Theme

What is the major theme of this novel? Why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2008?

I think the theme of the novel is that all human beings have wickedness/savageness and civility in their minds at the same time. We are living in a civilized society(thank goodness) today. We know that in order to live together in harmony, we must follow rules and try to listen to each other and cooperate. However, rules get broken, and humans tend to succumb more easily into natural human instinct of savagery. In Lord of the Flies, the boys obey the rules and try to cooperate with each other in the beginning. They chose Ralph(protagonist) as their chief, and listened to what he told them. Ralph had a sense of civility, and knew what was best for everyone. As a chief, he made rules that would be beneficial to everyone in the long run. However, Jack, ambitious and violent in his heart always ignored the rules that Ralph had set for everyone to follow. He even made his own tribe, and most of the boys follow Jack, because after a certain time, the boys listened to their savage instincts instead of their good civilized hearts. This novel shows the importance of obeying laws that were set up for people to follow. Also, it showed very clearly how group of boys, not fully understanding the world of adults(civilized world), had to battle their minds against their instincts. And it was their natural savage instinct that triumphed and led the boys to committing despicable things such as murdering their own friends. I think it's very important for the teenagers to know the importance of rules! I mean, yeah, sometimes it gets very annoying, but it's for our benefit. If we didn't have laws or rules, there wouldn't be any order in this world. Imagine people filled with hatred and violence in their heart carrying guns and starts shooting everyone they see. That's quite scary, and that's what practically happened in the novel, just that it was boys carrying spears instead of guns. We're so accustomed to order and peace in our lives, that we take those things for granted. But I think it's time we start to be thankful, because even today, there are places in the world where endless bloodshed is taking place. We know that those events are taking place, but we don't really acknowledge it because it has never happened to us, or people around us. But when I was in middle school, there was this new girl from Liberia. People wondered why her father was never around, but then she told the truth once. Her father's life had been taken away in Liberia during war(she never specified what kind, but we're assuming tribal war). She even lost her older brothers during that time. I remember being so shocked when I heard those words from her. Being a middle schooler that time, I was oblivious of what was happening around the world. I was happy, and although I was thankful for it, that was all I cared about. But, I think it is important that not only should we be thankful for what we have, we should be aware of what's happening to other people. And we should make them realize that listening to our good minds and hearts is the solution to the conflict instead of violence, which is a form of savage instinct.