Absolute Power In Lord Of The Flies

Hofert 1

Jordan Hofert

Ms. Frangipane

Study of Genre English 9 Block F

25 February 2016

[Title Here]

A recurring theme in many societies today is that “absolute power corrupts absolutely”(John Acton, was an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer). In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, this idea of leadership is put in the spotlight. Jack, one of the boys on the island, forced his way into the leadership position, not actually earning it. It is clear that Jack is not a good leader as he is intimidating, egotistical, and selfish. Ralph is a quality leader under most conditions because Ralph appeals to the boys sophisticated side, while Jack is only successful when he has limited power as he satisfies their childish need for fun

As the leader of the choir, Jack had limited power, which gave everyone what they wanted. Ralph declared that Jack was just, “‘in charge of the choir. They can be-what do you want them to be?’ ‘Hunters’”(23). As the leader of the choir, Jack had limited power. He only had the control over a few of the boys, which gave him what he wanted, power, but not too much. This satisfied everyone when Jack had this limited power. However, over time Jack becomes more greedy and gets hungry for more power from liking the taste of a few. This power has corrupted him and turned him into a corrupt, crazy, and power hungry person that is certainly not fit to be a leader. Having limited power is enough to make the majority happy, but Jack can not handle the idea of being without supreme power. One day, Jack demands, “‘Give me a drink.” Henry heard this so, “Henry brought him a shell and he drank, watching Piggy and Ralph over the jagged rim. Power lay in the brown swell of his forearms: authority sat on his shoulder and chattered in his ear like an ape”(150). All the anger culminates when Jack finally gets power, he shows how he is not suited for a position of power, and incident like this happen. Jack is abusing the power that he took away from Ralph, the better leader. There is no way for a good society to exist under a leader such as Jack. That is why the group needs to be a democracy, with all having limited and equal power. Otherwise, you will see the corruption like in Jack’s society, with one leader misusing their power and thinking of themselves over the group. Overall, you can tell through the actions of Jack that limited power makes leaders better. It is human nature to become corrupted by power, and this is a problem you can clearly see in