Authority In Lord Of The Flies

The corruption that branches off from power and sense of authority is what brings harm to innocents. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of boys are stranded on a paradise like virgin island with only their minimal experience to keep them alive and organized. Authority is utilized in the poem, “To a Mouse,” by Robert Burns in which and where humans overpower puny animals like mice. Corrupted power is displayed in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s social contract, where the society must follow under the dictatorship of General Will. Rousseau provides an illustration for readers to understand William Golding’s belief on power and authority. Similar to Burns’ theme of corrupted power from within his poem, Lord of the Flies conveys that any

sort of authority or prestige breeds corruption and abuse of innocents.

A type of thought process that is born through corrupt power, extorted authority, and crooked priorities is a sense of doing whatever pleases one’s self. Rousseau believes that this way of using power is correct as long as it follows the general will. In Rousseau’s social contract, he says that we should have a government that fulfills our needs and wants. That is the type of governing system that breeds extorted authority. This ties in with Lord of the Flies by providing an image of how humans can become monstrous once they gain power, like how Jack and Ralph had. Burns’ makes an acknowledgement of this evil branch through, “sorry / Man’s dominion Has broken Nature’s social union,” (lines 7-8). Humans will do whatever they want, as far as to destroy Mother Nature, just to reach their goal. Burns’ way of conveying this message is

different from Golding’s way of displaying the message because Burns’ has the speaker apologizes on behalf of humanity. Meanwhile, Golding has the young boys destroy, burn, and disfigure the island. Golding sets the venal thought process into Jack Merridew when he had lit the island on fire, causing, “smoke… seeping through… white and yellow [flames],”(195). The bestial boys had also felt power surge through their bodies, and due to having no adults, the boys held no respect towards the island. How the young males treated the hunt for Ralph as if it were a game exemplifies the mindset of the human’s inner beast. The similarity between Burns and Golding from this message was the addressing of beastly state of the mind that shows its hideous, power-crazed side, which can be depicted in a government proposed by Rousseau.
Power causes death, and it also causes injury to innocents, whether they be human or animal.

In “To a Mouse,” the speaker had plowed and sympathetically exclaimed, “Thy wee-bit housie… in ruin!” (line 19). The speaker addresses the mouse, which symbolizes innocence and purity, and the speaker hurt the “innocence” by destroying its aegis to winter. The mouse symbolized the innocent impotent because it is only minding its business and not causing harm to others. Being a human, the speaker held a ginormous amount of power over the itsy-bitsy mouse. That power led to the harming of the impotent also know as the mouse. Lord of the Flies is similar through the death of Piggy with Roger letting, “The rock struck Piggy … fell forty feet… head opened,” (181). The similarity presented by Golding was having Jack’s little psycho kill Piggy, so this showed corruption annihilating an innocent. Piggy was one of the symbols of minority and purity, often virtues of innocents. Piggy and the mouse both are innocents; both are caught in the crossfire of corrupted power. Robert Burns and William Golding display this consequence to further elaborate on how they see power as something impure. Power is impure to the point that it contaminates the

pure.
In the end, authority and power transforms everyone into some sort of monstrosity. The speaker allows his inner savage that was born from corruption to justify his actions by saying, “thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me!” (line 43). He says the mouse is lucky and that it should not whine about its troubles because the life of a human is far more difficult. Victimizing a victim of one’s evil-doing is an action belonging to the branch of corruption. The sympathetic and almost Christ-like speaker even withholds a piece of corruption. Rousseau’s form of government where the society meets the needs of an individual justifies the act of saying that one’s needs and situations are greater than another. It provides an explanation as to why the kind hearted speaker chose to justify his wrong doing. Once power has control over a person, they extenuate their wrong doings with how the power allows them to do such actions. Ralph comes to terms with his own wrong doings; Jack does as well. Golding sheds light onto this self reflection when the boys, “wept for the end of innocence… darkness of man’s heart,” (202). Through the sheet of darkness that power brought, they boys say the horrendous damage they applied to the innocent Simon, Piggy, and virgin island. William Golding and Robert Burns both address the beast that the power each human possesses, no matter how deranged or pure the human may seem.
Burns’ and Golding share the understanding of how power’s corruption brings harm, abuse, and even death to the pure and innocent like Piggy and the mouse. With how Golding had ended Lord of the Flies, it was appropriate to allow the boys to snap out of their power hungry daze and smell the fresh damage. No matter how hard one may try, power always weasels its way into any tiny opening to turn one’s self to a savage who worries only about itself. Once the desire for more power slithers in, the inner boor is drawn out. This cataclysm is possible for everyone; even a sympathetic person like the speaker from “To a Mouse,” displays inner savagery. Robert Burns and Robert Golding believe in the idea that power breeds death of innocence and besmirchment of one’s purity.