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Aaron Patchin

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People who have power use it to manipulate the rules, which in turn may lead to their loss of power. There are times when the rules are not to their liking. They abuse their powers and not follow the rules. This can lead to consequences that are endured by those using and abusing power as shown by characters in The Lord of the Flies and “I Only Came to Use the Phone.” These works demonstrate how people change when given authority for good or evil and suggest that anyone given power can use it to their advantage. People’s use or abuse of power is not only a perfect theme for these two pieces of literature but also in our everyday lives.

First, in both of these texts, the reader sees several examples of characters abusing power. One character from The Lord of the Flies, Jack, displays this several times. Jack separates his group from the rest. It started around chapter 5 where indifferences came upon them, like food or rescue; which led to arguments. "And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can't hunt, you can't sing—" "I'm chief. I was chosen." "Why should choosing make any difference? Just giving orders that don't make any sense—" Afterwards he left and then convince others to join his group. They become savage and they all changed because of Jack, one example would be how he stole fire from Ralph just to cook their meats. Then he tries to kill Ralph in the end since he sees him as threat where in actuality he’s the only one left who’s civilized. The reader sees that Jack has lost his sense of humanity and has gone overboard; having this savage mindset about him. He not only leads the slaughter of a pig but then continues to lead the brutal death of Simon. They were acting out wh...

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...that he still cares. Another use of power is when Maria goes to see the night matron. Although the events that occur are bad, it is very smart of her and brave because the messages would be sent to her husband. This shows the reader that using power for good is beneficial. Although you might have to do something that you do not want to do, the results can be excellent. You can even do good things for other people regardless of how much power you actually have.

In conclusion, these two pieces of literary work are great examples of how power can be used for good or evil. The consequences can be brutal as shown in the text. People can use power to their advantage and even that can be considered good or evil. The use and abuse of power is not only a great theme for these texts, but we, as readers, can also connect with the messages in our own everyday lives.
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