In the movie Lord of the Flies (Lord of the Flies, 1990), the field of psychology uses a lot of themes but the main ones that will be discussed and most relevant in today’s society were, conformity, the bystander effect, and verbal bullying and aggression. Lord of the flies was based off a group of young British boys who were stranded on an uninhabited island while attempting to govern themselves. Throughout the paper, the ways in how Lord of the Flies correlates to the social psychology themes will be explained. The first theme that will be discussed is conformity.
Conformity plays a big role in the movie, so it’s important people know what conformity actually means in “psychological” terms. It’s defined as “A type of social influence in which individuals change their attitudes or behavior to adhere to existing social norms”(Branscombe, N.R., & Baron, R.A. 2017). Conformity goes all the way back into the 50’s when the Cold War was going on. Once the war was over, men and women went back to their traditional roles; men were working and women were home. Lord of the Flies has many examples of conformity but the main ones that were found while watching the movie were, hunting, British government, and simon’s death.
Hunting was a big part of Lord of the Flies, in the sense that they were forced to hunt for food and
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water even though they didn’t want too. If they didn’t conform to hunting, they would get yelled at and made fun of because they would be the only ones doing it. An example of conformity was when the group of boys practiced hunting on things that moved such as a Lizard. One of the boys put their hunting stick on the lizard, and Simon got offended, but he didn’t say anything. He silently picks up the lizard, and moves him to a safe place, so he doesn’t get killed. After he does this, all of the other team members make fun of him and stare at him(Lord of the Flies, 30:31). The British government that they were involved in before they ended up on the uninhabited island, played a huge role in the movie. They were once proper British boys who had to prioritize and organize their lives. While they were adjusting to the new environment on the island, they started painting blood under their eyes (Lord of the Flies, 36:03), wearing a tooth necklace to resemble their strength, and wearing a cloth around their waste. If they didn’t conform to this, they would be kicked off and were on the “other” side of the group. Throughout the movie, the British boys had started a democracy and not even knowing it. Another example was before Simon’s death. As Simon comes out of the jungle with his green light, Ralph's tribe assumes that he was the beast after chasing two other members of their own tribe around the fire pretending they were the beast, while doing their tribal dance. They sprint towards Simon and beat him until they end up killing him by stabbing him with their sticks they made to hunt the beast. One of the boys in the tribe yells, "He’s the real monster; kill him” (Lord of the Flies, 1:02:17). Simon’s death in the movie points out the young British boys had lost their sense of individuality since they arrived at the inhabited island. They had become completely different boys than they were in the beginning. At the end of the movie, all of the boys were chasing Ralph, trying to kill him. When they reached the beach, a group of grown men were standing and all of the boys were in shock. The third example of conformity was deciding Ralph to be the leader of everyone. In the beginning of the movie, all the boys surround one another and vote for who is the best leader that will keep them alive and healthy. After they declared Ralph as the leader. Piggy finds a conch and Ralph determines to use it as a signal for people to return to the designated meeting spot on the island. Ralph says, "Who ever holds the conch gets to speak, and everyone gets a turn to speak”(Lord of the Flies, 11:06). A lot of caos was brought up from the conch because everyone wanted to speak. The next theme in Lord of the Flies is the bystander effect. The bystander effect is defined as, “when you’re in a group setting and someone needs help, you are less likely to help because you believe the other people will help”(Branscombe, N.R., & Baron, R.A. 2017). In Lord of the Flies, the bystander effect was used many times in different scenes. Some examples that were found in the movie were how all of the characters in the movie were boys, the murder of Piggy’s scene, and when simon shows up they were driven by blood just to find the beast. The first example of the bystander effect was how the movie decided to use all boys as one entity and not any girls. They create a tribe together and when one gets hurt or needs assistant, they rely on the each other to help out and fix the problem. In the scene of the boys building a camp fire, there was some boys were in the back because they thought the boys were sufficient in help (Lord of the Flies, 15:37). Although they helped each other, there were times during the movie that the boys relied on one another if someone was hurt. Having the movie be all boys makes this movie have a stereotype against girls in the sense that they couldn’t survive as well as the boys did on the island. The boys in the movie did a good job surviving besides their loss of individuality. The next example of the bystander effect was during the murder of Piggy’s death. During Piggy’s death, the “other” group of boys throw a rock on Piggy’s head and kill him.
