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Lord of the flies analytical essay
Depiction of authority in Lord of the Flies
Lord of the flies analytical essay
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Within the Lord of the Flies, the boys are in constant disagreement. “‘Why can’t we stay here for a bit?” “That’s right.” “Let’s have a fort.” “There’s no food here,” said Ralph, “and no shelter. Not much fresh water.” “This would make a wizard fort.” “We can roll rocks--” “Right onto the bridge--” “I sat we’ll go on!” Ralph shouted furiously (Golding 108). This quote shows the differences in interest between the two groups of the boys. One group, controlled by Jack, is in favor of being in control of the island and wants to play king. The other group, controlled by Ralph, wants to continue being a civilized group of people by focusing on being rescued and survival being prioritized over hunting. Jack sees the mountain as a form of leadership and power but Ralph wants to use it as a source of rescue. This exemplifies how the group is in disagreement, one group wants power and a new lifestyle as a tribe of hunting, while the other wants to be rescued and return to their homes. …show more content…
Simon, sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it. The twins giggled and Simon lowered his face in shame. Then Jack leapt to his feet, slashed off a great hunk of meat, and flung it down at Simon's
This quote is significant because it represents what Jack is and what he has done. Ralph calls Jack these names before they lose their temper and are about to fight. In this quote, Ralph has called Jack out, that he is the reason of all the misfortune that has happened on the island and that he is the beast. That he was the reason of all this savagery and that he caused the evil within the boys, he brought it on through his need for leadership and his want for hunting and killing. Ralph calls him a thief and a swine because of his behaviour towards Piggy. He stole his glasses and turned all the boys against Ralph and Piggy who were the only good people on the island. As well as for making the island a fearful place for the boys. I feel that Ralph is right in everything he has said to Jack. He created the fear on the island all because of his need to be chief. As well as turned everyone against each other at the ending of the novel.
At the signal fire, Jack and his hunters cook the first pig. Initially, Jack gives meat to everyone, but Piggy. Jack tries to “leave him in doubt, as an assertion of power; but Piggy by advertising his omission made more cruelty necessary” (Golding 73-74). Piggy openly argues with Jack, telling him that even though he didn’t hunt, nor did Ralph or Simon, who already had pieces of meat. This change is positive. Piggy is voicing his opinion on how unfair Jack is being.
Ralph, the first character introduced to the audience, is probably the most likable character in the entire story. Although he does not ponder such deeply like Piggy, is not as spiritual like Simon, or as energetic as Jack, there is something in him that attracts the audience. Ralph serves as the protagonist of the story. He is described as being a playful, innocent child in the beginning, but towards the end he matures significantly. In the first chapter where he takes his clothes off and goes swimming like any child would do, he seems to be Adam in the Garden of Eden, a child left to play with the nature.
Ralph has several positive characteristics but he also has several crucial weaknesses that prevent him from being the perfect leader. In chapter one the boys decide who they want to be leader. The boys decide on Ralph, “”Vote for a chief!”…every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air.” (Golding 18-19). From the very beginning Ralph is seen as the leader. He becomes the one the boys look up to and depend on to make decisions in their best interest. Ralph has natural leadership skills. Landing on the island with no adults to take control, the boys chose to follow the one boy who seems to be doing something productive, Ralph. An example of Ralph being purposeful and productive is when he blows the conch to get the attention of all the boys on the island and bring them together for a meeting. When Jack and his choir find the other boys gathered he asks where the man with the trumpet is, Ralph replies, “There’s no man with a trumpet. We’re having a meeting. Want to join?” (Golding 16). Ralph asks Jack and the choir boys to join the meeting because he wants all the boys to work together so they can be rescued as soon as possible. Other than his leadership and purposeful qualities, Ralph is also hard working. When tasks are given out to the boys, such as building shelters, hunting, gathering food, the hard work of most boys turns into play and exploration leaving Ralph to do most of the work by himself with little help from others. When the other boys gave up on their tasks Ralph continued working, this proves his hard work. Leadership, purposeful, and hard working are all positive qualities that helped Ralph succeed in the novel, but Ralph also had some majo...
