The negative impact of the absence of rules on human society : a critical reading of William Golding’s Lord of the flies

الملخص EN

This research paper studies the negative impact of the absence of rules on the life of humans through an analytical study of William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies.

In his novel, Golding recounts the story of a group of English schoolboys who live as savages and killers because they refuse to obey the rules after they get isolated on a tropical island.

The instinct of savagery is represented through the characters of the hunters who are longing for authority, while the instinct of civilization is represented through the character of Ralph, who attempts to keep the rules to escape the island.

The hunters end up as savage-like creatures because they fail to understand the importance of rules and order to find a civil society.

They become preys of evil that embody the darkness of the human soul, while the group of Ralph represents the bright side of civilized humans.

Keywords: civilization, savagery, rules, tropical island, English boys