While he was laying there, the other group didn’t even think about if he was okay, or say sorry, they just stared. One of the boys said, “you’re out of it boy, you’re on your own” (Lord of the Flies, 1:14:28). This quote points out they lost a sense of individualism being on the island for so long not having any restrictions or rules. They were developing their own rules and society. Ralph thought the other team would come and help Piggy, even though they were the ones that caused his death. They figured Ralph would do all the work (Lord of the Flies,
1:14:13). When Simon comes out of the woods to come back to his team, the other team was so focused on killing the ‘beast’ that they end up killing Simon. After they killed Simon, Piggy and Ralph sat together crying. Piggy said “It wasn’t our fault, it was a terrible accident” (Lord of the Flies, 1:03:48). Ralph was convinced that it was him and Piggy’s fault because they were there. This scene illustrates the bystander effect because they didn’t pitch in and help Simon because they figured other people would help out. This was similar to Genovese’s case, in which she was murdered because people who heard her thought other people would help out or someone had already called 9-1-1. The last social psychology theme of Lord of the Flies, which is verbal bullying and aggression. In Lord of the Flies, the last theme was verbal bullying/aggression. In social psychology, bullying is defined as “a pattern of data in which one individual is chosen as the target of repeated aggression by one or more others; the target person generally has less power than those who engage in aggression” (Branscombe, N.R., & Baron., R.A, 2017). Aggression is defined as “behavior directed toward the goal of harming another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment” (Branscombe, N.R., & Baron, R.A., 2017). During Lord of the Flies, aggression and bullying connect and intertwine so much, it was decided to use them both as one theme because there were so many examples in the movie of both aggression and bullying. The first example of verbal bullying and aggression, was Piggy, the “chubby” boy who wears glasses. For the most part, everyone picks on Piggy, except for Ralph. Ralph and Piggy had always been on the same side and stood together throughout everything. Some of the examples that makes Piggy the victim were, the stereotype that you are a nerd if you wear glasses, he’s chubby, and he is dumb. In reality, Piggy was the only “knowledgeable” one and he always gives the smart and ethical ideas. An example of this was when Piggy mentions that they could make a clock based off of the sun and the boys blew him off and thought it wouldn’t be possible (Lord of the Flies, 37:08). One of the key examples of how Piggy was referred to as the victim in bullying and aggression was when Jack makes a comment to Piggy saying, “what we don’t need around here is you, shit brain” (Lord of the Flies, 14:17). After this comment, Ralph stood up for Piggy saying that his name was “Piggy”. The boys around Jack snap back and said, “Yeah, Piggy” and mimics a pig while snorting (Lord of the Flies, 14:22). Jack has always been the main bully throughout the movie. Jack was one of the main characters in Lord of the Flies. From the beginning of the movie he was always the kid that had a negative attitude towards everything and everyone around him. When the boys first got to the island, one of the boys asked “do you think anyone else is here, sir?” and Jack snapped back to the frightened boy, “it’s just an island, there is nothing here” (Lord of the Flies, 6:03). All throughout the movie, he was never supportive and was always the one that bullied others, even his friends. He was the leader of the group that had aggression and high self esteem. Jack turned his group into a tribe which had blood under their eyes, hunted for food, and wore a tooth necklace to symbolize their tribe’s strength. Another example of how Jack was a bully and used aggression was after the helicopter passed them. When Ralph walked up to the other team with Jack sitting in the front of everyone. After they were all processing the helicopter that had passed them and didn’t notice them because people had let the fire had burn out. Ralph points out that Jack had messed up because they were only focusing on killing the pig and not getting help. Jack snapped back at Ralph and said “back off man, I’m sick of your shit, and so is my gang” (Lord of the Flies, 38:44). After this scene, Ralph and Jack started a physical fight and Piggy got into the middle to break it up to be the bigger person. Jack pushed him to the ground, and Jack’s team laughed at Piggy (Lord of the Flies, 38:55). Jack constantly was antagonizing other people and always bullying his friends who were now enemies. In the movie Lord of the Flies, there were many other psychology themes that were relevant to social psychology but conformity, the bystander effect, and verbal bullying and aggression were the most important and relevant themes that stood out. In viewing this movie and researching the themes, it was clear that there was a pattern in what the movie’s portraying. There’s an overarching theme of troubled adolescents that’s present in today’s society and schools. The movie, written in 1990, is still relevant today. The reflection was seen in the people’s behavior today. Having the blood being used as face paint in the movie, relates with children today trying to better than they really are.
