Mass Hysteria

The next book on the list doesn’t come out and say that they are dealing with the issue of insanity is Lord of the Flies by William Golding. This book instead looks into the world where there are no more adults and a group of children are allowed to roam free on an island. As the book continues, issues of trust and power struggles lead to the original group being split into two groups. Slowly the one group devours the other and the boy’s loss a sense of order and become nothing more than animals. So maybe they don’t actually go insane but they adopt a way of life that would be considered beastly back on the mainland, and really isn’t that what insanity can really be defined as.
It is easy to track the deterioration of the idea of civilization and how the animal inside comes out. By following certain recurring symbols it is easy to see how the old world disappears and the new one is left behind. Such things as how the conch which in the beginning is used as a device to bring order losses its importance to the point where is shattered when one of the characters is murdered. Also the way the hunters start to act more animalistic, by walking on all fours and then using things like masks to disguise themselves from their prey. All signs point to a big climax that is going to happen when those who still believe in order and discipline are faced with those who don’t.
So it is interesting to see how it doesn’t always have to be someone to be talking in tongues to signal a crazy person, sometimes all it takes is a group of people to loss some sense of ruling and that can cause people to act in a way that would not be considered the norm for them.