Leviathan Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis
Leviathan in Lord of the Flies
The Idea:
Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan speaks of a state of nature: a consequence of human nature where there are “no legal or moral limits, and the only limiting factor is ones’ own power” (Masroori). This is mankind living in a condition absent of government or authority, where right and wrong do not apply. In the state of nature what matters is surviving in a world where vulnerability breeds fear, and everyone is a possible threat. “One doesn’t know for how long he/she can stay alive. At any moment another individual can attack and can kill you. Fear of unexpected and violent death, that sudden, brutal death is terrorizing.” (Masroori). In order to survive, one must be always on their guard, suspicious of their …show more content…
After the division of the two groups, Ralph and Piggy go to Jack and his hunters whom are having a feast and dancing around. Ralph orders for food to be brought to them and soon after we see the dancing has turned into a game of kill-the-beast, where one of the younger children plays the beast. It is raining and the night is dark, there is thunder and lightning. In the trees we see Simon, the young choirboy who doubted the existence of the beast and who discovered that what the rest believed to be the beast was actually a stranded parachuter. As Simon comes back to the group, the boys mistake him for the beast and stab him to death. The morning after, Simon’s murder is brought up between Ralph and Piggy. “Piggy, that was murder- You stop it! What good are you doing talking like that? It was dark, there was that bloody dance. There was thunder and lightning and rain. We were scared, it wasn’t what you said- Oh Piggy! - It was an accident” (Brook). While Ralph breaks down, clutching onto the conch shell, calling it murder, Piggy argues that the group acted in what they believed was self-defense. Piggy argues that the boys were scared and that Simon was acting strange when he arrived, and it was his behavior and his approach that caused his death, it was not murder,
The Idea:
Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan speaks of a state of nature: a consequence of human nature where there are “no legal or moral limits, and the only limiting factor is ones’ own power” (Masroori). This is mankind living in a condition absent of government or authority, where right and wrong do not apply. In the state of nature what matters is surviving in a world where vulnerability breeds fear, and everyone is a possible threat. “One doesn’t know for how long he/she can stay alive. At any moment another individual can attack and can kill you. Fear of unexpected and violent death, that sudden, brutal death is terrorizing.” (Masroori). In order to survive, one must be always on their guard, suspicious of their …show more content…
After the division of the two groups, Ralph and Piggy go to Jack and his hunters whom are having a feast and dancing around. Ralph orders for food to be brought to them and soon after we see the dancing has turned into a game of kill-the-beast, where one of the younger children plays the beast. It is raining and the night is dark, there is thunder and lightning. In the trees we see Simon, the young choirboy who doubted the existence of the beast and who discovered that what the rest believed to be the beast was actually a stranded parachuter. As Simon comes back to the group, the boys mistake him for the beast and stab him to death. The morning after, Simon’s murder is brought up between Ralph and Piggy. “Piggy, that was murder- You stop it! What good are you doing talking like that? It was dark, there was that bloody dance. There was thunder and lightning and rain. We were scared, it wasn’t what you said- Oh Piggy! - It was an accident” (Brook). While Ralph breaks down, clutching onto the conch shell, calling it murder, Piggy argues that the group acted in what they believed was self-defense. Piggy argues that the boys were scared and that Simon was acting strange when he arrived, and it was his behavior and his approach that caused his death, it was not murder,