The Lord of the Flies: Political Fragility 《蝇王》中政治脆弱性的探讨

Written in 1954, shorter after the destructive Second World War, William Golding’s dystopian novelLord of the Flies recites the story of a pack of British boys being stranded on a deserted island. Throughout this story of survival, the primordial organization of the boys slides from civilization into chaos. Amidst this horrendous fall into mayhem lies a more resounding literary theme concerning the nature of artificially constructed social order. Through the subtle use of symbolism, description of dialogue, and depiction of setting, Golding illustrates the theme that in a natural state when human savagery can run rampant, artificial social order, be it democracy or authoritarianism, is inherently flimsy, which one can further link to the U.S. Capitol riot in January 2021.

Golding first attempts to discuss the fragility of artificial social order through symbolism. In Chapter 2, just as the boys began their pseudo-democratic government, they unexpectedly created an untended forest fire, causing the death of one littlun. Golding writes, “Beneath the dark canopy of leaves and smoke the fire laid hold on the forest and began to gnaw” (Golding 44). The fire symbolizes destruction, while the forest symbolizes pristine social organization. The personification of the fire “gnawing” at the forest represents the weakness of the boys’ democratic order – it can easily get damaged by any unrestricted force to destroy. In Chapter 11, Ralph and his supporters march to Jack’s camp to instill a sense of reason into the latter group. However, a fierce round of confrontation ensues, during which a rock causes “the conch [to explode] into a thousand white fragments and ceas[e] to exist” (Golding 181). Here, Golding brings in a hyperbole with the phrase “a thousand white fragments” to show the utter destruction of the conch, a symbol representing social order. The swift and complete obliteration of the conch symbolizes the ease at which political organization shatters when human savagery, as represented by the rock, overwhelms. From the two cases of symbolism above, Golding aims to show the fragility of artificial social order in a natural state when innate barbarity is unrestrained. Aside from symbolism, Golding would also utilize description of dialogue to portray this theme.

Golding extensively uses the description of dialogue to explore the theme concerning the inherent instability of human social organization. Chapter 5 is marked by intense conflict between Jack and Ralph on the importance of rules in their democratic polity. During one exchange in the dialogue, Jack exclaims, “Bollocks to the rules!” (Golding 91). Here, the word “bollocks” in the conversation demonstrates Jack’s staunch defiance and contempt towards the social order Ralph leads, breaking apart the organization. This horrific slide into argument and mayhem vividly reveals the fragility of order when the natural will for savagery presides over. At the end of Chapter 11, Jack’s hunters torture Samneric to coerce them to join the tribe, during which Eric yells, “You lemme go…” and Sam cries, “…and me” (Golding 182). This simple dialogue with colloquialism, such as “lemme,” demonstrates the high tensions within Jack’s totalitarian social order, in which the beastliness of human nature is unhampered. This dangerous tension and vulnerability lead to disunity and internal conflict. These two snippets of conversation masterfully portray the intrinsic fragility of any artificially designed social order, especially when savagery in humanity is unrepressed. As an overarching factor over symbolism and dialogue description, Golding would finally apply depiction of setting.

Golding frequently employs the depiction of setting or environment to deepen the exploration of the flimsiness of social order. Towards the end of Chapter 7, Jack, Ralph, and Roger, three cornerstones of their democratic order, creep up the mountain to get a clear look at the beast. When they see “the beast” that is the dead parachuter, Golding adds a thrilling depiction of the environment: “Then the wind roared in the forest, there was confusion in the darkness…” (Golding 123). Here, the environment is described as full of “confusion” and “darkness,” with the wind “roaring” suddenly. The diction accentuates the easy eruption of chaos in the organization between Jack, Ralph, and Roger when fear, one part of human savagery, overwhelms. This further implies that chaos and disorder would erupt under comparable circumstances in the larger social order the three boys lead, since they are the building blocks of that order. This portrayal of the environment hence points to the fragility of social organization. The novel’s climax is arguably Chapter 11, when Jack’s authoritarian and Ralph’s democratic society come head-to-head on the beach. “There was a blink of bright light” as the “thunder exploded again,” followed by the “whine” of a littlun (Golding 151). The setting with the “thunder” and “whine” sets a gloomy mood. The “whine” of an innocent littlun who can see the truth, in particular, is a flashing indicator that order is breaking down rapidly, foreshadowing war and tragedy as savagery unleashes itself. The brilliant depictions of the setting in the two sections from Chapters 7 and 11 picturesquely emphasize the flimsiness of human social order under the exacerbation of the dark side of humanity.

