Madeleine
1/23/09
7-E
LOTF Final Paper

In the final scene of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Ralph tries to hold on to the little bit of civilization that’s left but it disappears into a madness of savagery after the death of his two friends Piggy and Simon. A group of British school boys have found themselves on a deserted island after a plane crash with no adults to take care of them. Ralph was the leader the boys elected but Jack another boy had always been against him. Now Jack has created a new tribe devoted to hunting. Ralph is trying to escape Jack’s tribe when he runs into a naval officer: “And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy” (202). Ralph wishes his body would be cleaner “we’ll be like we were” and hair that was easier to take care of “it’s too long” (172). He breaks down for the first time as “tears began to flow” and he is reminded that “Simon was dead” (202) and that Piggy was gone with no more helpful advice or companionship. Ralph’s appearance symbolizes the end of sanity, the end of innocence is the sense that they should have been having fun; “the darkness of a man’s heart” (202) is in all the boys and Piggy was the wisdom that kept Ralph’s hopes up that he would finally be able to go home. This final scene represents the final conflict of power and savagery, a main theme