In the everyday lives of all, there is almost always a presence of authority looming over, causing the masses to assimilate into their place. This authority can come in the form of teachers and principals in school, parents or guardians at home, or supervisors and CEOs at a job. Many think that without direct authority, a population would run wild and amok. However, humanity will eventually naturally satiate the desire for systemic order. For example in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies , the boys are deserted, but develop two separate societies in two separate instances: …show more content…
This society is built on a democratic leader, Ralph, who was voted to the position of chief in the beginning. While the democratic society provides somewhat of a voice for each boy, they all, for the most part, look up to their leader, and expect him to command them in a way they trust will be beneficial to the whole of the society. As leader, Ralph tries to do everything he can to improve all aspects of the boys’ lives, as well as try to provide sufficient means for their rescuing. He also makes the decisions as to which boys do which; he chooses the more belligerent boys to go hunting, the more steady workers to maintain the fire, or the stronger boys to build shelters for all of their benefit. As Ralph says during an assembly where he calls some of the boys out for not making the shelters they were supposed to, “All this I meant to say. Now I’ve said it. You voted me for chief. Now you do what I say“(Golding 81). While he may seem somewhat harsh in certain situations, he still is …show more content…
Throughout much of the book, Jack acted as an anti-Ralph, providing counter arguments to his attempts to get the boys off the island, promoting a more free-willed, fun-spirited take on their desertion. However, Jack splits from the group, taking with him a band of hunters who provide a feast for all of the remaining, civilized boys as an incentive for them to join his tribe. Once he does so, many of the boys who looked to Ralph as their leader joined Jack’s tribe, surrendering all power to him, and becoming savages that in the process. During his time ruling, Jack also is referred to as a chief, but in a much different view of the word as opposed to that designated for Ralph. Jack leads hunts while Ralph would appoint a leader, Jack commands the boys for the sake of his enjoyment and recreation, while Ralph worked his hardest to get the boys back to their houses. In the midst of this astounding shift in power, Ralph
With such rigid and different identities, Jack and Ralph have very different priorities, making it challenging for them to work together. Ralph’s identity is threatened when Jack lets the fire burn out to go hunting, so he lashes out at him, accusing him, “I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts-then you go off hunting and let out the fire-”(70, 71). By ignoring what Ralph told him to do, Jack threatens numerous aspects of Ralph’s identity. Ralph identifies with being elected Chief based on his plan to get rescued, so Jack’s insubordination threatens Ralph. Meanwhile,
Authority plays a vital role in the modern world through contrasting forms of government and the struggle for power between leaders. The leader of a society asserts power over its citizens with the aim to create the laws, which hold the society together. Once authority is demolished within a community, the power spreads to its citizens in which total chaos collectively overtakes the society. The process of law-making and a struggle for power takes precedence in William Golding’s allegorical novel, Lord of the Flies, through the conch shell found upon the shore. The conch grants superiority to one member of the group over the others, it is used to call assemblies and assists in choosing the speakers during important meetings. When the conch
This is a story about a group of British schoolboys who survive a plane crash only to find themselves the only survivors and are forced to hunt for food, create shelter, and develop their own kind of civilization in order to survive. They conform to the ways of the British government that they know and apply those standards to establish their own type of government. This starts a rivalry against Ralph and Jack, both fighting for the position of chief. When Ralph is voted chief by the boys this of course sets of Jack. Throughout the story he becomes more violent and aggressive and soon rules over the boys. They conform to Jack's demands, mostly having to do with his power of intimidation, however it all comes down to fear. Jack was able to use their fear to keep them on his side and made them feel a sense of belonging and importance. It also may have helped that the food was on Jack's side as well. This shows however, that because they have conformed to societal pressures, the boys have lost their sense of individuality and
“Earth is abundant with plentiful resources. Our practice of rationing resources through monetary control is no longer relevant and is counter-productive to our survival.” - Jacque Fresco. Lord of The Flies explores how a group of boys ultimately become savage after trying to ration resources. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of English boys are shot down while on a plane that crash lands onto an Island during World War II, where without any adults must survive on their own. They must overcome themselves and figure out how maintain a successful society. Through characterization and symbolism, William Golding asserts that man is innately savage and must be controlled through a civilized society.
