Lord of flies Essay In the “Lord of Flies'; William Golding does tell us a story about a group of English boys stranded on a Pacific Island, in the literal level but in a more allegorical level he tells a story about corruption of innocence, brutality/savagery and victimisation/prejudice through the characters of Ralph, Jack, Piggy and Simon. Interesting stylistic features such as symbolism and omnipotent narrator make this story more than just a simple story. Ralph can be seen as a fair head boy, tall, well built and the major character of the novel. In a deeper sense Ralph represents Law, order and authority but not in a tyrannic way, he also represents democracy and justice. It is also through his eyes we see loss of innocence.
Lord of the Flies has remained a very controversial novel to this day with its startling, brutal, and truthful picture of the human nature. In the beginning, human influence was starting to affect this uninhabited “Garden of Eden”. Ralph, the charismatic and newly elected leader of the young boys’ parliament, is absolutely committed to civilization and morality, and is determined to make sure the boys survive and be rescued. At first, everyone is excited about living on such a fantastic island filled with flowers, fruit, and swimming pools. It is apparent that Ralph adores the island when, “… [he] laughed delightedly again and stood on his head” (4).
Piggy, who finds little good with the conduct of the boys, is the superego or “the internalization of standards of morality and propriety” (Abrams 249-250). He helps to establish order by introducing the conch; he also scorns the boys for “acting like a crowd of kids” (Golding 42). Piggy’s nemesis comes in Jack, the large, rude leader of the choir. Jack is the id of the boys, incorporating “libidinal and other primal desires” (Abrams 249). He volunteers himself and his choir mates as hunters—a decidedly primal job.
Especially from Jack who treats and thinks of Piggy as “a bag of fat”. The name calling did start as a bit of banter between the boys but as characters emerged, it ended up spilling over and s... ... middle of paper ... ...ing to the mob rule and the perception of us against the enemy. Jack certainly makes it feel this way. He is the most analogous to Hitler himself and he has managed to intimidated and manipulate the littluns and his choir boys into believing his murderous, predatory approaches are customary in location such as the island. Advancing through the novel confirms to us more of these rampant attributes once Ralph realises that even against his aspirations it is better that his crowd stay away from Jack’s now tribal group.
This essay will be outlining the transition from good boys that listen to authority, into boys that rely on their id of savagery, and the descent to evil, destruction and panic through the journey and change of Jack, Roger, and Samneric. The first person whose transformation was the first person to turn to the dark side and the leader of the rebellion of Ralph: Jack Merridew. Jack in the beginning of the story come right out to everyone saying he deserves to be chief and dislikes Ralph for gaining the power. Ralph gained the power because he had the conch and brought all the people together. The conch showed a sense of power over others because whoever had the conch was the one speaking and also, the because of the fact that Ralph gained the power just because he was holding the conch.
Ralph, being the first to meet Piggy, became his guardian, and protector from the other children’s cruelty on the island. Jack - Jack Merridew is a singer, head of the choir, and has an intimidating appearance and way of talk. Jack is jealous, and when Ralph is elected Chief, Jack forms a bit of hatred in his heart, not revealing it even unto himself until time passes. He is head hunter, and likes fun more than work, and eventually wins the favor of the children, claiming Ralph as a coward, and a person who just dreams about being rescued. II The Conflict...
Piggy, the heavy, asthmatic, nearsighted boy, was often teased and ridiculed, however Golding made it obvious to the reader that Piggy was indeed the super ego. Piggy symbolizes all the hate and discrimination in the world. If it was not for Piggy’s bizarre appearance, he may have been made ruler of the island, and he certainly was the most suited for the job. He also symbolizes intelligence. He was analogous to sanity and reason.
In the beginning of the story he is pictured as the leader of the boys when he blows the conch shell to call the first assembly. During the course of the story he tries to maintain the structure of their civilization and is continually forced to compete with Jack for approval from the boys.Piggy is a fat, asthmatic boy with bad vision. Throughout the story his weaknesses are preyed upon by the other boys much like that of the "pigs" on the island, thus the name. But despite his appearance, Ralph begins to depend upon Piggy for intellectual and spiritual guidance. Do to his vision, Piggy had unusually thick glasses, which was a benefit to the others on the island, and aided in the lighting of the signal fire and in the roasting of the pigs.Simon was a skinny, silent boy with black hair.
When the boys vote, they pick Ralph over Jack as chief, as a result Jack feels humiliated ,“Even the choir applauded...”(pg 23). Jack feels defeated when this event occurred, even more so when his loyal choir applauded for Ralph and after Jack’s defeat,”...the freckles on [his] face disappeared under a blush of mortification.”(pg.23). Jack’s savage nature is a result of him wanting to compensate for not being chief. Jack wants to prove that he deserves to be chief instead of Ralph by proving to the other boys that he is stronger than Ralph. However, as the book progresses, Ralph stays as chief and Jack becomes progressively more savage.
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... ... middle of paper ... ...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.