Leadership becomes control. Control becomes power. Power becomes fear. Fear then becomes chaos. In turn, chaos is what destroys communities, nations, and countries. When power is managed without control, it is a devastating element. Death and poverty are almost always ensured, and the people are going to suffer for the leader’s mistakes. Lord of the Flies contains multiple circumstances where power and control is exhibited, but it is often handled immaturely and greedily due to the fact that young boys are holding the power. Namely, the ultimate symbol of power on the island was the conch shell that Ralph and Piggy found. Piggy told Ralph a story about someone who had a shell, and he explained to Ralph how to use it to get the right sound out of it (Golding 15-16). Ralph then used the shell to bring all of the boys together. One of the boys, Jack, asked “Where’s the man with the trumpet,” (Golding 20). He thought there was an adult calling them all together instead of just another boy. The conch shell is what gave the boys the right to speak as well since the issue of talking over one another was prominent, so Ralph decided that only the person holding the shell could speak He felt entitled to it because he was head boy of the choir (Golding 22). Ralph compromised with Jack and allowed him to be in charge of the choir, otherwise known as the hunters. “Jack’s in charge of the choir,” (Golding 23). Jack needed to feel important to the group and needed to feel like he had some form of power on the island, and with his new-found power, he felt that he didn’t have to perform the same tedious tasks like everyone else, such as building the shelters. He decided that hunting for meat was more important to the group’s well-being (Golding 51-53). Jack’s minor disobedience was the tip of the iceberg for
The conch is used as an indicator of meetings when the conch is blown, the boys know to meet at the platform for an assembly. Ralph calls the boys to an assembly by sounding the conch shell, “By the time Ralph finished blowing the conch the platform was crowded.” (Golding 32) At the sound of the conch, the boys on the island immediately head towards the platform for a group assembly. The conch shell is seen to the boys as a symbol of power that should be obeyed. An assembly can only be called with the sound of the conch, the meeting will be held at the place where the conch is. Despite Ralph being the official leader of the tribe, his authority to call meetings lies within the symbol of the conch shell. The conch shell becomes a vital part of the assemblies. The power to speak during a meeting is determined by whoever is holding the conch shell. As the group of boys all start to talk at once Ralph suggests, “We can’t have everybody talking at once…,” in which he establishes, “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.” (Golding 33) The rule is put into place by Ralph, in an attempt to create order among the group during assemblies. (Al-Khlaifate 49) Ralph is, “…symbolically representing the function and the rule of the democratic participation in a civilized society.” (Al-Khlaifate 47) With Ralph as a leader, the group is
At the beginning of the novel, Ralph and Piggy discover a conch shell on the beach and use it to summon the boys together after the crash separates them. The conch shell becomes a symbol of civilization and order in the novel. The shell initially is a successful way of governing the boys’ meetings, following simple etiquette—whoever is holding the shell has the right to speak. The shell acts as more than a symbol, it is a tool...
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
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.
Jack likes to govern in a savage way. He likes to hunt, being savage like, and killing things. In the text it states, “ ‘The rules!’ shouted Ralph. ‘You're breaking the rules!’ ‘Who cares?’... ‘Bollocks to the rules! We're strong--we hunt! If there's a beast, we'll hunt it down!’” (Golding 91). This demonstrates that Jack doesn’t want to follow the rules and just wants to do whatever he wants and wants to hunt and kill things. The boys slowly look at Jack for leadership.
In Lord of the Flies, Jack struggles to surrender to the orders of Ralph, the elected chief, and ridicules the other boys who do not possess his natural prowess for commanding the group. For example, when Ralph reprimands the hunters for not tending to the signal fire and ignoring their responsibilities, Jack angrily replies, “‘and you shut up! Who are you anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing’” (Golding 123). Jack does not understand why Ralph was chosen over himself. Having always maintained the top position of the choirboys, he cannot accept ceding power to Ralph. Jack rationalizes his superiority over Ralph as being the boy who possesses singing and hunting abilities and a previous leadership role, therefore the rightful chief. Because Jack is obsessed with the thought that he deserves to rule, it never occurs to him that Ralph’s orders are logical, simple, and civ...
As time progresses in both Lord Of the Flies and “I Only Came To Use the Phone”, the characters show definite sings of savagery. The authors of these stories show the change from civilization and reduction to the characters’ basic, primitive nature. In the beginning of Lord Of the Flies, the young boys are deserted on an island due to their plane crashing. Once on the island, they find each other and begin to assemble. They come together as a big group and elect a leader. There are other boys in charge of certain tasks that need to be accomplished. A conch shell found on the beach is used as a way to call a meeting. This reaction to sudden change shows an instinct in humans that, when something goes wrong, people try to keep as normal of a schedule as possible. The boys use this make-shift kind of government because they realize that they need some type of structure in their lives.
