More handpicked essays just for you.
the theme of wickedness and bullying in William Golding's Lord of the flies
the theme of wickedness and bullying in William Golding's Lord of the flies
the theme of wickedness and bullying in William Golding's Lord of the flies
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines dictatorship as, “rule, control, or leadership by one person with total power.” In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding in which boys are trapped alone on an island with no adult supervision, this style of leadership immediately takes presence. Even though there are sparks of democracy and other ways of government dictatorship is proven the most effective and powerful throughout the book. The character Jack clearly exemplifies this idea through his role as the all-powerful dictator and totalitarian challenger. Golding argues that in a climate of fear dictatorship and violent personalities will overthrow democracy and rationality, shown by the continual power gain of Jack and the deterioration of any competitors.
By making Jack’s gain of power unrelenting and brutal Golding crafts the perfect unstoppable dictator. To have this inexorable supremacy Jack must forgo some of his understanding and courteous characteristics. For example when Jack’s power is questioned he hurts his initial ally, Ralph; “I’m chief!” Viciously, with full intention, ...
Golding exhibits the gradual deterioration of Jack’s morals to reveal a character of savagery. The downfall of Jack’s morals begins when he loses the vote for chief His lack of respect and empathy is
Jack, William Golding’s antagonist in Lord of the Flies, reveals through his experience on the island that it is an individual’s assertiveness, manipulative abilities, and charisma which dictate who commandeers power and privilege over others, and that possessing these traits often negatively impacts the lives of the people leaders seek to control.
Jack disagrees with Ralph’s priorities and proposes: “ ‘ I’m going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too’ ” (Golding 183). Later on after Ralph has lost all his authority, and is betrayed by his own people. Golding writes “ These painted savages [Jack and his tribe] would go further and further.Then there was that indefinable connection between himself [Ralph] and Jack; who therefore would never let him alone…” (265). Although there was only one rebellion against the power, it was very successful. Jack’s rebellion gave him absolute power, and took everything away from Ralph. However, even though the rebellion worked, there was still chaos. The leadership taught people to be violent, and as Golding said “savage”. This revolution bears resemblance to the Russian Revolution. When the poltretatiots finally gained power, the government was very weak, and there was still uprisings against the government. The communists didn’t expect how much war would cost, nor did they expect how it would backfire on the people. Jack’s rebellion and the Russian Revolution both worked, but still let the things that matter, like the people,
Having an individual take control over a group is inevitable. Adolf Hitler took over Germany; at first he was appointed as chancellor but the Germans’ let him get away with taking over as dictator (Truemen , 2013). It was out of fear that the Germans’ let him be in power. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding utilizes Jack as the most important character in the novel because of how his psychological personality affects the plot. Jack, much like Hitler, gains control by instilling fear into the others and takes over as leader. Throughout the whole book Golding continues to use Jack to twist the story. He stands in the way of the other boys’ success in getting off of the island. Jack is motivated by his id and seeks authority at all costs, illuminating that the desire for power can eventually undermine and hide the goodness in an individual.
During an assembly once, Jack declares: “We don’t need the conch anymore...It’s time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of us” (Golding 101, 102). In this section, Jack proclaims how most people accomplished nothing speaking to the audience and the decisions should be left to the leaders, an anti-democratic idea. Desirous for power, Jack believes himself to be among the most useful on the island, even though he is clearly selfish and incompetent, never accomplishing anything outside of hunting. Proposing the idea that somebody as corrupt as Jack may try to consolidate power as a leader, or even an absolute ruler, Golding challenges the very core of the idea of absolute monarchy. The full effect of Jack’s “leadership” is shown near the end, when he and his “tribe” have completely split off from Ralph’s group. During this time, one of the hunters said: “[Jack’s] going to beat Wilfred up….[Jack] didn’t say [why]...made us tie Wilfred up” (Golding 159). Jack has ordered his hunters to tie up one of his hunters for no reason, and proceeds to beat him up as a scare tactic for the other boys. He does this solely because he just has the power to hurt others, which he demonstrates once again when he goes on a hunt for Ralph later in the story. This event clearly shows Golding’s opposition to absolute rule, as Jack acts selfishly and arrogantly, and most of the decisions he makes are completely useless to the survival of the group. All his hunters unanimously respect him out of fear, or as Hobbes described in his support of a monarchy, universal awe. In the end, while all the citizens obey a common leader and do not argue among themselves, the tribe still remains broken and unproductive, unified under a corrupt leader. It can be argued that Golding’s
On the other hand, Golding tries to show the evil within man through Jack. Jack is a character in which he almost symbolizes cruel political leaders, such as Castro, Hussein, Hitler, etc. He is the leader of the hunters, the first time they find a pig, Jack stops, and couldn't kill the pig. That revealed how Jack was civilized, yet later on he would kill the pig without hesitation. "'We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at everything.
