DOI: 10.47743/jss-2025-71-4-2

Ion Ionescu University of Life Sciences from Brad in Iași.

Abstract: Framed as dystopian literature, depicting a “futuris tempore” impossible to imagine, the novel by the British writer William Golding continues, even seventy years after its publication, to serve as a serious meditative reflection on human nature caught within the discordant mechanisms of a social construct that ultimately ends up devouring its own foundations. Through an interdisciplinary analysis combining the philosophy of law and literary criticism, we aim to investigate the vulnerability of social norms in the context of isolation and chaos, which constitute the very narrative fabric of the work. Indeed, with the dissolution of order emerges the fragility of legal structures, particularly when the laws and values of human civilization are ignored and ultimately abandoned. The research methodology is based on a hermeneutic analysis of the literary text, highlighting the transition from an ordered social structure to one dominated by primal instincts and the drive for survival, to identify the mechanisms by which legal norms dissolve as characters, confronted with extreme situations, choose to conform to spontaneous and often arbitrary codes of conduct. It becomes evident that legality is not an inherent attribute, but rather the result of a precarious social consensus that can be rapidly disrupted under extreme conditions. The analysis aims to highlight the significance of critical reflection on legal and social foundations, underscoring that maintaining order necessitates not only a robust and coherent legal framework but also a sustained collective commitment to the enduring values of humanity—values that are often diluted in the turbulent contexts of many historical periods. The novel appears all the more emblematic as a case study of how the fragility of legal concepts can lead to the disintegration of civilisation, particularly in recent years and against the backdrop of a troubled present, with worrying echoes of the erosion of democracy and the curtailment of fundamental freedoms. Asked to write an introduction for the 2011 edition of the novel, Stephen King confessed: “It was, as far as I remember, the first book with hands—strong hands reaching out of the pages and grabbing me by the throat. It told me: ‘This is not mere entertainment; it is life or death.’” Is this merely literary fiction, or a profound reflection on human reality—a force that challenges us to descend into the most forgotten corners of our existence?

Keywords: dystopian literature; interdisciplinary analysis; legal concepts; social norms; fundamental freedoms; humanity.

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