this conch in my hands… I’m going to say, you’re stronger than I am and you haven’t got asthma… But I don’t ask for my glasses back, not as a favor. I don’t ask you to be sport… not because you’re strong, but because what’s right’s right. Give me my glasses… you got to! (p. 171)
The Need for Self-actualization
The need for self-actualization is the need found at the uppermost portion of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (as cited in Green, 2000). This need specifies the actualization of a person --- in this instance, the characters in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding. In order to achieve this last necessity, the boys in the novel do the role they think is best suited for them.
The first self-actualization issue tackled in the novel is the “who-should-be-the-leader issue.” This matter concerns Ralph and Jack. Since Ralph is voted as the chief, he acts as the leader of the group. He is the one who accepts the task of “dividing labors” (p. 33) and “implementing rules” (p. 80 - 81). However, Jack Merridew, the leader of the choir boys that turned into a group of hunters, wanted to be the overall leader. Even in the beginning, when the election for chief started, he voiced out a statement that proved his eagerness to be a leader, “I ought to be chief (he said with simple arrogance), because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp” (p. 22). Yet, the boys elected Ralph; hence, Jack became the leader of the hunters.
Jack takes pleasure in the hunting adventures he had. Nonetheless, he’s still not contented on becoming the hunter. He started to question Ralph’s authority. “And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing ---” (p. 91). This situation shows that Jack questioned Ralph’s authority by comparing Ralph’s capabilities to his own. Jack’s action is normal for Thomas Hobbes (as cited in Fromm & Xirau, 1968) believes that man finds happiness by “comparing himself with other men” (p. 37). Man thinks that he’s cleverer than the others; hence, he is capable of “overseeing the public much better” (p. 37).
The second self-actualization issue discussed in the novel is “where-should-I-belong” issue. This matter concerns all the boys in the novel, except Ralph and Jack. This issue determines the boys’ need to know who they are and what they really wanted to be. After some time, Maurice, Roger, and Robert, together with some of the littluns, preferred to be under Jack’s savage group (p. 133). On the other hand, Ralph, Simon, and Piggy remained to the peace-seeking society they had created.
Decisions and Actions of Man
Using Maslow’s Theory on the Hierarchy of Needs and Freud’s Theory on Human Personality, the researchers would find out how the decisions and actions of the characters in the novel define the true nature of man.
In achieving the five human needs, Jack follows the epicurean or the pleasure-seeking instinct of man. Never getting complete gratification in eating fruits, he further hunts for meat. To provide the need for protection, he promises to break the rules. “Bollocks to the rules! … If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close and beat and beat and beat ---” (p.91)! Instead of asking for fire from Ralph’s group, he summoned (tense consistency previous sentences use present) his tribe to steal Piggy’s specs. Having not contented of getting everyone’s trust, he still planned to kill Ralph. These decisions and actions brought bad incidents to the island. They caused the unrestrained killing of the sow, the brutal murder of Simon and Piggy, and the unanticipated separation of the boys in the island. However, despite the fact that Jack’s decisions and actions may harm the other boys, he continues to do them because of the satisfaction he attains after doing such. This shows the animalistic nature of man.
In contrast to Jack’s malevolent decisions and actions is Piggy’s rational thinking. Each day, Piggy lives in the island taking in consideration all the norms he had learned from his previous world. He always thinks what adults would have done if they were on their (the boys’) shoes. He thinks how the adults would have reacted if they will come to know how the boys in the island lived. Though he depends greatly on Ralph to achieve his basic needs, Piggy never allowed (tense consistency) his hedonistic nature to control him. Throughout his lifetime, Piggy always stands for what the society has called “good”.
On the other hand, Ralph’s decisions and actions are determined by his civilizing instinct for order. His decisions and actions do not only takes in consideration the wants and needs of his id but also distinguishes it using his superego. In other words, unlike the id that only seek for one’s desire not caring what methods he/she use to achieve it, Ralph (ego) weighs is (check) methods of satisfying the need without doing something evil. It can be seen in the story that Ralph’s decisions and actions are greatly affected by Jack (id) and Piggy (superego). For instance, though he also wants the thrill experienced by hunters in the reenactment of the killing of the sow, he did not let his desire take control of him because like Piggy, he thinks it is wrong to do what Jack and the others do.
