English Essay - Lord of the Flies

Caroline P.

Silver

3/31/17

The Environment Makes us Stranded

In William Golding's novel, The Lord of the Flies, there is a change from preppy schoolboys, to reckless and what some could say, dangerous, individuals. The british boys experience an unexpected plane crash together and land on a mysterious island. As time starts to disappear, their good habits start to disappear along with it. The boys scavenge through the island that they landed on, in hopes of a return to a natural civilization. The boys go through ups and downs, but can't these experiences change a person? This essay is going to take an inside look at how a change of environment can change a person's natural behavior into something different. Sometimes it could be good and beneficial, but others times it could be unacceptable, and a shock.

The conch shell is an important part of this book through the boys. It gives a person a right on whether or not they are able to speak and to say their opinions on a topic. This is one of the many rules declared in this book after constant difficulties with the management of their talking time. “If I blow the conch and they don't come back; then we have had it, we shouldn't keep the fire going. Well be like animals. We'll never be rescued”(page.5). The impact is causing them to act like “animals”, as said in the quote. This makes me think about their environment and what it is doing to them.  When the boys realized their situation, they started to discuss their next step. They understood that they were on an island that was off the grid.

Piggy has been known to not be a kid with great leadership skills, but on page (15), he says, “we got to find the others. We got to do something.” This was very unusual coming from Piggy. He relies on others in often circumstances. Piggy has been described as being the person to rely on everybody else. Leadership has never really been apart of his life, nor has it been in his interest. At this time, they were only on the island for a short period of time. The quick change of his personal behavior gives curiosity to how much they all developed over the time. Piggy is already doing things way out of his comfort zone.

This is similar to when celebrities become famous. These shifts from their average lifestyle to a completely new one can do something to them that could be both mental and physical. There are constant examples of celebrities gaining a lot of weight and becoming depressed.  The change in lifestyle at times, makes someone go “crazy”. Like in the famous incident of Britney Spears back in 2007 of february 16th. Britney Spears reportedly shaved off all of her hair in a barber shop, by herself. Paparazzi was all around were able to experience it live. Nobody knows the real reason to why she decided to openly shave off her hair, but people think to believe that everything about publicity go to her head. That is what slowly is happening the all of the boys with the new adjustment to this lifestyle. Not publicity for them, but location and new adjustments.

A change in environment can change a person. It is usually never intentional, but when you have a routine and it breaks suddenly, it breaks a person's mind. This can go for many things like, school, relationships, food habits, and the list goes on. In the novel, The Lord of the Flies, there are many examples of this. I don't think that Goulding didn't want to get this message across. I think this message was very purposeful and has been shown behind corners for a reason. The author wanted you discover this on your own.

Bibliography:

10 Years Later, Britney's Head-Shaving Moment Is Still Unforgettable