Piggy is upset with Ralph before they leave the island because Ralph thinks it is ok to make their choir boy group into hunters to kill animals. For example in the story in chapter 1 it says “Ralph talked the group into becoming hunters and killing a pig stuck in rope. Another example is when they left to go to walk and look around the lagoon Ralph saw a pig and chased it but stopped himself and said “ next time I will show no mercy.” Piggy didn't want to be a killer nor wanted his friends to
In the film Lord of The Flies, after a plane crash the survivors found themselves living on a deserted island which brought out certain societal norms with deviant behaviors formed in the different groups of the adolescents. Deviance is something different from what is considered to be normal or morally correct. The societal norms of the island were maintaining the same appearance and also having an aggressive attitude. Furthermore, there was more of a focus on long term survival as opposed to getting rescued. The societal norms started when, the hunters came back from a successful hunt bringing a dead pig to dinner. Once they arrived, they smacked Piggy in the head and broke a lens on his glasses. The reasoning behind this was, he was considered deviant from their group because he was not like them. He was not like them because of his physical appearance.
When others are giving up Piggy keeps them on the right track. Toward the end of the book after Simon died and Ralph kept saying, “That was murder” (156). Piggy, trying to keep Ralph sane said, “it was an accident,” said Piggy suddenly, “that's what it was. An accident”(157). Piggy is one of the few left faithful followers and he helps give Ralph hope that killing simon was an accident, that he is still chief and that he can still help get everyone off the island. Without Piggy, Ralph would have given up every last bit of hope.
( Golding, 87) When everyone else was afraid, he just thought that " if there's something wrong, there's someone to put it right". ( Golding 87) This shows that Piggy was levelheaded and he knew that the only thing to fear on the island were themselves. This is like he knew that the cause of breakdown in the society would be from themselves. While piggy and Ralph were able to keep order almost successfully, others would leave because they were in to not having rules and just having fun without actual work and effort being put in to help them along. Ralph says, "Piggy, are you the only one left? No there's Samn'Eric." This is later in the book and it shows how people are able to ignore the rules. Only the moral and honest people stayed with Ralph and Piggy To try and be saved. The rest were bloodthirsty savages and left with Jack to hunt and Kill. Piggy also really respected Ralph. When Ralph was upset with the "accident" that happened with Simon, Piggy knew that even though Ralph was doing wrong things, he would work things out. Piggy helps to show how unnecessary it is to dwell on these matters saying "What good're you doing talking like that". (Golding, 156) Piggy knew no one would listen to himself, so he
“I cannot believe there is caste system in society; I cannot believe people are judged on the basis of their prosperity.” No matter how much you’ve got to bring to the table, society will always find a way to put you down and aim for something else whether that something is worst or better than what you have to offer. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding has shown this external conflict several times throughout the story with characters such as Ralph and piggy. The conflict of character vs. society is present in these characters: Ralph, the elected chief of the group of British schoolboys is constantly having to remind the group of the bigger picture; Piggy, ultimately the brain of the
There are many aspects that determine how humans behave around one another. This is shown throughout William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies. This book is about a group of British boys that are stranded on an island without any adults due to a plane crash. At first, all goes well; the boys cooperate in attempting to maintain the fire signal, gather food and making shelters. However, human nature takes over and their democracy that they have created fails. This leads to the majority of the boys becoming complete savages when the evil within them takes over. Different qualities help determine whether a person is a good or a bad leader. Although, Piggy and Jack have some leadership qualities, Ralph is the best leader.
"An attempt to trace the defects of human society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable."