Jack demonstrates his need to have power over the boys by volunteering himself to be chief “I ought to be chief… because I’m chapter chorister and head boy” (Golding 18). Jack shows his need to be a leader as he believes he is the only who deserves to be chief. Jack thinks he is superior over the other boys. Consequently he considers himself to be the only one who can be the authoritarian figure. The boys elect a chief and Ralph is given authority over all of the boys; however, “The choir belongs to you
Jack fails to realize that the boys need security, stability, and order on the island Jack was a leader of the choir before the boys landed on the island. These boys, who were in the choir, still want to follow Jack; however, they have no discipline at all. The only thing that is on Jack’s mind is hunting. He doesn’t care about anything else, except capturing and kill the pigs for some food.
Golding uses the conch shell, which Ralph and Piggy find, to demonstrate a source of leadership and order within the civilization. As the conch becomes a source of authority and assembly, it “becomes no less than the basic challenge to the Tribe to choose between democracy and anarchy, civilization and savagery” (Gregor). As order decreases within the civilization the boys are forced to choose between Ralph, who symbolizes order, and Jack, who symbolizes savagery and chaos. The boys quickly join forces with Jack, which is their first step of their decline into savagery. One of their final falls into savagery was when Roger rolled the boulder into Piggy and “the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (Golding 181). By the conch breaking, order on the island was completely gone and the physical violence began to increase as chaos started to occur. In Kathleen Woodward’s article, “On Aggression: William Golding’s Lord of the Flies,” Woodward says that “children require strict supervision and constant discipline, for without these, they pose a serious threat to the adult world” (Woodward). As the rules for the adult world were made to keep order so were the rules and tasks that Ralph had assigned. Rules are cru...
The aspects The Lord of the Flies and other works place forward are truly insightful for how one should deal with themselves in situations of distress. Being knowledgeable about what dictatorial control may appear to be and the effects it can have on those underneath it can truly make the difference between a person being an free-thinking, compliant individual and a semi-literal pseudo-nazi in an anti-anarchist regime (e.g. the students in The Third Wave or citizens of Germany during the World War Two era). Perhaps there are no born leaders, but there are those who are powerful enough and more insightful to develop into the position. The blind trust of authority is way more powerful than getting one’s feelings hurt; it is breaking the moral grounds once established and plastering new ones in, almost becoming a new human being. Some say the root of every emotion and action is fear, irrational or not, and that is correct in the children of the island’s case. The two key factors are important because having knowledge on how poorly-treated leadership can have on the axioms of those who follow him is truly monumental to surviving in society. The main lessons that can be taken out of this are: placing faith in unworthy power and the effect fear has on actions and morality; these should most certainly be taken into consideration
The island’s first government is a democratic one, created at the beginning of the novel. When the boys arrive on the island, two characters named Ralph and Piggy meet as they begin to look around the site where their plane has crashed. When they find a conch shell, they decide to use it to make a noise and call the other boys to a meeting. William Golding uses the conch shell throughout the book as a symbol of democratic government. Those assembled—except for Jack’s choir—vote that Ralph should be chief, and he sets up a democratic system where anyone is allowed to talk. This system involves using the shell like a talking stick: anyone who wants to talk holds the shell and everyone else must listen to what they have to say. As a goal for the group, Ralph says they should try to be rescued. Most of the boys respect Ralph and look up to him, so they support this goal. Rescue is a long-term goal, and this shows that Ralph thinks about the future....
Lord of the Flies is a book about surviving on an uninhabited island. There was a group of boys stranded on an island. They were on a plane on their way to another place, because there was a war. The boys needed to be rescued. There was no adult on the island, so they have to take care of themselves. That is really hard so they needed a leader who can decide what’s going to happened on the island. Also take care of the others. It is not easy to choose a leader. It’s very important for the boys to choose a good leader. Everyone wants to be a leader, but it’s better to take someone who is older than the others and knows what to do if there is a problem like this. This article focusses on the struggle to be a leader.
When Ralph finds a conch shell and uses it to call the boys from all over the island, they come running. The conch is a very powerful tool. When the boys have settled the conch is used to control the boys and to create an order on the island. A rule is set out by Ralph using the conch, "Whoever has the conch has got the right to talk". This shows the conch's power and Ralph's leaderhsip.