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Analytical essay on lord of the flies
A literary analysis for Lord of the flies
Literature review lord of the flies
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For centuries, humans have tried to identify the personality traits that should belong to a successful leader. When Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 1532, he addressed this issue. William Golding did the same in Lord of the Flies by illustrating Jack and Ralph’s grapple for power over the boys on the island. Jack’s generally violent and cruel disposition, as well as his lack of concern for the other boys and the island itself, makes it seem strange when he becomes chief. However, in Lord of the Flies, Machiavellian teachings can be used to explain Jack’s personality and rise to leadership on the island, as well as his creation of a totalitarian government. There are three main characters in Lord of the Flies that have the potential …show more content…
Jack, on the other hand, is purely trying to achieve success. That is, he spends all his time on the island trying to gain control of the group in order to be able to do what he wants. Jack is also very willing to use fear to get these things, while Ralph is trying to keep everything peaceable and friendly, which eventually makes him lose control of the boys entirely. This follows one of Machiavelli’s teachings, which states that if a leader must choose between being feared or loved, they should be feared. However, Jack does not only use fear of himself to gain control, but fear of outside forces, as …show more content…
This is first seen when he misses his chance to kill a piglet, and then vows to spill blood the next time he comes across one. His thirst for blood becomes an obsession with the hunt, which leads to his tribe being based around hunting and the rituals involved with it. His “hunters” evolve into his army, and later are the driving force in the eradication of any competition for chief. This aligns with Machiavelli as well, who claims that a prince must keep a close eye on military affairs if wants to maintain his power. Jack seems to agree with this sentiment, and actually focuses almost all of his energy on his “military”. Their tribe, however, is basically only that: an army being lead by one leader, who is directing all of the army’s energy to removing the only enemy
Leadership is a trait that many people have naturally and others try to obtain. Many people consider themselves a good leader when they fail to carry out the characteristics leadership require. In the book, “Lord of the Flies”, Ralph is a better leader than Jack because of the traits he possesses. That is why certain skills are necessary to be considered a successful leader.
According to Peter Drucker, he claims, “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” Leadership is a commitment that is meant to be kept and done accurately. Leading a group or a society can lead to dreadful obstacles, but it’s your responsibility to have a solution to end. Ralph and Jack as a leader cause a majority of downhill for the boys. Affecting themselves and their surroundings to abruptly fall into pieces. Which lead to a mass destruction of the island, Lord of the Flies. The devastating events on this island lead to the massive chaos of Lord of the Flies, blaming Ralph and Jack for denial, lack of cooperation and inefficient leadership.
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.
There are two different types of leaders: one who is loved by the people while acts responsibly and one who is feared by the people while being respected. These forms of leadership are shown throughout Lord of the Flies with Ralph and Jack. Niccolò Machiavelli uses The Prince to discuss how a leader should act and what leadership style is the most effective. Machiavelli clearly illustrates the types of leaders Ralph and Jack are by providing examples from ancient history.
In Lord of the Flies, Golding’s portrayal of Jack’s growing power on the island aligns with Thomas Hobbes’s assertion that humans naturally tend to act violently and contentiously, but Golding’s depiction of Jack as a leader also ridicules Hobbes’s idea of an absolute monarchy.
Society is based off of hierarchy which is the basis for the change people have in society. Sometimes it’s good and other times…. Well it’s not so good. In most respects, leadership defines the outcome of a certain society. A good leader with good intentions, leading society in good directions is bound to be beneficial and maintain an ethos that will carry with them for the rest of their lives. But then there are others that are too ignorant and become less and less what they had hoped to be. Lord of the flies by William Golding is a great example of this. Golding argues that where there is a gain in power with bad leadership, that there is a loss of identity. In Lord of the Flies, A few boys arrive on a plane after it had crashed because of a war that was taken place at the time of the plane crashing. The basic synopsis is that they are trying to be rescued. The boys recollect after being separated. There are no adults on the island either. During the period they were on the island, Lots of the boys had changed. Particularly Jack… He is a choir boy who wanted to be leader. His drastic change from choir boy to savage sets the stage for loss of identity. Rogers’s morals to his change in identity are drastic when he throws rocks at the littleuns. Finally we have Percival who’s Innocence and lack of understanding in the cruel world is destroying him mentally.
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.
William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies shows that humans are bad through ambition. In the book Lord of the Flies Jack wants to be leader over everyone. Jack wants to be in charge of the entire island and have no higher authority than himself.
While his situation allowed his personality to blossom into something horrible, the desire for blood and power already flowed through his veins. An example from the beginning, before the corruption of the boys, was when Jack first arrived at the meeting with his choir following behind. They were wearing their cloaks in the heat and Jack only let them rest after Simon had fainted. Jack’s controlling nature can be observed from the very beginning of the book. At this time, decorum still covered his bloodlust, but it was quickly triggered after he hadn’t been able to kill a pig. The text reads that “Next time there would be no mercy”(p.31) He was not only embarrassed of his weakness and wanted to uphold his status, but he was also losing the civility that an organized society ensured. The island was the key that unlocked Jack’s hidden, savage
The fact that Jack acts like this is very important to the story. Jack’s lust for power and blood sped the story up a lot faster. It’s possible that without Jack the boys wouldn’t even become savage. Jack is also a bully, and forces the boys out of fear into what he wants them to do. In, “The Lord of the Flies”, by William Golding, Jack is pretty much equivalent to a middle school bully, but the circumstances he is in, turns him into something even worse.
The influence of power, or “power hungry”, has had a huge effect on many people who feel that they must be in charge. These people often have trouble being told no or being told that they can’t be in charge. People throughout history have done it in many ways. Our own government displays this when we elect a new president every four years. These candidates often tell the public what they want to hear and how they’ll make it a better place, when, in reality, they only mean half of it and they just want to be able to have the power of the president. In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the antagonist, Jack, shows throughout the book that he craves power and feels that he deserves it more than anybody else.
In the beginning of the story, Jack wants to be the leader of the boys because he was once choir leader. Unfortunately, Ralph is elected instead, thus sowing Jack’s seeds of hatred towards Ralph. Later on, Jack was hunting for pigs by himself in the jungle. He is described as “less a hunter than a furtive thing, ape-like among the tangle of trees” (49). This indicates a change towards savagery for Jack.
Through strong propaganda, fervor from others, and superior verbal skills, Jack eventually took power over the island. His propaganda weakened Ralph by spreading pretenses about him; to supplement this weakening of Ralph, more and more tribe members supported Jack, displaying affection for his powerful personality, appearance, and verbal skills. Without his charisma or dominating tactics, Jack would not have been able to take such effective leadership, eventually isolating Ralph completely.
For the majority of the book, Jack is envious that the boys voted Ralph as leader; he wants to be the hero and lead the boys on the island. He does not act spitefully toward Ralph because he respects Ralph in the beginning of the book. However, he is resents the close friendship that Piggy and Ralph have and alienates Piggy. “We don’t want you,” said Jack, flatly. “Three’s enough.” (Golding 24) When Piggy wants to join the exploration of the island Jack rejects him out of spite. Another example is in Chapter 5, Jack says “That’s right—favor Piggy as you always do—” (Golding 91) during an argument with Ralph over the island’s rules. Jack is primarily angry at Ralph for taking Piggy’s side and coming to his defense. One of Jack’s biggest driving forces is his envy for what other people have, whether it’s a position as leader or as someone’s best
There are always people who, in a group, come out with better qualities to be a leader than others. The strongest people however, become the greater influences which the others decide to follow. However, sometimes the strongest person is not the best choice. Authors often show how humans select this stronger person to give an understanding of the different powers that people can posses over others.