The idea that ignorance is bliss is a common theme in many books, movies, and other types of media. These books and movies all have supportive examples, but they rarely describe how those people end up. It all starts out happy and carefree, but eventually, they could get hurt. In these novels, Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies, and Brave New World, one of the characters either hurts themselves or someone else, which spirals the story into chaos or into self-conflict. This can happen both intentionally or unintentionally, but it still gives a negative impact on the story. The idea that ignorance leads to destruction and chaos is found in Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies, and Brave New World.
In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Lennie
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cannot live a normal life because of his disability, which puts George, his caretaker, into the story. George takes care of Lennie as a brother and helps Lennie keep a job as best he can. Lennie always gets in trouble in the end, causing them to move around and get new jobs, where Lennie starts the cycle over again. His ignorance of human interactions ends up the root of most of their problems. Similarly, in Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, a situation occurs with Lenina responds in an unexpected way, causing tension and violence. The way she acts with John expressing his feelings shows her inexperience with her feelings and with a Savage. John exiles himself while enduring emotional and physical pain because of her actions. The correlation between ignorance and pain also exists in Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. The boys trapped on the island experience pain many times, while some even die. The first death on the island exemplifies how ignorance leads to death and destruction. In the story, Of Mice and Men, Lennie, a mentally handicapped adult, lacks most fundamental social skills. When Curley's wife confronts him in the barn, Lennie does not know how to react. “And she continued to struggle, and her eyes were wild with terror. He shook her then, and he was angry with her. … and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.” (Steinbeck 91). Lennie acts on his instincts while trying to hide the fact that he killed the puppy, but his instincts ended up causing more trouble than before and starting a manhunt. George and Lennie had spent almost their whole lives together, working together and living together. George had fled after the incident with the girl in Oregon, even though Lennie was the one responsible for it. George knows Lennie, where he would go, what he would do. He knows to find Lennie at the creek and how to confront him before the others do. George always did the best thing for Lennie. “And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head. … He pulled the trigger.” (Steinbeck 106). Even though George agreed to take on responsibility for Lennie after Aunt Clara passed, and he ultimately did the best possible thing for Lennie. Curley's men would have killed Lennie after what he did to his wife if George had not. George killed Lennie after having him recreate their dream, and making him happy. It was a tough choice, but he then pulled the trigger, and Lennie died instantly, “Lennie jarred and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering.” (Steinbeck 106). After George shot Lennie, Candy comforted him and invited him to the bar. Lennie handicap made him incapable of living a normal life, and his ignorance led to his death. Another example of ignorance leading to chaos is found in the book Lord of the Flies. In this book, the boys are stranded on an island by themselves and know very little survival skills. The boys lacked knowledge because of their age, which made even the oldest and smartest kids oblivious to some of the severity of their situation. The fear of the island has not yet entered their minds, which leads the boys to say, “This is our island. It’s a good island. Until the grownups come to fetch us we’ll have fun.” (Golding 35). The boys decided to have fun until rescued, but they do not know how long they will remain trapped on the island. They have hope of a quick rescue, without a base to place their faith on. Piggy, the least ignorant of all the school boys on the island, was book smart, but he too lacked survival skills. Outnumbered and unpopular, he became forced to follow the crowd, “Then, with the martyred expression of a parent who has to keep up with the senseless ebullience of the children, he picked up the conch, turned toward the forest, and began to pick his way over the tumbled scar.” (Golding 38). At this part in the book, the boys have decided to build a fire as a rescue signal. None of them have expert experience in fire building or keeping, which leads to the fire getting out of hand. Piggy was supposed to watch out for the younger kids while the fire began, “‘That little’un-’” gasped Piggy-’him with the mark on his face, I don’t see him. Where is he now?’ The crowd was as silent as death. … The boys looked at each other fearfully, unbelieving.” (Golding 46-47). Ralph then began to yell at Piggy for not keeping track of all the little kids, as they ran around the fire in pandemonium. This was the first death on the island and it had a clear impact on some of the children. It had no impact on some of the little kids, as well as Jack and the hunters, which shows the innocence and ignorance of the children. The entire society in Brave New World, conditioned to ignorance and choosing not to learn about anything, live under the rule of the Controller.
People like Bernard and Helmholtz have broken through their conditioned thoughts and have a curiosity of knowledge. Helmholtz and Bernard go to meet with the Controller, along with John to talk about their society and the future. John had previously been arrested for lashing out at the hospital after the passing of his mother. The Controller explains this about the society, “‘They're well off; they're safe; they're never ill; they're not afraid of death; they're blissfully ignorant of passion and old age; they're plagued with no mothers or fathers; they've got no wives, or children, or lovers to feel strongly about; they're so conditioned that they practically can't help behaving as they ought to behave.'” (Huxley 220). The Controller speaks of the people of society almost as robots, or objects, saying they can only behave as conditioned to behave. As a leader of a society, the people under one's rule should be thought of as people. One of the most ignorant characters in the book, Lenina, had wrestled back and forth about the feelings between her and John, and he finally tells her that he loves her. He tells her that where he comes from people get married and live together for the rest of their lives. Lenina's reacts as if she cannot comprehend his feelings, “She jumped up and, as though afraid that he might run away from her physically, as well as with his mind, caught him by the wrist. ‘Answer me this question: do you really like me, or don't you.'” (Huxley 191). Lenina's ignorance causes her to feel genuinely shocked and confused that even after John saying ‘I love you', she still does not know how he feels. Lenina broke John's heart when she responded this way when he declared his love for her. He was also heartbroken and angry about his mother's death. His frustration led him to isolation at the lighthouse, “But it
was still the presence of Lenina that haunted him. Lenina whom he had promised to forget. Even through the stab and sting of the juniper needles, his wincing flesh was aware of her, unescapably real. ‘Sweet, sweet… And if you wanted me too, why didn't you…'” (Huxley 252). This quote shows how John wanted to get out of London, as it had ruined him and his mother, but his thoughts kept going back to Lenina. He whipped himself as punishment for thinking of both Lenina and his mother. Lenina's ignorance slowly led John into insanity, where he ultimately harmed himself. These books, commonly read among high school students, give examples of ignorance and how it caused self-conflict with John in Brave New World, chaos with the young boys in Lord of the Flies, and with Lennie’s death in Of Mice and Men. The common saying and theme found in books throughout the years has been contradicted with strong arguments from three popular books. These stories show how the absence of knowledge can be detrimental to a society or a person. Whether it be death, pain and suffering, or chaos, ignorance always ends in a bad consequence.