In life today, society holds many expectations of its people. Members of society are expected to behave in a civilized manner; conforming to law, following social norms, and acting with dignity and without violence. When the boys became marooned on the island, they were forced to question the expectations they had always observed. This brought about a large battle between those who decided to remain civil and those who would rather rebel. Civilization is pitted against acts of savagery in a plethora of ways in Lord of the Flies when determining who had the right to speak during assemblies, when the group hunted pigs, throughout the struggle over Piggy’s glasses, and finally with Simon’s death.
During World War II, the United States killed 90,000 to 166,000 people in Hiroshima with an atomic bomb. The bombing of Hiroshima demonstrated the uncivilized behaviors of humankind: hunger for power, misuse of technology, and subconscious reactions to conflicts. Lord of the Flies, an allegorical novel by William Golding, illustrates a horrific tale of boys who are stranded on an island and lose their ability to make civil decisions. Throughout the book, Ralph and Jack fight for power, Piggy’s spectacles are constantly taken to create fire, and several of the boys become “savage” and act upon their subconscious minds. From a sociological perspective, Golding’s novel portrays man’s voracity for power, abuse of technology to the point of destruction, and his venture to inner darkness.
What was it that caused the aggression and dominance exhibited by the boys of Lord of the Flies? Was it some metaphysical, spiritual force, or perhaps their genetic makeup? Could it have been the influence of their peers or families, or was it the media that inspired this dangerous pattern? Conceivably, their gender had something to do with this appalling trait. It all begs the question, would the same experiences have occurred had females been stranded on the island instead of males? Had females been in a similar situation as the boys in Lord of the Flies, they would have fared abundantly better. Initially, this paper will address society’s role in encouraging males’ violent behavior, as well as females’ politeness and passivity. Secondly, it will be discussed how family socialization influences females’ gentle natures and males’ aggressive temperaments. Finally, this research will explore both gender’s leadership styles, and scientific perception behind these differences.
of Louis XIV was that he thought human nature would always be the same. The
Look at the basis of civilization, what is the one terminal thing every society possesses? Malliciousness, since the beginning of time there has been one constant attribute of all humans, the ability to be destructive. Human beings are innately evil, the environment they are put in determines if the act on the evil inside of them. In the novel Lord of The Flies the atrocious behavior of the boys on the island exemplifies the concept of humans and heinous behavior. The stanford prison experiment conducted in August of 1971, recognizes the possessiveness of power in the absence of society, identifying the underlying autogenous behavior of humans. Religion is domesticated in both of these instances which dictates why there is as an absence of classic integrity. Ethology is displayed abundantly within the lord of the flies novel and the society it constitutes. Societies are created by
In Lord of the Flies, many key characters and symbols represent the almost civilized impulse. Some examples are Ralph, Piggy, and the ‘conch shell’ the boys use to call meetings. These are signs of order and control in a place full of fear and mental pressure. Simon is an example of how humans slowly evolve and adjust in their surroundings because he takes control of the situation. Simon acts morally on the island, he behaves kindly to the younger children, and he is the first to realize the problem posed by the beast and the Lord of the Flies. The problem that there is no external monster, but rather that a monster lurks within each human being.
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.
Failure of individual ethics is firmly portrayed in the novel where the author says “The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that, the shape of society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical and respectable.” The predominant theme of “Lord of the Flies” is civilization vs savagery. Throughout the novel Golding argues that people are essentially savage, attracted towards violence, however humans have been able to create civilizations as the years passed by. The clash between Ralph and Jack represents civilizations vs savagery. This is expressed through the boys’ attitude towards authority, where Ralph uses his authority to create rules, safeguard the group and implement the moral and ethical values, while Jack wants to satisfy his desires through power. When Jack creates his own tribe, he wants all the boys to not only help him but worship him. This is similar to how Hitler was during WW2, his desire for power made him think that he is the most superior and he went to an extent of killing the Jews without any valid reason claiming that they are not the right race. This suggests that Golding has been able bring out Hitler through Jacks actions. When Jack doesn’t identify the importance of society and disobeys Ralph’s authority, his true character emerges. Through this Golding brings out that savagery is an unavoidable fact of humans, civilization can help alleviate its growth. The Lord of the Flies is an annals of civilization leading to savagery in human nature, the boys who are shaped by the civilized British society become savages through apprehension, superstition and