Lord of the Flies

Ladies of the Flies

Even with the fact that civilization has experienced great progress during recent years, it is difficult for humanity to abandon ideas related to gender roles, as most people believe that women react differently from men in particular situations and that it would thus be impossible for both women and men to react the same in these respective situations. Girls are typically associated with innocence and with being very unlikely to put across malicious thoughts. In William Golding's novel "Lord of the Flies" the fact that all the protagonists are boys leads to situations that someone would associate with boys in general.

Girls in the contemporary society are normally taught to take on gender roles as they grow up and their personalities are, as a consequence, shaped with the purpose of having them think and behave like women. Even with this, one must keep in mind that this happens in a controlled environment and that individuals, in general, are more likely to act on account of their instinct when they come across conditions when they need to react rapidly. Furthermore, people have the tendency to act on their own behalf when they are in a critical condition and they are less likely to focus on assisting others. This idea perfectly applies in the case of "Lord of the Flies," taking into account that the characters present in the novel act as humans and not necessarily as male figures.

Gender-based generalizations often make it difficult for some individuals to be able to see the general picture. While it would be absurd to consider that the storyline would occur exactly as it occurred in the novel if girls were introduced in the story, it is only safe to say that a group of people is probable to put across the same attitudes as long as the circumstances are the same. A girl playing Piggy's role would likely be killed on account of her unpopularity and because of her failure to integrate the group.

As previously mentioned, it is difficult to abandon gender prejudice when considering an episode like the one in "Lord of the Flies." Girls would have probably have the tendency to be more cooperative toward each-other and would have been less supportive with regard to the idea of hunting. The fact that instinct are important when considering critical situations means that it would be likely for girls to be more emotional with regard to these respective situations and that it would be more difficult for them to succeed. Boys are more rugged and more probable to rapidly take on harsh behaviors when they realize that there is no alternative left. Then again, so would girls and this once again leads to the assumptions that girls would also express interest in doing everything they can in order to stay alive.