Essay Comparing Lord Of The Flies And The Hunger Games

Through the comparison of Lord of the Flies and the Hunger Games Trilogy with both displaying independent survival skills, failed leadership, and inhumanity, Golding’s and Collin’s thesis is proved that a stable society is incapable of being reached when the individual’s needs are put before the group’s.

In both the Island in Lord of the Flies and the Arena in Hunger Games, the children must resort to their individual survival skills, putting the needs of themselves in front of others, ultimately endangering the fate of them all. The boys of the island resort to savagery, threatening animals for their own benefit, which results in their own civilization's downfall. From, “this dreadful eruption from an unknown world [making] the sow frantic,”

When Jack is given the responsibility of tending the fire, he leads his followers to his own personal desires, rather than do what is best for the group, resulting in their own downfall. Ralph, frustrated with Jack, says, “There was a ship...You said you’d keep the fire going and you let it out,” to which Jack responds, “We can light the fire again...You should have seen the blood!” (Golding 70). Jack has put what he wanted, the ability to prove his strength and leadership by killing the pig, before the entire group’s desires of being rescued, thinking they will have another opportunity to be rescued. With this power struggle between Ralph and Jack, the other boys think it is okay to go against their original leader, Ralph. So from this point on, the boys turn to savagery like their new leader Jack, putting their individual desires before their need of being rescued, eventually leading to the murders of Simon and Piggy. President Snow, much like Jack, exhibits a self-beneficiary motive when it comes to leading a group of people. Snow creates a society where, “In the Capitol they’re vomiting for the pleasure of filling their bellies again and again. Not from some illness of body or mind, not from spoiled food,” in which, “societies starve out their while the Capitol thrives” (“Catching

In Lord of the Flies, Roger puts his desires before Piggy’s, and ultimately the civilization’s. “High overhead, Roger with a sense of delirious abandonment leaned all his weight on the lever,” and, “the rock struck Piggy” (Golding 192-193). Roger kills the enemy of the group: Piggy, because he is trying to bring civilization to a group of savages. So, without thinking about how this will affect the group, Roger goes right ahead and murders Piggy, killing civilization, and the order and wisdom inside of it. In the Hunger Games arena, Marvel kills Rue without thinking of the good of the people, leading to the society of District 11’s downfall. The tributes must put on a spectacle: a fight to the death, in order to gain donations from the sponsors. However, after the death of the District 11 tribute Rue, District 11 explodes in riot, protesting the demise of the fallen girl (Hunger Games). With this uprising, many people are killed for going against the Capitol. Marvel puts his needs of proving that he can murder the enemy, before others, not thinking about how it will affect a