The recurring, profound theme of fragile order and savage humanity inLord of the Flies can be tied to the Capitol riot in the U.S. in January 2021. After a build-up of significant tension, the radicals rushed into the Capitol building with weapons, leading to a straightforward collapse of democratic order and a plummet into mayhem. From a political or social perspective, this collapse exposed the inherent vulnerability and dangerous levels of tension present in the overall governmental structure. This event is exactly like how the chaos Jack creates when he disparages the rules in Chapter 5 shows the fragility of their social organization and structure. From the human nature perspective, this event comparably demonstrates that innate savagery deteriorates the flimsiness and instability of social order. In the end, hate and the will to destruction are the fueling material behind this riot, while in Lord of the Flies, human viciousness is the root cause that constitutes the weaknesses of any communal order.

Overall, through the delicate use of symbolism, description of dialogue, and depiction of setting, Golding elucidates the theme that in a natural state when human savagery can run rampant, artificial social order is inherently flimsy. The U.S. Capitol riot in January 2021 additionally proves this point in reality. With such significant discussions,Lord of the Flies is a constant alarm to governments globally. It reminds leaders that robust, workable political or social order should adequately consider human nature’s complexity and must imprison its dark side with judicial frameworks. This final message, knitted exquisitely into the riveting plot, setting, and characterization of the book, is where the real, eternal value of this book lies.

威廉-戈尔丁的反乌托邦小说《蝇王》写于1954年，讲述了在破坏性的第二次世界大战后不久，一群英国男孩被困在一个荒岛上求生的故事。在这个生存故事中，男孩们的原始组织从文明有序滑向了混乱暴力。在这种可怕的混乱暴力中，有一个更深刻的探索话题，那就是人工构建的社会秩序的本质是什么？通过对象征主义的微妙运用、对话的运用和对环境的描绘，戈尔丁揭示了一个主题，即在人类野蛮生长的自然状态下，人为的社会秩序，无论是民主还是专制，本质上都是脆弱的，人们可以进一步把它与2021年1月的美国国会大厦骚乱联系起来。

戈尔丁首先试图通过象征主义来讨论人工社会秩序的脆弱性。在第二章中，正当男孩们试图开始他们伪民主政府的运行时，他们意外地制造了一场无人看管的森林大火，导致一位小儿童（Littlun）死亡。戈尔丁写道："在树叶和烟雾的黑暗天幕下，大火占据了森林并开始吞噬一切"。火象征着毁灭，而森林象征着原始的社会组织。大火 "吞噬 "森林的拟人着男孩们的民主秩序的弱点--它很容易被任何不受限制的力量破坏。在第十一章中，拉尔夫和他的支持者们向杰克的营地进军，企图向后者灌输理性的意识。然而，一轮激烈的对抗接踵而至，其间一块巨石导致 "海螺被炸成无数白色碎片，不再存在"。在这里，戈尔丁用 "一千块白色碎片 "这个短语带来了一个夸张的意象，以显示“海螺”所代表的社会秩序的彻底毁灭。“海螺”的迅速彻底毁灭象征着当“岩石”所代表的人类野蛮行为压倒一切时，政治组织就会轻易破碎。从上述两个象征意义的案例中，戈尔丁旨在说明在自然状态下，当先天的野蛮行为不受约束时，人为的社会秩序是脆弱的。除了象征主义，戈尔丁还会利用对话的描述来揭示这一主题。

