Once freed from the moral shackles of society, humans must embrace moderate and disciplined lifestyles to avoid a fatal descent into barbarism. In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, abandoned schoolchildren abandon the confines of civilization for a wild and unequal lifestyle. Joseph Conrad describes a steamboat captain's journey down the Congo River and realization of humanity's inherent evils in Heart of Darkness. Both Golding and Conrad construct microcosms to chronicle the dangers of both engaging in a decadent existence and denying humanity's capacity for harm. William Golding's Lord of the Flies exemplifies humanity's descent into transgression with the isolation of schoolchildren on an island paradise. The boys survive an attack that cripples their transport plane and initially become acquainted when the pragmatic Ralph blows the "shrill sound" of a conch shell (Golding 16). The assembled youth, though disoriented, hold a parliamentary session and elect Ralph as leader. Ralph firmly insists on both maintaining a signal fire and building shelters. However, the other boys, led by the seditious Jack Merridew, prioritize fun over practicality. Jack transforms his "wearily obedient" regiment of altar boys into a greedy band of hunters, sacrificing signal fire for the prospect of meat as a ship passes close to the island (20). A deceased paratrooper becomes "tangle[d] and festoon[ed]" among the island's jagged cliffs, his indistinguishable presence confirming the boys' notions that a beast inhabits the island (96). When the acutely sensitive Simon suffers an epileptic seizure, the grotesque pig's head enlightens the boy about the beast's intangible presence in all humanity. Simon comes out of the forest in... middle of paper... and serves as a scaled-down version of the tragic savagery of reality. Navy sailors rescue Ralph from a manhunt and then hypocritically assume the role of predators in a global-scale manhunt. The boys' murderous presence on the island matches the ferocity and futility of war, simply removing heroic stories, propaganda and desensitization. Similar to the negative effects of imperialism, the journey into the heart of African darkness allows for a disturbing glimpse into the historical manipulation of humanity. For example, Marlow enlightens his listeners with the Romans' corrupt occupation of Europe. In modern times, humans rationalize war with external reasons to avoid agreeing to fight for primitive, instinctive reasons. Both Golding and Conrad condense reality to illustrate the dangers of overindulgence and shunning humanity's internal darkness