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Theme of government in the lord of the flies
Theme of government in the lord of the flies
The literary analysis of Lord of the Flies by William Golding
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A desire for power is born within each and every human being and it is the Struggle for Power that becomes paramount in everyday life. The novel, Lord of the Flies is about a group of boys who are stranded on an island. They try to create order with the use of a democracy, but it turns into chaos as the boys fight among themselves. Firstly, the story demonstrates that leaders need to be aware of the needs and values of its community. Secondly, it displays that good leaders are respectful. Lastly, the theme is evident through how bad leaders can be disrespectful. Furthermore, there are several real current and historical events which connect with these characteristics. As exemplified in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the theme of the Struggle for Power is explored through the characteristics of bad leaders being disrespectful, good leaders being respectful, and that a leader needs to be aware of the needs and values of its community. These arguments will be further connected to current events involving the Struggle for Power, such as Hitler’s blame on the Jews, President Obama’s consideration towards the Ukraine Crisis, and how Kim Jong II starved his own people. The Struggle for Power is illustrated through how Ralph is a leader that is aware of the needs and values of his community whereby he chooses the fire as most important, explores the cave alone, and is also evident within the acts of Adolf Hitler. The moment Ralph realizes that the fire is the most important element on the island, he reestablishes its significance to the group: “He flung out an arm. ‘Look at us! How many are we? And yet we can’t keep a fire going to make smoke. Don’t you understand? Can’t you see we ought to – ought to die before we let the fire ou... ... middle of paper ... ...from Jack, shows respect for the littluns, and how Obama says not to attack Ukraine. Leaders must be aware of the needs and values of their community, this is explored when Ralph designates the fire as most important, how he decides to explore the cave alone, and how Hitler blames the Jews. The Struggle for Power is evident throughout the novel, and current and historical events. Ultimately, the Struggle for Power is existent in the every day lives of all human beings, and it is what they strive to achieve most. Works Cited Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. USA: The Putnam Publishing Group, 1954. Marrin, Albert. Hitler. New York: Beautiful Feet Books, 1987. N.A. “South Korea Pushes Diplomacy, Asks North To End Nuclear Restart.” The Record (2003): page A6 Walsh, Kenneth. “No Good Options for Obama in Ukraine Crisis.” U.S News Digital Weekly (2014): page 42
Jack, William Golding’s antagonist in Lord of the Flies, reveals through his experience on the island that it is an individual’s assertiveness, manipulative abilities, and charisma which dictate who commandeers power and privilege over others, and that possessing these traits often negatively impacts the lives of the people leaders seek to control.
Jack disagrees with Ralph’s priorities and proposes: “ ‘ I’m going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too’ ” (Golding 183). Later on after Ralph has lost all his authority, and is betrayed by his own people. Golding writes “ These painted savages [Jack and his tribe] would go further and further.Then there was that indefinable connection between himself [Ralph] and Jack; who therefore would never let him alone…” (265). Although there was only one rebellion against the power, it was very successful. Jack’s rebellion gave him absolute power, and took everything away from Ralph. However, even though the rebellion worked, there was still chaos. The leadership taught people to be violent, and as Golding said “savage”. This revolution bears resemblance to the Russian Revolution. When the poltretatiots finally gained power, the government was very weak, and there was still uprisings against the government. The communists didn’t expect how much war would cost, nor did they expect how it would backfire on the people. Jack’s rebellion and the Russian Revolution both worked, but still let the things that matter, like the people,
William Golding’s timeless classic, Lord of the Flies, reflects Philip Zimbardo’s observations on the power of power through the transformation and development of the character Roger and his personality. The more power available to Roger, the more savage he becomes until it reaches a point where he can violently murder a peer and put his head on a stick for all to see and feel no remorse. Power can corrupt even the greatest of men and if a man can have power and not be corrupt, he has passed the ultimate test of character.
Power is very dangerous, as shown in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. The novel explores the use of power in both the hands of good and evil and for success and for failure. Also, how some characters respond to having power. An examination of William Golding’s LOTF will show how fear is powerful and how the characters use that to their advantage. Also, the power shifts between the characters and the aftermath of that.
The issue on whether man is good or evil has been debated over several generations. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of young boys are stranded on an uninhabited island. In the beginning, the boys have fun and are carefree while adventuring on the island. With no adults around to tell them how to behave, the boys declare war on one another and face several conflicts. These conflicts provide Golding with the opportunity to explore the idea that society restrains the evil intentions of human nature.
