What Are The Similarities Between Lord Of The Flies And Macbeth

Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

Sir John Dalberg-Acton once noted that, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men”. Jack Merridew, arguably the main antagonist in the 1954 dystopian novel, Lord of the Flies, and Macbeth, the main character of William Shakespeare’s darkest tragedy, The Tragedy of Macbeth, are prime examples of Sir Acton’s remark. Both share hugely ambitious (and perhaps misguided) goals of total power and control, leading them into conflicts with people who pose a threat to their quest for status. The two characters also make many mistakes along the way, leading to the eventual demise of their position of power, or of themselves. Jack and Macbeth demonstrate what

People who commit a brutal act to further themselves, tend to feel the need to keep committing brutal acts, either to continue furthering themselves, or to simply fulfil the human darkness that has made itself known.

To begin, Jack and Macbeth share a desperate and seemingly insatiable thirst for power. They both aspire to gain as much power and control as possible. Jack wants desperately to be chief of all the boys, like he is with the choir boys, and Macbeth agrees to killing the King to gain more power than the titles of Thane of Cawdor and Glamis already present him with. Jack makes his goal known by declaring, “‘I ought to be chief [...] because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.’” (Golding 28). Macbeth, however, must keep his aspirations quiet, and so, after agreeing with his wife, says: I am settled, and bend up. Each corporal agent to this terrible feat. Away, and mock the time with fairest show: False face must hide what the false heart doth know. (1.7.79-82) . Jack, while sharing the same ambitions as Macbeth, is able to be much more vocal about it. He decides that he simply must be in charge

Macbeth’s closest friend, Banquo, begins to have suspicions. He does not think Macbeth’s luck in fulfilling the destiny foretold by the witches so quickly is merely fate, and muses to himself, “Thou hast it now: King, Cawdor, Glamis, all, / As the weird women promised, and I fear / thou play’dst most foully for’t” (3.1.1-3). Ralph and Piggy, who could have been great allies to Jack, feel alienated and begin to become scared of him. Piggy demonstrates this first by saying, “‘I dunno, Ralph. I expect it’s him.’ ‘Jack?’ ‘Jack.’ A taboo was evolving around that word too” (201). After Macbeth is successful in murdering the King and claiming the title for himself, Banquo begins to become suspicious of his friend. He wonders if it was Macbeth who committed the horrible crime, and not the guards as it was made out to be. We later learn that Macbeth, aware of Banquo’s suspicions, becomes intensely paranoid and uneasy with his presence. Jack has begun earning a reputation for himself as someone who is unstable and savage. As shown in the above quote, Piggy appears to be slightly afraid of the other boy, while Ralph doesn’t seem to pay too much mind to him. This threatens Jack, who, at this point, is starting his own tribe so that he can be in complete control of it. As Jack and Macbeth become more paranoid, they try to eliminate any and all