Following Corrupt Leaders

People often follow corrupt leaders such as Stalin or Hitler. (put something in here) Why is it that people seemingly choose to follow leaders corrupt with power? In his novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding, attempts to answer this question. In the story, a group of boys stranded on a deserted island must figure out a way to survive until they can be rescued. But, they have to make critical decisions that will end up determining their fate, one of the most important being whom to make their leader. Ultimately, all the boys lean toward a character, Jack, who becomes increasingly abusive and corrupt. William Golding suggests that it is out of fear that people follow corrupt leaders similar to Jack, which he expresses through the depiction of Jack as a violent character, the abolition of any rules that he does not set himself, and his exploitation and escalation of the other boys’ fears.

In Lord of the Flies, Golding depicts one of the boys, Jack, as a violent and aggressive person, getting the other boys to follow him, even though he is corrupt. Jack physically abuses the boys, until driven by fear, they subject to his dictatorship. After the boys come back from a pig hunt when they are supposed to be tending to the signal fire, Piggy calls Jack out for his unwillingness to help with the tasks. And when he does, it “… drove Jack to violence. The bolting look came into his blue eyes…able at last to hit someone, stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach… Jack stood over him. His voice was vicious with humiliation” (71). Even criticizing Jack for such a simple thing, gets Piggy punched to the ground. By the author’s word choice of “drove Jack to violence”, Golding implies that minor things cause Jack to be aggressive and violent. The f...

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...corrupt by playing off the boys’ fear more often. Throughout the book, Golding shows where Jack is igniting the fear that the boys have to his advantage William Golding has Jack often interrupting Ralph at meetings to threaten the other boys or take stabs at Ralph’s leadership. Thus, making the boys feel that they are only safe with Jack. Jack uses the boy’s fear to his advantage in order to maintain his leadership.

Throughout the book, Golding clearly implies that humans follow corrupt leaders out of fear. People always want to feel safe, no matter where they are. With the boy’s experience on the island, Golding shows that fear sets people on the path of who to follow. The boys on the island follow a corrupt leader like Jack because of his violent and aggressive nature, his abolishment to the rules he opposes, and his installation of fear on the boys.