William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, is the perfect allegory to man’s inherent evilness. A group of boys, British students, comprised of children who are approximately in their middle childhood gets marooned on a desert island somewhere in a remote area of the Pacific Ocean after their plane crashed. The boys are the only survivors. Except for a musical choir, led by a certain Jack Merridew, the boys have never met each other and have no established leadership. “The book portrays their descent into savagery; left to themselves in a paradisiacal country, far from modern civilization, the well-educated children regress to a primitive state” (Lord of the Flies).
There are many aspects that determine how humans behave around one another. This is shown throughout William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies. This book is about a group of British boys that are stranded on an island without any adults due to a plane crash. At first, all goes well; the boys cooperate in attempting to maintain the fire signal, gather food and making shelters. However, human nature takes over and their democracy that they have created fails. This leads to the majority of the boys becoming complete savages when the evil within them takes over. Different qualities help determine whether a person is a good or a bad leader. Although, Piggy and Jack have some leadership qualities, Ralph is the best leader.
The influence of power, or “power hungry”, has had a huge effect on many people who feel that they must be in charge. These people often have trouble being told no or being told that they can’t be in charge. People throughout history have done it in many ways. Our own government displays this when we elect a new president every four years. These candidates often tell the public what they want to hear and how they’ll make it a better place, when, in reality, they only mean half of it and they just want to be able to have the power of the president. In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the antagonist, Jack, shows throughout the book that he craves power and feels that he deserves it more than anybody else.
Women have traditionally been known as the less dominant sex. They have been stereotyped as being housewives, and bearers and nurturers of the children. Many interesting characters in literature are conceived from the tension women have faced with men. This tension is derived from men, society, and within a woman herself. Even though these stories were written during the 19th century when modern society treated women as second class citizens, in “The Storm” and “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin illustrates how feminine power manifests when the female characters are able to discover their freedom.
Ralph tries to resists the urge to become a savage through out the book. Almost all of the other boys become hunters and forget what is important. In the beginning, all of the boys come to the assemblies and decide that Ralph should be the chief. Ralph is the authority figure of the group. He was the one who kept reminding the boys that the fire is the important thing(chpt 4). The hunters let the fire go out and a ship just happens to come along. Because the fire is out, they lose a chance to be rescued.
Often, too much power can go to that particular person’s head, and he/she can become corrupt. As readers have seen in literature, abuses of power are often harmful to the abuser and their subjects. Corrupted authority and abuses of power eventually lead to the collapse of society. This concept is shown many times throughout the novel Lord Of the Flies and the short story “I Only Came to Use the Phone”. Displayed through characters and actions, abusive power has dominated what should be morally correct in literature.
This passage shows many literary devices which make a big impact to make this passage more meaningful. These literary devices let the reader understand the book more, and Ralph. The irony and metaphor shows a good way how all of the civilization and order was lost, and how savagery emerged from this chaos. Also the allusion shows a good connection how the island is slowly turning hell. The cacophony perfectly mocks the animalistic behavior shown by Ralph. These literary devices and tone help reveal the characterization of Ralph, and how he feels about
At the beginning of Lord of the Flies, the boys create a democratic government. As the story progresses, the initial democracy on the island is ignored, and a dictatorship rises in its place. This dictatorship fails to keep the boys in order. The author, William Golding, shows that without the institution of a strong government and set of rules people will become impulsive and seek instant gratification. In the absence of order, people tend not to become disciplined of their own accord, but rather dissolve into destructive chaos.
When viewing the atrocities of today's world on television, the starving children, the wars, the injustices, one cannot help but think that evil is rampant in this day and age. However, people in society must be aware that evil is not an external force embodied in a society but resides within each person. Man has both good qualities and faults. He must come to control these faults in order to be a good person. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding deals with this same evil which exists in all of his characters. With his mastery of such literary tools as structure, syntax, diction and imagery, The author creates a cheerless, sardonic tone to convey his own views of the nature of man and man’s role within society.
The abuses of power displayed in The Lord of the Flies and “I Only Came to Use the Phone” show how power when given or assumed can change the person who has been elevated above others as well as changing the person who is being abused. When people in authority abuse this power, they can affect people’s lives and well being.