Savagery in "Lord of the Flies

1. Lord of the Flies Paragraph Example As their time on the island lengthens into months, the boys collectively begin to lose their sense of humanity and become almost feral. Golding clearly demonstrates the boys’ animal characteristics at the moment of Simon’s death when the group mistakenly attacks him instead of the beast and “screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (175). In this moment of fear and confusion, the boys revert to a savagery reminiscent of wild animals attacking their prey. No longer do they exhibit any human characteristics, but instead, have morphed into creatures with “teeth and claws.”Within the span of a few months, the boys have deteriorated from an upper-class, rigidly organized group into a chaotic, murderous tribe who, based on Golding’s depiction, have seemingly lost all connection to their original identities.