Bradley Ries
Ms. Herring
LA II –H Pd. 2
2 November 2010
Hidden Powers
A happy face is a perfect disguise, anyone can hide behind a smile. People hide their emotions behind the everlasting love of a smile. One killer in particular can also hide behind the love of a smiling face. Everyone masks their true savagery by living a normal life. In the novel Lord of the Flies (prepositional phrase), William Golding explores the topic of man’s inner savage. Through his use of characterization, plot, and symbolism, Golding develops a theme that man is inherently a savage and brutal creature. Alongside Golding’s examples of human’s savage nature, real-life experiences also make this point clear. Equally (adverb), an ardent observer may find real-life examples that counter Golding’s view of humanity.
Some people may say that humans are only situationally savage. William Golding perceives humans as brutal and savage creatures all the time. He glorifies this human nature through his characters. Jack, the leader of the hunters, always wants to kill. Jack’s savage traits are most obvious amongst all of the children on the island. Throughout their time on the island (prepositional phrase), Jack insists on hunting wild boars. Not only does he hunt the boars, but he treats the kill extremely violently, saying things like “Kill the pig! Cut her throat! Spill her blood!” (Golding 69). Contrarily (adverb), the character who lets out his inner beast throughout the story is Ralph, the content, humble leader of the group. No one would suspect that there was any violence hidden inside Ralph. He does what is best for the group at all times, he is always looking after the littluns, and is always working. Golding chooses to show that everyone, even Ralph has some inner savage in them. While the hunters were attacking Robert, the narrator explains “Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was...