Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions based on the passage:
Lord of the Flies is a post-war fiction written by William Golding in 1954. The novel serves as a catalyst for intriguing discussion, especially regarding people's capacity for good and evil and the fragility of moral restraint. The book questions concepts such as the idea of community, leadership, and the rule of law. The novel gives an insight into human behaviour in a lawless land. It also explores the concept of civilization. Is civilization something that comes naturally to us, or is it imposed upon us?
Golding argues in his text that human beings are naturally savage. They get attracted towards violence and find pleasure in it. Sigmund Freud said that without the inherent capability of human beings to suppress their desires, civilization would have never happened. In the novel, Golding depicts this through a group of boys stranded on an uninhabited island. The novel shows how civilization works like a façade and hides the evil that is deeply rooted inside every individual. Even if civilization flourishes, we humans are merely hiding our beast and not destroying it.
What main idea does the Lord of the Flies story develop, based on the passage?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
Correct Answer
The story explores the struggle between humanity's savage instincts and the rules of civilization.
Explanation
The text directly outlines a continuous tension between natural human instincts and societal constraints. The author explicitly details that Golding views humans as "naturally savage" and attracted to violence, while describing civilization as a "façade" that functions to hide the evil deeply rooted inside individuals. Therefore, the core theme developed is the fundamental struggle between these inherent primitive impulses and the artificial boundaries of society.
The other options contradict the passage. Option 2 states that law and order can overcome chaos, but the text argues we are merely hiding our inner beast rather than destroying it. Option 3 claims isolation results in peace, whereas the stranded boys on the uninhabited island descend into lawlessness. Option 4 mentions that humans rely mainly on reason, which directly clashes with Golding's argument that humans are inherently savage and violent.
Key Points
When determining the main idea of a reading comprehension passage, focus closely on repeating thesis statements. Words like "savage," "violence," "evil," and "civilization" appear throughout both paragraphs, signaling that the intersection and friction between these specific concepts forms the primary backbone of the entire excerpt.