Hair In Lord of The Flies

     “The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable.” ― William Golding, Lord of the Flies

     The human race has always had a sense of carelessness and savagery. Often times carelessness and laziness leads to savage behavior in that it takes effort to be civilized and some don’t always work to remain on the path of sophistication. In the book, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the boys hair symbolizes their battle with savagery. And them fighting to keep the hair out of their eyes represents their desire “fun” and their overall carelessness.

     After a couple weeks on the Island, all the boys at this point in the story had long hair and were dirty and a lot of them were getting careless about their hygiene.

“Piggy was the only boy on the island whose hair never seemed to grow. The rest were shockheaded, but Piggy’s hair still lay in wisps over his head as though baldness were his natural state and this imperfect covering would soon go, like the velvet on a young stag’s antlers” (Golding page 64)

This quote shows that Piggy, the most reasonable one and most civilized, had hair that never really seemed to grow. As the other boys all seemed to creep into savagery including Ralph, Piggy never seemed to. Their hair represents their transformation into savagery.

     Ralph has an ongoing battle with keeping his hair out of his eyes which represents his fight with savagery. “Ralph stood, one hand holding back his hair, the other clenched” (Golding page 66). This quote shows how his hair represents more than just hair and that is is more like a blindfold for civilization and leads people into savagery. “Not one of them was an obvious subject for a shower, and yet-hair, much too long, tangled here and there, knotted round a dead leaf or a twig…scurfy with brine” (Golding page 110).

    The growth of the boys hair is equal to their growth into savagery. As their hair grows, so does the desire for fun and recklessness. Piggy and Ralph’s hair show how some of the wiser and more intelligent members of society deal with the problem of civilization and the fight to remain civilized.