Nature of Man in the novel Lord of the Flies
The novel depicts man as innately evil in nature, that without the constraints of civilization, society and rules, man goes back to his primordial self and becomes a savage, prioritizing only what he desires and not caring on the effects his action causes to other people. William Golding was able to portray that man is innately evil by creating a microcosm of the society wherein the big boys act as the council of leaders that creates the laws and regulation of their own society. Golding was able to depict clearly how civilized men, at the start of his novel, turned into savages. Golding discussed the background of the story in an essay entitled Fable (as cited in McClean, 2010). It states:
Before the second World War I believed in the perfectability of social man; that a correct structure of society produced goodwill; and that therefore you could remove all social ills by a reorganisation of society. It is possible that I believe something of the same again; but after the war I did not because I was unable to.
I had discovered what one man could do to another. I’m not talking of one man killing another with a gun, or dropping a bomb on him or blowing him up or torpedoing him. I am thinking of the vileness beyond all words that went on, year after year, in the totalitarian states.
They were not done by the head hunters of New Guinea, or by some primitive tribe in the Amazon. They were done, skillfully, coldly, by educated men, doctors, lawyers, by men with a tradition of civilisation behind them, to beings of their own kind. I must say that anyone who moved through those years without understanding that man produces evil as a bee produces honey, must have been blind or wrong in the head. p. 1
Since the boys in the story were isolated from adult guidance and care, there was a need to unite and help each other so that they would survive the dangers they might encounter in the island. Upon creating their group, they tried to imitate what adults do in the real world. They elected their own leader and created their own laws and rules bringing forth their own society. The conch in the novel was the very symbol of the society that they created. The only person who could speak out in the meeting was the person who holds the conch. The conch symbolizes the authority and power of the holder and order of their society. The conch’s sound that resonates throughout the island made it possible to call and unite them when they first crashed in the island. When they formed their group, the conch was used to call the meetings and put them in order when someone’s holding it.
However, as the story goes on, the authority that the conch represents slowly faded away when their attachment and influence to the real world, to the civilization they used to live in, gradually decreased the longer they stayed in the island. As Ralph, one of the main characters in the novel, would phrase it, “The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away” (Golding, 1954, p. 91). Little by little they revealed their true nature.
One example of how these boys change is as follows:
They knew very well why he (Jack) hadn’t: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood. p. 31
At first, they were very scared of killing the pig but when they stayed longer in the island, their attitude towards killing changed. Golding (1954) phrased:
[…] and the hunters followed, wedded to her in lust, excited by the long chase and the dropped blood. […]The sow collapsed under them and they were heavy and fulfilled upon her. […] This time Robert and Maurice acted the two parts; and Maurice’s acting of the pig’s efforts to avoid the advancing spear was so funny that the boys cried with laughter. p. 148
They began to enjoy killing the pig and from that their inner savage instincts began to awaken. From doing simple acts of violence, they had become accustomed to doing violence itself that had later evolved into a much graver crime which was murder. In the novel of Golding (1954) there were two instances that murder was committed to their fellow comrades. The first death happened when they were having another reenactment of the way they killed the sow, then Simon came out coming from the forest:
Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill. “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!” (Boys) The sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle crunched and screamed. The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abominable noise something about a body on the hill. The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws. p. 152
After that incident, they let themselves believe that what they killed was the beast in disguised as Simon. Another death follows:
The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went. The rock bounded twice and was lost in the forest. Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it has been killed. p. 189
By Simon’s death, man’s nature is still ambiguous because there is still a question if incident was an accident considering how dark when the crime happened and how the atmosphere at that time was filled with excitement of killing the sow. Nevertheless, another death follows, the murder of Piggy. There is no question to the gravity of the intent to really kill him. There was no excuse of the act and it was done with no guilt. After seeing Piggy’s death, Jack said, “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone— […] I’m chief” (p. 190)! This marked the total loss of moral reasoning and rational thinking of the boys, the perfect act showing how innocent boys had turned into ruthless savages caring only of what they want. The thought of being rescued was lost and the society that was once created was ruined same as how the conch that embodied authority and order was shattered into pieces.
