Final answer:
Conflicts in 'Lord of the Flies' include Ralph's clash with Jack, the boys' struggle against nature, the group's antagonism towards Piggy, and their collective fear of the Beastie. These conflicts reveal the characters' underlying values and instincts and set the stage for the escalation of tensions in the novel's second half.
Step-by-step explanation:
Conflict in 'Lord of the Flies'
In Lord of the Flies, conflict plays a significant role and can be analyzed on multiple levels, including Ralph vs. Jack, boys vs. nature, boys vs. Piggy, and boys vs. the Beastie.
Ralph vs. Jack represents a fundamental ideological clash between order (Ralph) and savagery (Jack). This conflict evolves as the boys' struggle for power heightens, signaling a shift from civility towards anarchic tendencies that will likely dominate the second half of the book.
The boys vs. nature conflict highlights the struggle to survive on an uninhabited island. Initially a challenge, the boys' relationship with nature becomes increasingly adversarial, foreshadowing their descent into barbarism.
In the case of boys vs. Piggy, Piggy's intellectual approach and physical vulnerability often put him at odds with the other boys, which serves as a microcosm of the larger struggle between enlightenment and primal instincts within the group.
Lastly, the fear of the mythical Beastie represents an external conflict that symbolizes the boys' internal fears, fueling a collective paranoia that undermines their society's very foundations and provokes chaos.
These conflicts are crucial to understanding the book's themes and character developments, setting the stage for the climactic second half wherein these tensions reach their peak and lead toward the novel's resolution.