In the “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, Golding had described Jack in many different ways. In the book, the author proves Jack is an arrogant tyrant who is revealing an exaggerated sense of his own importance or abilities. Jack has a desire for power and uses violence against others. He also represents savagery which the other boys follow. In Lord of the Flies, the character Jack shows himself to be an arrogant tyrant because throughout the novel he acts in a way that is violent, mean, and savage.
All in all, the sanctions of society begin to deteriorate due to the deaths, the meeting breaking down, and Jack’s obsession with hunting. By removing the restraints of society Golding successfully proves that it is human nature to live primitively and become into the beast that they fear.
After this incident we can see continual conflict between Ralph and Jack. We can see this when Jack proclaims that Ralph, “Isn’t a proper chief.” Golding is trying to show us that this conflict is very similar to the conflict between humanities inner barbarism and the living influence of reason. We can see other evidence of this conflict within ourselves, with the masks that Jack and his hunters put on. We are informed that Jack, “ rubbed the charcoal stick between the patches of red and white on his face” The mask represents the dark line (charcoal) between good (white) and evil (red) within ourselves. These masks also let the boys hide f...
Jack usurps power, as he slowly ascends himself, as the tyrannical dictator over the group
Then Jack abandons his citizens needs in order to protect his position and power. This was a reflection of Hitler during World War 2. HItler oppressed and fed his citizens propaganda in order to Maintain control over them. When this did not work he would punish his citizens by locking them up in jail or killing them. This led to his citizens to be afraid of their leader and of the outside world as well. As World War 2 continued and Nazi germany started losing the war, Hitler became more desperate as he wanted to win, sending in suicidal missions in order for him to maintain his power. But as we saw because he was willing to sacrifice his people for his mission he in the end lost and had nothing left. Golding Wants to show a leader is supposed to be responsible for his people and must try to complete his responsibility. Golding shows that a leader who does not respect this responsibility is able to throw his citizens away just to accomplish their desires. But a leader is not a leader if they have no one to
In William Golding’s novel, the Lord of the Flies, even though Ralph became chief of the stranded boys, Jack eventually rose to power through scare tactics, confidence, determination, and control. When Jack demonstrated his leadership skills, it was evident that he was superior to Ralph and would use his sense of Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest) and his oratory skills to surpass and isolate Ralph completely. Regardless of Ralph’s strengths, such as his conch, democratic maneuvers, firm motives, and kind demeanor, Jack’s mere presence ousted Ralph’s chances of taking effective leadership. By using propaganda against Ralph, gaining support from his partisan tribe members, and overpowering Ralph through his persuasive techniques and appearance, Jack clearly demonstrated how his leadership of the island was inevitable.
When it comes to Jack’s fear of not being chief, it brings out the worst in him and it has an effect on others. For instance, when the boys are deciding on who should be the chief, Ralph wins by a landslide. “Even the choir applauded; and the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification” (Golding 19). That is the first physical evidence of Jack being humiliated by Ralph and judging by Jack’s personality, he is not used to failure so it has a big impact on him. This motivates him to destroy Ralph and the rivalry between the two begins. Another point is that Jack uses fear and threats to control the boys. For example, when Robert tells Roger “’He’s going to beat Wilfred.’ ‘What for?’ Robert shook his head doubtfully” (Golding 176) it shows that Jack is violent and is using his...
...ing him advice. However, they are tortured into revealing Ralph’s escape plan. Things like this show that Jack’s tribe have little respect for others. They do things that they wouldn’t do alone, because the rest of the group takes the blame. By this William Golding demonstrates what happens to society if order is not imposed by a government.
Reyes, Antonio Jose T. A53 11538406 Sir. Anthony Borja AUTHORITARIAN AND DEMOCRACY How does one rule a country? Politics has been the basis of power for more than a thousand years now. Traces of political movements have been discovered in different parts of the world; from the birth place of civilization found in the Middle East; the Mesopotamian, from the Western region of the world; England and even South America, and from the Dynasties of China and lands of Japan, politics was already in play during these times.