Year 8 mini-essay based on Lord of the Flies

How does William Golding present ideas about civilisation in this extract from ‘Lord of the Flies’?

• Write a mini-essay explaining how Golding presents ideas about civilisation

• Your mini-essay should be one long PEAEA[EA] paragraph

In this extract, Golding presents civilisation as something fragile and easily forgotten about. After Jack repaints his mask, he looks "in astonishment" at a reflection that is not him, but "an awesome stranger.” The fact that Jack sees a stranger suggests that his identity is now hidden and he has become a new person. Once he has his mask on, he no longer has to think about his actions, just the new person in front of him. Moreover, the adjective 'awesome' suggests that Jack really likes the person who he is seeing in front of him and perhaps aspires to be like him. The face that he sees is no longer that of a child but of a leader. This new person is powerful instead of civilised which is what Jack wishes to be like. In addition, the noun 'stranger' suggests that he is now completely disconnected from his old, civilised self and has become a new person entirely. Jack no longer recognises himself; civilisation has been forgotten the moment the mask was put on. In this episode, Golding shows how civilisation can disappear the moment our identity is hidden. He suggests that civilisation is something fragile, something that can be broken very easily even if it has been embedded in our personalities. The moment we get our own masks; we feel as if we can say or do whatever we like as our identity is hidden from the world around us. Everything we have been taught doesn't count as we feel safe (especially behind screens) to express things that no one would have the courage to voice aloud. Furthermore, after Jack finishes looking at his reflection, he dances and "his laughter becomes a bloodthirsty snarling" as the mask "liberate[s]" Jack from "shame and self-consciousness." The fact that Jack feels no more shame once he has his mask on suggests that he thinks civilisation is like a trap that stops him from being free. Once he is free from the trap, he is able to do what he wants without thinking of what anyone else thinks of him. This enables his behaviour and makes him feel as though he is free from the confines of civilisation. Moreover, the verb 'snarling' with its animal connotations suggests that with the mask on Jack is becoming less of a human and more of an animal. He no longer feels afraid of what anyone thinks and instead shows his strength and power over the other boys on the island. As well as this, the verb 'liberates' suggests that civilisation is a cage that Jack was trapped in. Instead of civilisation being something natural, Jack was trapped by it and feels as though he is freed when he abandons it. When the mask is on, it acts as a shield and shows how fragile civilisation is for Jack (and the other boys) to be able to abandon it even though he was taught otherwise. In this episode, Golding suggests that civilisation relies on emotions such as shame or self-consciousness and without them we would become violent and more like animals. If we are given an opportunity where we can be freed of the feelings that keep people civilised, civilisation will crumble and we will all become savage. Once we feel anonymous, we feel as though we no longer need to think of our self-control and that is when civilisation collapses.

by Alessia Ciceu (Year 8)