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Essays on the lord of the flies
The theme of fear in the Lord of the Flies novel
Lord of the flies, fear and savagery
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Humans are such an emotional creature and can even be manipulated by using their own emotions like what Jack does in Lord of The Flies. Jack primarily uses fear, the idea of using fear came from the idea of a beast being on the island, a fictional beast sparked by the littluns imagination. He can be seen using the beast as a weapon to induce fear when he claims false powers the beast has like taking forms such as Simon before his death and even so far to make people think this beast is a godly being. He also claimed that he saw the beast and eventually uses the claim to lead a group of his own but would later make almost everyone obey his commands at castle rock. Evidence of him using fear can also be seen is when he raids Ralph’s camp using
him constantly and the other boys make fun of him. Jack and his followers spend
Jack’s authoritarian power over Ralph’s democratic power makes Jack the most powerful character in the novel. The power also causes Jack to become and greedy and selfish to point where he thinks he thinks he is the best at everything including hunting and leading the boys. He makes himself invincible and confident by using his own tool of power, paint. Once weak by the way he looked, Jack starts to use paint to cover his weak and shameful face that lacked power. This paint hid Jack’s true identity and “liberated [him] from shame and self-consciousness”(64).With all of the confidence through the paint and support of the boys, Jack finds himself invincible and blinded from the reality and civilization they once had. This behavior from Jack influences other boys on the island to become his followers and turn into savages himself. In this transformation to becoming savages, the characters are introduced to a fear which is an illusion that is created by one of the littluns on the island. The illusion is a beast who is able to impact the lives of the boys because the boys become really dependent on the beast. In order to solve the fear that is created in the minds of the young boys, the two powerful characters take two different views
For all their differences the Lord of the Flies and Simon have one singular trait in common; they both know what the pig’s head really means for the boys on the island. At first glance, the Lord of the Flies is just a pig’s head on a stick, however it is so much more than that. The moment Jack and his hunter’s kill that pig, a part of them is lost forever and this lost part is their moral sense of right and wrong (149).
Power is very dangerous, as shown in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. The novel explores the use of power in both the hands of good and evil and for success and for failure. Also, how some characters respond to having power. An examination of William Golding’s LOTF will show how fear is powerful and how the characters use that to their advantage. Also, the power shifts between the characters and the aftermath of that.
In chapter 10 Lord of the Flies by William Golding, readers are shocked to see Simon’s death come about in such a grotesque fashion. When Ralph talks to Piggy about the murder to make himself feel better, Piggy refuses to acknowledge his partake in the “accident”. Ralph confronts Piggy, “At last Ralph stopped. He was shivering. “Piggy.” “Uh?” “That was murder.” “ You stop it!” Said Piggy, shrilly. “ What good’er you doing talking like that?” He jumped to his feet and stood over Ralph. “ It was dark. There was that- bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain. We was scared!” “ I wasn't scared,” said Ralph slowly, “ I was- I don't know what I was.” “We was scared!” said Piggy excitedly. “ Anything might have happened. It wasn't- what you said.” He was gesticulating, searching for a formula.
Once upon a time, there lived a beast. This beast was ostracized by his friends, family, and society in general. All this beast wanted was to be loved to be a part of a group. What he really wanted was for people to recognize him as a member of society. His grief and depression turned to anger and rage. Since no one could treat this beast with the respect that he deserved he haunted the people of the city. He made them scared to walk the streets, he made them scared to sleep with the lights off, and he made them scared of life altogether. All the town’s people’s fears and phobias were turned into the beast of the night. One day this little girl who wandered outside of the town’s borders went to a cave. In this cave lived the beast. Unlike everybody
Symbolism is defined as the representation; treatment or interpretation of things as symbolic. In society and in particular, literature, symbolism is a prominent component that helps to illustrate a deeper meaning then perceived by the reader. Symbolism can be anything, a person, place or thing, used to portray something beyond itself. It is used to represent or foreshadow the conclusion of the story. In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies symbolism of the main characters Ralph, Jack and Simon plays a very important role in helping to show how our society functions and the different types of personalities that exist. An examination of Simon as a symbol of good, Ralph as a symbol of the common man, and Jack as a symbol of evil, clearly illustrates that William Golding uses characters as a symbol of what is really happening in the outside world throughout the novel.
