, Research Paper
In Webster s American Dictionary, Hostility is defined as Deep Seated or Mutual Hatred.
Do any of the characters in William Golding s highly divisive book, Lord of the Flies, display true and utter hostility towards one another? My opinion would be no. Hostility is a mutual hatred, and according to me, no one on this island displays any symptom of hatred (hatred being defined as an intense animosity.) The way I see it, the thirty or so boys on this little island display a certain sense of covetousness, inferiority, inadequacy and possibly a sense of insecurity.
When Jack hesitates in stabbing the piglet and blames it on his uncertainty in the best location for the stab, he displays a true sense of insecurity in his tough exterior, it shows that inside, Jack has the ability to be a nice, caring individual, but he feels the need to display a tough exterior to be respected and venerated.
We see the same insecurity in Simon, he has a lot of remarkable and appealing ideas, but because he does not have the capacity to be tough, he feels he can in no way be acclaimed and esteemed as much as Ralph and Jack.
And then there is the curious case of Piggy, the would-be in
Piggy is a very egotistical individual mainly because of his circumstance at home; his auntie spoils him because of his asthma, he feels he is the smartest in the group (which he may very well be), but he goes about displaying it the wrong way, his remarks are misplaced and are often rewarded with blows and verbal degradation from anyone and almost everyone around.
Then there is Jack s crew I am not sure what to make of them, I believe, however, that they, same as Jack, feel they need to display a tough exterior to be respected, and all I can comment on with his problem, is the same as in Jack s case. The crew feels that they need to be tough to be respected, that is really their insecure feelings and emotions shining through.
All in all considered, I applaud William Golding s effort in portraying a version of our society without the supreme leadership we have, but I must deplore his way of showing hostility in this book, as his characters are not at all hostile, as I have mentioned time and time again, they are mainly insecure and aggravated by those feelings of diffidence. Not to speak for all the characters, but for most, this is true.