Civilization vs Savagery Essay Example for Free

Civilization vs Savagery Essay Civilization keeps a savage part of us locked down deep inside. If we become free from society and its rules, the savageness emerges. We found a quote that describes the conflict between civilization and savagery. It states, â€Å"Man†¦ is a tame or civilized animal; never the less, he requires proper instruction and a fortunate nature, and then all animals he becomes the most divine and most civilized; but if he be insufficiently or ill-educated he is the most savage of earthly creatures. † Civilization  The rules and organized meetings in the story are used to keep order and it is their own form of government. In society, we use rules and a government system to keep order. The boys created their own version of the rules to fit their surroundings. In a way, they adapted society to their new surroundings. The huts that were built were a constant reminder of the homes they had left behind along with all the rules within their homes. The boys were attached to society at the beginning of the novel and used these things to protect themselves from the harshness of the real world. At the beginning, the boys were all for creating rules and keeping order as the quote from page 42 of the novel shows, â€Å"We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. † The boys, especially Jack and Ralph were intending to instill the rules they followed at home at the island as well. On our poster, we used a picture of the Constitution to represent the rules of civilization. We also used the quote from page 42 in the novel shown above. We used these because we thought that the Constitution showed the basis of civilization and the quote showed the boys bond to it. Savagery: In the novel, there was a lot of savagery. The boys had killed the sow for the thrill and not for the meat. In real life, while people hunt, they do it so they can provide food for their friends and family. They are not obsessed with killing as these young boys in the novel are. Also, the boys in Jacks’ tribe used face paint. While this isn’t a direct relation to savagery, face paint allows a person to hide behind a mask of indifference. It is a way for people to overcome their fears and stay unemotional to the happenings of a war or even to just hide themselves. The boys use the paint to inflict fear in others and also use it as a way to lose themselves to indifference while killing. Jacks tribe had a way of thinking that Ralphs group did not. Jacks tribe mostly thought of themselves and had a sense of self preservation. They would do anything to survive including stealing the other boys’ fire. Another thing the boys did that clearly showed savagery was that they set the island aflame. In their search for Ralph, they lost all common sense and decided to burn Ralph out. They were destroying not only the island but also their only sources of food and shelter. In the novel, Jack is the first to succumb to savagery. The rest of the other boys slowly followed. We believe Jack gave in earlier because he didn’t necessarily care for the rules either way. He just did whatever he pleased. Ralph on the other hand had a father that was a Navy officer and was more exposed to rules and society. For this reason, Ralph never fully gave in. Ralph got his first taste of savagery during Simons killing, but afterwards he felt too guilty to ever do that again. Savagery grew on him once again in the last chapter when the boys were trying to burn him out. On our poster, we decided to use a picture of a war between Spanish soldiers and Native Americans to show savageness since the soldiers were savagely invading the Native Americans land. The quote we used comes from page 152 in the novel. It is from when Jacks tribe was about to kill the pig. It states, â€Å"Kill the beast, cut his throat, spill his blood. † The quote shows not only the boys’ primitive nature but also the savagery they are exposed to.