How Does Jack Lose Power In Lord Of The Flies

If order is too prevalent in society, uprisings will occur within causing the government to lose power. After failing at a desperate attempt to overthrow Ralph as chief, Jack decides that he is “‘not going to play any longer. Not with [Ralph]. [...] I’m going off by myself [...] anyone who wants to [...] can come too’” (127). At this point, Jack has become embittered by Ralph’s constant orders for everything to be precisely regulated and no longer wants to conform. By saying that he is “not going to play any longer”, Jack implies that their situation is a game therefore should be treated as such, with the option for more freedom and fewer strict rules. The bulk of Ralph’s group ends up joining Jack’s tribe because they decide that they too

want more freedom and want the situation to be more lighthearted, but in turn, the considerably well established government loses all of its power and can no longer protect the boys’ natural rights as they descend into savagery. Similarly, prior to the French Revolution, France had an extremely regulated social hierarchy called the Old Regime, which consisted of three estates, that the lowest class (the Third Estate) was not too fond of. They were over-taxed and under-represented in the government, so they rebelled and created a new government called the National Assembly. The excessive level of order that was enforced in French society caused the mistreated party as well as others who agreed that society needed more freedom to decide to break away from the people in power and build a new government which allowed them the freedom they so desperately wanted. However the National Assembly came at a cost - their freedom never truly came and while fighting for freedom, there was no strongly established leader to protect the rebels. The Third Estate becoming the National Assembly is related to Jack’s tribe breaking away from Ralph’s group in that the the downfall of the government ultimately occurred due to rebels angry at the government creating new societies that allowed higher levels of freedom. Too much order will always eventually lead to rebellion, which in turn becomes war or new societies with less protection than before.