戈尔丁广泛地使用对话描述来探讨有关人类社会组织内在不稳定性的主题。书中第五章有一场杰克和拉尔夫在民主政体中关于规则重要性的激烈讨论。在这场对话交流中，杰克愤然咒骂道："胡说八道的规则！"。在这里，对话中的 "胡说八道 "一词表明了杰克对拉尔夫领导的社会秩序的坚决反抗和蔑视，这种反抗和蔑视的毁灭力量最终导致了这个组织的支离破碎。这一可怕的争论最终滑向不可控混乱的过程，生动地揭示了当野蛮的自然意志占主导地位时，人为秩序的脆弱性。在第十一章的结尾，杰克的从属折磨萨姆纳利克，胁迫他们加入部落，期间埃里克大喊："你让我走...... "而萨姆哭着说："......还有我"。这段简单的对话与口语，如 "让我"（英文为lemme，是较为口语化的表述），显示了杰克的极权主义社会秩序中的高度紧张，在这种秩序中，人性的兽性是不受约束的，这种危险的紧张和脆弱导致了不团结和内部冲突。这两个对话片段巧妙地描绘了任何人为设计的社会秩序的内在紧张性和脆弱性，尤其是当人性中的野蛮被不加抑制时。

戈尔丁还经常使用环境描写来烘托主题。在第七章的结尾，杰克、拉尔夫和罗杰，这三个社会秩序基石的代表爬上山去看清楚那只“野兽”。当他们看到 "野兽 "也就是死去的跳伞者时，戈尔丁对环境进行了惊心动魄的描绘。"风在森林中咆哮，黑暗中一片混乱......"。这里，环境被描述为充满了 "混乱 "和 "黑暗"，风突然 "咆哮 "起来。这个修辞强调了当恐惧，即人类的野蛮压倒一切时，杰克、拉尔夫和罗杰之间的组织极易爆发混乱和冲突，这种混乱和冲突将造成巨大的破坏。小说的高潮可以说是第11章，当杰克的专制社会和拉尔夫的民主社会在海滩上正面交锋时。当 "雷声再次响起 "时，"有一抹亮光"，接着是一个小孩的 "呜叫"。 "雷声 "和 "呜叫 "的设置，烘托出了一种阴郁和诡异的氛围。特别是一个能看到真相的天真无邪的小男孩的 "呜叫 "声，预示着秩序正在迅速瓦解，战争和悲剧将在野蛮行为中彻底释放出来。第七章和第十一章两节中对环境的精彩描绘，极大的增进了小说故事情节的推进和作者对主题的深刻揭示。

《蝇王》中反复出现的关于人为秩序的脆弱和野蛮人性的深刻主题探讨可以与2021年1月美国国会大厦的暴动联系起来。在积累了大量的紧张局势后，激进分子带着武器冲进国会大厦，导致民主秩序直接崩溃，并陷入混乱。从政治或社会的角度来看，这次崩溃暴露了整个政府结构中存在的固有的脆弱性和危险的紧张程度。这个事件就像杰克在第五章中贬低规则时造成的混乱一样，显示了他们社会组织的结构性脆弱。从人性的角度来看，这一事件也表明，人性与生俱来的野蛮会恶化社会秩序，仇恨和毁灭的意志最终会成为社会暴乱背后的助推器，可以说，《蝇王》这部小说在几十年前就进行了严厉的警告。

总的来说，通过对象征主义的微妙运用、对话描述和环境描写，戈尔丁阐明了这样一个主题：在自然状态下，当人类的野蛮行为可以横行无忌时，人为的社会秩序本身就是脆弱的。2021年1月发生的美国国会大厦暴动在现实中也证明了这一点。有了这样的讨论，《蝇王》对全球政府提出预警，它提醒领导人和秩序设计者，稳健、可行的政治或社会秩序应充分考虑人性的复杂性，必须用司法框架禁锢其人性的黑暗面。这些信息被精致地编织在书中引人入胜的情节、背景和角色描述中，是这本书真正的、永恒的价值所在。