Upon the arrival of the boys to the island Jack immediately found himself in the center of a power struggle. Although the conflict was brief, there was still a very obvious confrontation between Jack and Ralph. Once the boys had assembled themselves there was an election to see who was to be chief. Despite the fact that Ralph was voted leader, the desire to be in command never left Jack. Jack already had some leadership skills, being head choirboy at his old school, and he continuously challenged Ralph. The greatest source of conflict between Jack and Ralph was the debate over the necessity of maintaining a fire. Ralph felt that it was necessary to keep it burning at all times while Jack believed that hunting pigs and getting meat was much more essential.
At Simon’s murder the boys, “Leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit and tore.”
1. When the fire goes out it symbolizes the loss of all remaining civility and the beginning of absolute savagery. The fire was the boys' only link to the past, as it was the one true technology they had. Fire symbolizes man's domination and manipulation of nature. As the fire goes out the boys are no longer people, but animals. It is also important to note that the fire was voluntarily allowed to die.
Importance of Leadership Leadership is something that stands out in people. In a group, people tend to look for the strongest person to follow. However, the strongest person may not be the best choice to follow. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph and Jack each have leadership qualities. Jack is probably the stronger of the two; however, Ralph is a better leader.
At first, the boys how positive behavior; however once the boys became members of the hunters, they began behavior like barbaric animals with no values or rules. This is a perfect example of differential association how the boys associated themselves with the hunters began to show signs of deviant behaviors. Jack also illustrates a laisses-fair leader that doesn’t seem to care if crimes or committed due to the lack of authority figures on the island. This was a very interesting movie. Another interesting topic was how both groups believed what they needed to accomplish to survive was completed different. For example, Ralph’s group believed that establishing order, having a chain of command and following orders in a civilized way was the correct direction. However, Jack’s group felt completed different about how things should be ran. He believe that a dictatorship was the best method. Someone who makes all the decisions and has complete control over the entire group. These are perfect examples of culture goals and how they vary from person to person. This comes to show you that Ralph’s approach is much more civilized and create social order within the groups while Jack’s beliefs have no systemic value and would eventually crumple due to much power by one
At one point in the story Jack says “Conch! Conch! We don’t need the conch anymore, we know who ought to say things” This quote really tells us that Jack’s pride has overtaken him and the idea of the kids submitting to him and calling him “chief.” has gone to his head. Jack has become very popular by force and by the kids feeling peer pressured to join Jack’s tribe and be hunters, or else they might be killed by the rest of the tribe. Everyone on the tribe is scared to step up to Jack because the people on his tribe are beginning to get used to the violent acts savagery that have been committed on the island so far. The kids start to let the fear of man overtake them and give into the peer pressure of joining Jack’s tribe because there isn’t really another option. By the kids giving into the peer pressure to follow the “popular” leader, Jack, they are ultimately giving Jack more power so he can do whatever he wants with the support of others who agreed to be apart of the tribe. This theme reaches its climax at the end of the story when it is literally Jack’s whole tribe, which basically consists of all the kids on the island, against Ralph. In the end, Ralph was the only one who didn’t give into the peer pressure to join Jack’s tribe, and ultimately he was rewarded for it because he got what he wanted, to be rescued. Now just because he didn’t give into peer pressure doesn’t mean you automatically get rewarded. I feel that giving Ralph his desire was William Golding’s way of rewarding Ralph for not giving into being apart of Jack's
Since Ralph is in charge, he lets Jack choose what he wants to lead on the island. Although, Ralph chooses the wrong person to lead hunting. Jack takes all of the power into his own hands. “Communism is supposed to mean we’re all in this together” (John). This is something that the boys on the island do not understand.
Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you. People have a choice to be good or bad. In the book Lord of the Flies, a plane full of school boys get stranded on an island. They try to stick together in an attempt to stay alive and get rescued. They begin to split when opposing motives begin to surface causing violence to ensue.
Much of history’s most renown literature have real-world connections hidden in them, although they may be taxing uncover. William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies, is no exception. In this work of art, Golding uses the three main characters, Piggy, Jack, and Ralph, to symbolize various aspects of human nature through their behaviors, actions, and responses.
For what reasons do people change, and in what way? The book “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding explains how people, specifically children, can change into savages because of how human nature really is. Golding shows how humans can change by using multiple characters to emphasize their civilization to savagery. The character that has changed the most throughout the story is Jack Merridew. He went from a leader who thinks civilization is important, to a complete savage at the end of the story.
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.