Unsupervised Human Behavior and the Collapse of Civilization: Conformity and Moral Instability in Lord of the Flies

Abstract

In this study, Lord of the Flies is studied to reveal the fragile structure of human civilization. It also asserts that human moral structure is dependent upon external authority and social order. The lack of institutional authority results in psychological and moral degradation. This study applies the theories of social psychology, particularly deindividuation, group behavior, and the dynamics of authority vacuum, to investigate human behavior in Golding’s text. Using a qualitative textual analysis, it demonstrates how the boys lose their restraint, responsibility, rational judgment through the process of anonymity, contagion of emotion, synchrony, fear of the beast, chanting, and the desire to reject legitimate authority. The study ends with Golding’s doubts about the autonomy of moral behavior, as he states that true moral powers must have a controlling power. Instead, moral conduct is to be fostered continuously by the consistent leadership of one’s own, by a common moral code, and by social institutions. However, when these supports fail to exist, even normal children can turn to aggression, conformism, and moral decay and demonstrate how these can draw on the darker side of human nature.