The Lord of the Flies is a political allegory about the effectiveness of power and what type of government is favorable. In context, The Lord of the Flies was written during the Cold War, and the two leaders of the boys on the island, Ralph and Jack Merridew represent the conflict between totalitarianism, specifically communism and liberalism. In modern times, liberalism is considered very much alike liberal democracy because both are founded on the idea of free elections, freedom, and equality; many say that both ideologies are deeply intertwined. Between and liberalism (or liberal democracy) and totalitarianism, the author, William Golding seems to favor the latter as seen in the fall of Ralph’s regime and Jack’s success as chief; however,
Ralph is commonly referred to being civilized while Merridew tends to represent savagery. This theme relates to the political allegory because it is similar to the idea that people can naturally descend into savagery if necessary. Similarly, liberal democracy can also devolve into totalitarianism if the circumstances are appropriate. According to Evola “The specter that most terrifies liberalism today is totalitarianism. It can be said that totalitarianism may arise as a borderline case out of the presuppositions of liberalism, rather than out of those of an organic State” (p 1-2). Additionally, Plato stated in the Republic “tyranny develops out of no other constitution than democracy—from the height of liberty, I take it, the fiercest extreme of servitude” (as cited in Evola, p 2-3). In particular, this arises when Merridew separates from Ralph and his democracy when Ralph says his hunters are only boys with sticks. (Golding, p 114-116).While no one initially supports Merridew, people eventually migrate into his tribe. According to Kovalak, the benefits of totalitarianism are “clear decision making, a clear order of who is in charge, and the efficient and prompt administration” (p 1). This may be the reason why the boys follow Merridew because he has a clear standpoint: his tribe would focus on hunting, and would avoid the beastie (Golding, p 121). Merridew is an efficient leader, and has a clear, and fun
In the book, Lord of the Flies, William Golding connects a disaster to a bunch of little English kids with the government and civics. There are at least five different ways William Golding connects the civics and the boys that were stranded on the island. Some of the events are reflected directly from our government. The Constitutional principles tie into the book a lot by the popular sovereignty, limiting powers, sharing powers, separation of powers, and protecting against tyranny. There are many different elements of the government which includes voting, symbol of government authority, and committees which are of the most important.
The author, William Golding uses the main characters of Ralph, Jack, and Simon in The Lord of the Flies to portray how their desire for leadership, combined with lack of compromise leads to the fall of their society. This desire for leadership and compromise led to the fall of their society just like multiple countries during times of wars.
One of the main themes in William Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies is that without civilization, there is no law and order. The expression of Golding's unorthodox and complex views are embodied in the many varied characters in the novel. One of Golding's unorthodox views is that only one aspect of the modern world keeps people from reverting back to savagery and that is society. Golding shows the extreme situations of what could possibly happen in a society composed of people taken from a structured society then put into a structureless society in the blink of an eye. First there is a need for order until the people on the island realize that there are no rules to dictate their lives and take Daveers into their own hands. Golding is also a master of contrasting characterization. This can be seen in the conflicts between the characters of Jack, the savage; Simon, the savior; and Piggy, the one with all the ideas.
The Lord of the Flies is an ultimately pessimistic novel. In the midst of the cold war and communism scares, this disquieting aura acts as a backdrop to the island. The Lord of the Flies addresses questions like how do dictators come to power, do democracies always work, and what is the natural state and fate of humanity and society, getting at the heart of human nature in a very male-dominated, conflict-driven way. The war, the plane shot down, and the boys' concern that the "Reds" will find them before the British, shows Golding's intention of treating the boys' isolated existence as a microcosm of the adult military world.
Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding in 1954 about a group of young British boys who have been stranded alone together on an island with no adults. During the novel the diverse group of boys struggle to create structure within a society that they constructed by themselves. Golding uses many unique literary devices including characterization, imagery, symbolism and many more. The three main characters, Ralph, Piggy, and Jack are each representative of the three main literary devices, ethos, logos, and pathos. Beyond the characterization the novel stands out because of Golding’s dramatic use of objective symbolism, throughout the novel he uses symbols like the conch, fire, and Piggy’s glasses to represent how power has evolved and to show how civilized or uncivilized the boys are acting. It is almost inarguable that the entire novel is one big allegory in itself, the way that Golding portrays the development of savagery among the boys is a clear representation of how society was changing during the time the novel was published. Golding is writing during
At the opening of the novel, Ralph and Jack get on extremely well. We are informed Jack, “shared his burden,” and there was an, “invisible light of friendship,” between the two boys. Jack changes considerably throughout this novel. At first he tells us, “I agree with Ralph we’ve got to have rules and obey them,” This shows us that at the beginning of the novel, just like Ralph, he wants to uphold a civilised society. We are also notified, “Most powerfully there was the conch.” As the conch represents democracy we can see that at the beginning of the novel the boys sustain a powerful democratic society.
First off, the common man is someone who has a balance between good and evil, a good perception of reality and strong morals. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is the character who is perceived as this type of individual. The first example of this is Ralph’s appearance. Ralph keeps and continues to wear his school sweater while other boys run around naked. This illustrates his desire to keep the island somewhat civilized. Secondly, he does everything in his power to keep the boys working together and getting along with each other. Lastly, Ralph attempts to keep the boys under a type of domesticated. He tries to do this by making such laws as the freedom of speech. This law gave any member of the group a right to express his opinion. Unfortunately, Ralph’s attempts failed and the boys became savages.
Ralph is one of the few boys who realize that the only way to survive is through peace and order. Because he summons the boys at the beginning of the novel with the conch he and Piggy find, they look upon him as the most responsible of the boys and elect him as a chief over the humiliated Jack. Ralph creates a stable and peaceful society for the children to live; this significantly bothers Jack because he wants to have fun and do things that he never did back in the civilized society. Jack is eventually successful of pulling nearly all of the children out of Ralph’s control to form savages. Ralph represents the civilization, and Jack represents the primitive society.
The Lord of the Flies is one big allegory, the way the boys are formed on the island is similar to different governments our world has had before, and currently have. The type of government that the island has, changed throughout the book. In the beginning the government is a democracy, but towards the end it changes to a dictatorship. This dictatorship is run by Jack who gathers followers when he promises pig meat, and fun. This idea is shown throughout the book, in many places, through objects, and actions.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel that represents a microcosm of society in a tale about children stranded on an island. Of the group of young boys there are two who want to lead for the duration of their stay, Jack and Ralph. Through the opposing characters of Jack and Ralph, Golding reveals the gradual process from democracy to dictatorship from Ralph's democratic election to his lack of law enforcement to Jack's strict rule and his violent law enforcement.
At the beginning of Lord of the Flies, the boys create a democratic government. As the story progresses, the initial democracy on the island is ignored, and a dictatorship rises in its place. This dictatorship fails to keep the boys in order. The author, William Golding, shows that without the institution of a strong government and set of rules people will become impulsive and seek instant gratification. In the absence of order, people tend not to become disciplined of their own accord, but rather dissolve into destructive chaos.
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.
Imagine a group of young boys who have just crash-landed on a deserted tropical island with no adults or supervision. William Golding showed in his ground breaking novel Lord of the Flies, what may happen in just those circumstances. In his very complicated and diverse novel Golding brings out many ideas and uses many literary devices. Above all others though comes symbolism of three main important objects being the conch, fire, and "Piggy's" eyeglasses. Through each of these three symbols Golding shows how the boys adapt and change throughout the novel. These symbols also help to show each of the boy's ideals on a variety of elements from human nature to society and its controls. All three of these symbols also change and are one of the most important elements of the story.
From the very beginning it can be seen that the boys have already begun to divide into two groups. When Ralph calls the first meeting the boys have together by summoning them with a conch shell, he decides they should vote on a leader. A boy named Jack Merridew thinks that he should be the chief because he is "chapter chorister and head boy." (22) Another boy nominates Ralph for leader, because he is the one that called for the meeting. When it comes time to vote, the choir members vote for Jack, while all the other boys vote for Ralph. After he is elected leader, Ralph tells Jack that he is in charge of his choir. Jack tells Ralph that they will be the hunters, and Ralph agrees. This causes the boys to be divided into one group led by Ralph, and the hunting group made up of the choir members, led by Jack Merridew.