Which is why he had gotten treated the way he did by Jack and the choir. The author writes, “ Jack made a rush and stabbed Ralph’s chest with his spear.” (Golding 177.) Even though Ralph is technically chief, Jack will stop at nothing to become chief. Ralph had been teasing Jack for being a thief, and that had pushed Jack over the edge, causing him to lunge towards Ralph. Jack does not have a high tolerance for Ralph’s actions, and Ralph obviously has a high tolerance for pain. William Golding states, “ ‘The chief and Roger.. They hate you, Ralph. They are going to do you.’ ‘They are going to hunt you tomorrow.’ ‘... Roger sharpened a stick at both ends.’ ” (188) As you, the reader, can probably tell, Jack certainly does not like Ralph. He only likes the faction that obeys and follows him. Those who do not obey Jack, he wants to kill. This island has really gotten to Jack, he is just pure evil now, and poor Ralph and every other character has had to deal with his
While the boys are under Jack's control, they quickly went back into how they started when they first got there. However, Ralph was able to keep the boys under control by holding meetings. At the meetings, a sense of order is instilled because the boys are not allowed to speak unless they have the conch shell. "I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking." (p. 31) By making this rule, he gains respect from the boys and becomes for confident as a leader. Ralph uses his power to tries to make the boys better people. He shows his by building them shelters. "They talk and scream. The littuns. Even some of the others." (p. 53) Ralph is saying that the boys need the shelters because they are afraid and the shelters will help the boys feel more secure. This shows he has better knowledge of people making him a better leader than Jack who does not understand this. Jack does not realize that the boys need to feel secure and need someone in control.
At one point in the story Jack says “Conch! Conch! We don’t need the conch anymore, we know who ought to say things” This quote really tells us that Jack’s pride has overtaken him and the idea of the kids submitting to him and calling him “chief.” has gone to his head. Jack has become very popular by force and by the kids feeling peer pressured to join Jack’s tribe and be hunters, or else they might be killed by the rest of the tribe. Everyone on the tribe is scared to step up to Jack because the people on his tribe are beginning to get used to the violent acts savagery that have been committed on the island so far. The kids start to let the fear of man overtake them and give into the peer pressure of joining Jack’s tribe because there isn’t really another option. By the kids giving into the peer pressure to follow the “popular” leader, Jack, they are ultimately giving Jack more power so he can do whatever he wants with the support of others who agreed to be apart of the tribe. This theme reaches its climax at the end of the story when it is literally Jack’s whole tribe, which basically consists of all the kids on the island, against Ralph. In the end, Ralph was the only one who didn’t give into the peer pressure to join Jack’s tribe, and ultimately he was rewarded for it because he got what he wanted, to be rescued. Now just because he didn’t give into peer pressure doesn’t mean you automatically get rewarded. I feel that giving Ralph his desire was William Golding’s way of rewarding Ralph for not giving into being apart of Jack's
Power is like a two-edged knife; on one side, it is a tool when used suitably. If it is not, it becomes the cause of irreversible damage. The English Oxford Living Dictionaries defines power as “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.” Bryant H. McGill describes power as something “all a person has, so they will protect it even unto their own destruction, for without power they have nothing.” This quote describes how in Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the island society the boys create crumbles when Jack takes the power and uses it for his benefit. Golding shows the reader how the island society starts to fall when the boys start using the face paint and start descending into savagery,
Ralph is one of the few boys who realize that the only way to survive is through peace and order. Because he summons the boys at the beginning of the novel with the conch he and Piggy find, they look upon him as the most responsible of the boys and elect him as a chief over the humiliated Jack. Ralph creates a stable and peaceful society for the children to live; this significantly bothers Jack because he wants to have fun and do things that he never did back in the civilized society. Jack is eventually successful of pulling nearly all of the children out of Ralph’s control to form savages. Ralph represents the civilization, and Jack represents the primitive society.