Ralph joins Jack and the hunters in the hunt for the pig and gets caught up in the excitement of the kill. Prior to this, Ralph has been the voice of reason and common sense on the island. Now, he has let his urge to kill take over, and he is obviously excited and enjoying it.
In the Lord of the Flies the littluns share a big role. One of the main importances is that the littluns provide situations and are able to interact with the bigger kids. They seem to be the followers in the novel. There trying to mind their own business but also help and do what they can do for survival.
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.
the novel, Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, the idea of cruelty is shown through many brutal actions that the characters find pleasurable.
-Ralph notices, “an unusual heat, even for this island,” which foreshadows unusual events in the future. It also foreshadows conflict in the future, as typically in hot weather, people get hot-headed in heat. It is also pathetic fallacy.
William Golding, the author of the novel The Lord of the Flies, lived through the global conflicts of both world wars. World War II shifted his point of view on humanity, making him realize its inclination toward evilness. His response to the ongoing struggle between faith and denial became Lord of the Flies, in which English schoolboys are left to survive on their own on an uninhabited island after a plane crash. Just like Golding, these boys underwent the trauma of war on a psychological level. Ralph, one of the older boys, stands out as the “chief,” leading the other victims of war in a new world. Without the constraints of government and society, the boys created a culture of their own influenced by their previous background of England.
Mankind is innately evil. The allegorical novel, The Lord of the Flies, allows for little interpretation about human nature. William Golding depicts the idea, “evil is an inborn trait of man” (Golding). Throughout the novel the children who have crash landed on the island begin to uncover their savage nature. Although all of the children somehow succumb to a heinous behaviour, Jack, Ralph, and Roger become most noticeably corrupt. Ultimately, it becomes clear that malicious intent is intrinsic in mankind.
Authority plays a vital role in the modern world through contrasting forms of government and the struggle for power between leaders. The leader of a society asserts power over its citizens with the aim to create the laws, which hold the society together. Once authority is demolished within a community, the power spreads to its citizens in which total chaos collectively overtakes the society. The process of law-making and a struggle for power takes precedence in William Golding’s allegorical novel, Lord of the Flies, through the conch shell found upon the shore. The conch grants superiority to one member of the group over the others, it is used to call assemblies and assists in choosing the speakers during important meetings. When the conch
Freedom is a fragile effect on human nature, and it allows humans to expose their inner thoughts and true feelings. William Golding's Lord of The Flies depicts scenes of disagreement and anger, which adds emotion to the book. Throughout the novel, three major characters all portray aspects of humans in the real world.
Children can go bad for many reasons either it’s their childhood and unmet needs or even psychological reasons. The boys in the book experience theses psychological reasons because of the trauma of the plane crash, being left alone on the island and having to take care of eachother at such a young age. In my research I found some psychological theories that reflected on the boys from the book Lords of the flies.
Incredibly, throughout the entirety of the book, Golding uses irony to compare the boy’s on the island to the adults at war in the outside world. Jack arrived on the island with a sense of superiority saying that “after all, we're not savages. We're English; and the English are best at everything. So we've got to do the right things (The lord of the Flies pg. 42).” Then Jack turns right around and his first step toward a savage lifestyle was painting up his face with mud and dirt to put on a mask before he goes hunting. At the end of the book Jack is so far gone that he hunts another boy. He plans on placing Ralph’s head on a stick in order to get a message across- you’re either with me or against me. Jack is the same one who goes to steal
William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, creates a dystopian society which displays civilized English schoolboys transform into human natures barbaric state. It starts after the crash of their school’s plane onto an uninhabited island where Golding demonstrates how humans have an innate compulsion to be corrupt and chaotic. The boys first want to mimic their British civilization, but later on their mindset starts to change when they lose hope on being rescued. In the beginning, they make a miniature democratic society which had the flaw of higher power. After hope of rescue starts to dwindle and the fear of the “beast” dawns on the boys, their sense of civilization begins to diminish, and the democratic society starts to crumble. The conditions that the boys went through shows how civilized citizens can turn into barbaric savages.
Throughout the course of my senior English career, there aren’t any texts I’ve read that have affected me as deeply as Lord of the Flies or Heart of Darkness. Not only are they shocking and saddening at face value, but once you realize the symbols represented by their most famous scenes, they become so much more than words on paper. These texts become testaments to the faults of humanity on a global scale. These aren’t your average symbols of some romantic idea. When the realization hits you, you can almost feel it. But, with how different these two works are, can they have similar messages about humanity? As a matter of fact, they do. The shared messages about the human condition in The Lord of The Flies by William Golding and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad are that there is evil in all of us, we all lose our innocence, and we are manipulative.
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.
of Louis XIV was that he thought human nature would always be the same. The