In our reading for Tuesday, the passage that was the most interesting to me was at the feast Jack and his "tribe" hosted. I was surprised that they invited Ralph, Piggy, and others who were not a part of their group to share the pig with them. "Take them some meat." The boys with the spit gave Ralph and Piggy each a succulent chunk. They took the gift, dribbling." (149) Jack is surprisingly generous and makes sure each boy has as much food as he wants. "Has everybody eaten as much as they want?" At first I wondered if he had changed attitudes now that he was a leader, and just wanted to provide for his "people," but the following descriptions of him made me understand that maybe he liked the power he had when he was the one who had killed the
Simon, sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it. The twins giggled and Simon lowered his face in shame.
Ralph, the first character introduced to the audience, is probably the most likable character in the entire story. Although he does not ponder such deeply like Piggy, is not as spiritual like Simon, or as energetic as Jack, there is something in him that attracts the audience. Ralph serves as the protagonist of the story. He is described as being a playful, innocent child in the beginning, but towards the end he matures significantly. In the first chapter where he takes his clothes off and goes swimming like any child would do, he seems to be Adam in the Garden of Eden, a child left to play with the nature.
Jack is considered one of the hunters, which means he knows how to track and kill. Sometimes it didn’t really matter to Jack what he was killing, it’s just who he is and has become as a person while on the Island. When Jack and his fellow hunters were about to go out on a hunt they would rub dirt on their faces to camouflage them in their surroundings. In the article “Sunglasses make you less Generous” by Alice Robb it states how when people cover their face so it's hard for others to identify them it makes them less generous. Studies show that “empirical data shows that masks make people more likely to violate rules and norms” (Powell, Kimberly). Jack can be considered a victim of this study because that thin layer of mud changes him from Jack to a primitive killer. Jack's soul possesses a mix of savagery and madness. Sometimes Jack doesn't know how to control himself without even thinking of being violent in any manner. Jack can sometimes get out of control about actions that occur which he doesn’t agree with just like when Ralph yells at him for not manning the fire which could have got them off the island. Some people/scientists may say that anger and strong tempers can be inherited through genes, but according the article Nature vs. Nature, Kimberly Powell says that “the link between a gene and a behavior is not connected to each other and can be set off from a certain cause” This explains how the evil that is possessed in Jack can be set off from another character in the book . These two connect by both being involved with killing or death. This just gives us a preview of how Jack thinks and wants to do
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.
When the boys find out that there is a “monster”, Jack thinks that Ralph should not be a leader because he is a coward. Jack tries to tell the boys that Ralph does nothing for the tribe and Jack has done everything for them: “[Ralph’s] not a hunter … he just gives orders and expects people to obey for nothing” before saying “all this talk” to which Ralph responds, “Talk, talk! Who wanted it? Who called the meeting?” (126). Jack then blushes and sits back down “[glowering] up under his eyebrows” (127). When someone has power and tries to be controlling they normally have everyone’s full attention. We can see when Jack tries to take over the situation he ends up embarrassing himself. Jack expected to be the authority of everyone, but instead, most of the boys agree with Ralph, including some of the hunters. We can see when Jack gets “schooled” by Ralph when Ralph takes control and uses his leadership skills, Ralph glowers and is infuriated by the
“The thing is – fear can’t hurt you any more than a dream” (“William Golding quotes.”). Fear lives to haunt and torment the person to a point of destruction and can be within everyone. Although a person is able to overcome fear, it is still very dangerous because it affects the person as well as everyone and everything around. In the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the boys are all so overwhelmed by fear that the island starts to recede into a state damaged beyond repair. In this case, Jack’s fear of not being leader originally starts to affect him, but it gradually starts to affect Ralph, and the rest of the boys. Ralph’s fear of survival brings out his inner savageness and an innocent life is taken away. Lastly, the boys’ fear of the beast causes them to feel so unsafe and uncertain that they are willing to do anything. As a result of the boys being consumed by these fears, it becomes the most destructive force on the island.
Throughout William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies there is an ever-present conflict between two characters. Ralph's character combines common sense with a strong desire for civilized life. Jack, however, is an antagonist with savage instincts, which he cannot control. Ralph's goals to achieve a team unit with organization are destroyed by Jack's actions and words that are openly displayed to the boys. The two leaders try to convince the boys that their way of survival is correct.