Comparing Yann Martel’s Life of Pi and Lord of the Flies by William Golding

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Two of the most engaging, thrilling and Insidious novels of all time. Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a powerful story about a group of young boys whom are hoisted in a situation of harsh survival with no adult assistance after their plane crashes in the middle of an ocean. The group of boys vacillating from around ages 6-12 although the exact years are not confirmed. The boys begin to reconstruct a society, a leader is quickly named, Ralph, he is a good leader and is one of the older boys in the group. They set up a system in which only the person with the conch shell may speak. That rule was quickly demolished when the rebel of the group, Jack, breaks off from the group with a large amount following. The boys quickly turn on each other and what started as a successful society turned into a corrupt, and destructive society. Jack’s group is called the hunter, they pick off the other boys one by one. First Simon, an innocent young boy, then a cruel death to a boy named Piggy. Piggy was one of the few boys that had morals. Then as Jack’s hunting assembly were in pursuit for the final man of the more ethical group, Ralph, help comes, just in time to save Ralphs life. Now Life of Pi by Yann Martel, is also an extremely powerful novel that is creatively wrote. It is a story told in first person by a man named Pi Patel. The story is about a horrific situation that occurs on the Pacific Ocean. As Pi and his family were on a large ship they carried many animals from their zoo. The voyage turn wrong quickly. The ship sank and Pi’s family died in the wreck, but Pi, Richard Parker and a few animals managed to make it to the lifeboat. The journey began for Pi. He must overcome many obstacles, taming a tiger, fighting off mental beasts...

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...tence to live freely. Pi and the boys are constantly forced in problematic situations. Pi begins in a dark state but comes out and conquers his mind into a state of peace. The boys where the complete opposite. The boys begin in a modest mind set, but quickly spiraling downwards. The dysfunctional society is a message that young boys cannot survive on their own. Both novels are very intriguing. In its time it brought out many. “At one point in the novel, Ralph thinks of the world beyond the island and considers the possibility that “we might get taken by the Reds.” After World War II, a great rivalry sprang up between the countries of the West, most notably the United States and Great Britain, and the satellite nations of the Soviet Union, which was newly empowered by annexation of several countries that had previously been occupied by Germany” (Constantakis 187).

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