Of Fear and Fragility

[FieryIce]

I'm not sure where this goes but I'm writing an essay on this topic and I need ideas for what it could mean and 3 ideas in a thesis for the body paragraphs. I have to use the novel Lord of the flies as my proof and though I do have some ideas, I can't seem to put them into words. Afterall, in my opinion I'm not a very good writer.

The topic is "The destructive nature of fear exploits the fragile nature of civilization."

Thanks!

 

[TeddyKGB]

That's not much to go on; Lord of the Flies is a work of fiction after all. It does not seem sufficient by itself to support your thesis.

 

[FreezBee]

As TeddyKGB writes, Lord of the Flies is a work of fiction and hardly useful as proof in a case like this. But since that's part of your task,...

It's too many years ago that I read Lord of the Flies, but I recall something with some children marooned somewhere - and they have to organize a society. Is that correctly remembered?

The situation then is a bit unrealistic: we do already live in societies, and fear is part of those societies. I've read about a man that shut three others in a garage simply because he feared them - the man was found not guilty in murder.

Now, the drives behind this man's action was partly self-preservation and partly distrust. Fear is the result of distrust, when your self-preservation seems to be in danger.

Civilization depends on mutual trust - I know that you'll not kill me, so I won't kill you. Where this trust breaks down, civilization follows along.

I'm a bit unsure about your topic title: "The destructive nature of fear exploits the fragile nature of civilization."

It's the word "exploits", I'm worried about. If possible, could you elaborate a bit on, what that's supposed to mean?


cheers

- FreezBee

 

[jayem]

The topic is "The destructive nature of fear exploits the fragile nature of civilization."

That sentence is oddly worded.

The gist of the novel, as I recall it, is that human beings are fundamentally brutes. The boys are marooned on an island, and without any authority, most of them soon become savages. These presumably upper class, well-bred, English schoolboys give in to their base, animalistic, tribalistic tendencies when removed from civilization. Maybe the topic refers to the idea that civilization is fragile, and can be easily overcome when fear causes people's basic instincts to come out. If you need 3 items to discuss, here's a suggestion:

1) Human nature is fundamentally savage.

2) Civilization is just a thin facade over this savagery and can easily collapse.

3) (Pertinent here in a religious discussion forum) Religion is ineffective in mitigating base human instincts. If I remember in the novel, the boys develop their own tribal rituals (worshipping the pig's head?) Traditional religion isn't mentioned, as I recall, but seems to have no effect in preventing the boys from reverting to brutality.

 

[FieryIce]

Thanks for all the help guys!