When Jack loses the election to become chief to Ralph, it becomes apparent that Jack is schismatic and wholeheartedly intends to act against Ralph’s actions and decisions. From small nuances such as churlish remarks to fights, it is obvious that Jack intends to eventually either dethrone Ralph or form his own tribe. In one instance, Ralph assigns Jack a very simplistic task of watching the fire on the mountain, yet Jack decides that his appetence for blood and meat is more important than fulfilling his duty to the fire. Disobeying Ralph’s orders, Jack defects from his post to hunt and does not attempt to have another person tend the fire in his absence. Because of Jack’s actions, Ralph verbally scolds Jack and states to Jack, “You talk. But you can’t even build hut...
“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us” (Golding 80). Referencing the savagery of human nature, this statement is one with great accuracy. While reading Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, many themes and problems presented themselves. The book really highlighted the use of power, and the types of people using it. People in society, whether they want power or not, can use their authority without the best intentions, corrupting themselves and others into inhumanity. For example, Jack uses his urge for authority, and eventually his control, to create an extremely savage tribe of boys, by pushing his own wants and laws onto them. This type of power can demoralize many people, including the ultimate
Ralph shows that he has a better understanding of the boys than Jack. He knows that the boys need some sort of order on the island in order for them to survive. He starts a simple form of government and sets a few rules for them. Even though they don’t last very long, the fact that he tried to help the group is what makes him a better leader. Ralph’s wisdom and ability to look toward the future also has an advantage over Jack. He has a sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. When the fire goes out, Ralph gets upset because the chance to be rescued was gone as well. Ralph enforces his role of leadership as he gives the boys a sense of stability of an authority figure. He keeps the boys in pretty good order at the meeting by making a rule that they can only speak if they have the conch. Ralph knows that the littleuns are afraid and they need shelter to feel more secure. They work together for a while, but as the time goes on the smaller boys want to go play. They slowly lose all their help until Simon and Ralph are the only ones left to work on them. Ralph knows that this is a necessity and keeps bringing it up at the meetings. Jack, on the other hand, is doing nothing but causing chaos.
Through strong propaganda, fervor from others, and superior verbal skills, Jack eventually took power over the island. His propaganda weakened Ralph by spreading pretenses about him; to supplement this weakening of Ralph, more and more tribe members supported Jack, displaying affection for his powerful personality, appearance, and verbal skills. Without his charisma or dominating tactics, Jack would not have been able to take such effective leadership, eventually isolating Ralph completely.
At the beginning of the novel, Ralph is elected leader of the boys and holds this power democratically, weighing everybody’s opinions. As time goes by Jack becomes more desperate and descends away from the civilized power, eventually, he creates his own tribe on the other side of the island and recruits all the boys to hunt for meat, and throw grand parties and feasts. The name Jack means “God is gracious”, or “Supplanter”. The boys view Jack as a god, at the feast he is “painted and garlanded” (135). He addressed the boys as if he is above them while speaking he “rose from the log that was his throne” (136). Jack demonstrates his godly powers by offering his followers meat and fruit and taking care of them as long as they obey his orders and never question his authority. Jack also fulfills the second meaning of his name. Supplanter most often refers to a ruler and originates from the verb to supplant or to overthrow. The
Upon the arrival of the boys to the island Jack immediately found himself in the center of a power struggle. Although the conflict was brief, there was still a very obvious confrontation between Jack and Ralph. Once the boys had assembled themselves there was an election to see who was to be chief. Despite the fact that Ralph was voted leader, the desire to be in command never left Jack. Jack already had some leadership skills, being head choirboy at his old school, and he continuously challenged Ralph. The greatest source of conflict between Jack and Ralph was the debate over the necessity of maintaining a fire. Ralph felt that it was necessary to keep it burning at all times while Jack believed that hunting pigs and getting meat was much more essential.