Almost every man has probably toxic masculinity in say way shape or form. This can be saying “you won’t” or “Man up” to get someone to do something. I have experienced this with my friends when we want each other to do something stupid. Although masculinity in moderate amounts can be good for a community. It can promote the growth of a civilization, it also may help a leader come out and take charge. Toxic masculinity is a whole other ball game. Toxic masculinity does not help a community in any way because it creates conflicts among men, that can stall progression. Many times this can cause a community or civilization to fail. This was demonstrated in the book Lord of the Flies. It especially shows through in times of great stress, or when …show more content…
some felt like they had been disrespected. Golding did a good job in writing what would happen in this situation. Toxic masculinity can cause conflicts between individuals.
This was demonstrated in the book Lord of the Flies when Jack and his tribe went to take Piggy’s glasses from Ralph and the others. “Then there was a vicious snarling in the mouth of the shelter and the plunge and thump of living things”(Golding 167) a fight pursued piggy glasses or the “power” on the island. The fact that Jack decided to fight to try and be dominant. It was like Jack felt like he was forced to fight, and be masculine, to get some respect and power. Jack thought that to get what he wanted he would have to fight to get it. When they did this it made Piggy mad, and further aggravated to dislike between Piggy and Jack. Piggy wanted to take them back by force which would eventually lead to more violence. When they went back to get Piggy's glasses that just lead to more violence, “Ralphs temper blazed. ‘I say! You voted me for chief. Don't you hear the conch? You played a dirty trick- we’d have given you fire if you’d asked for it…’ Jack made a rush and stabbed at Ralph’s chest with his spear”(Golding 179). After being accused Jack probably felt offended and instead of talking about it he wanted to fight. This is the type of thing that comes with toxic masculinity. It makes people want to fight instead of just talking. He wanted to show that he wouldn’t take disrespect from people. It was this encounter that probably stopped the two clans from being peaceful with each other. The fact that they were all …show more content…
feeling like they needed to prove that they were “men” probably also contributed to all of the violence happening on the island. Another example of toxic masculinity affecting the situation is when the group of boys went to the mountain to find the beast. Jack and Ralph were seeing who would back down and Ralph said, “‘I don’t mind’ astonished, he heard his voice come out, cool and casual… ‘If you don’t mind of course’, ‘oh not at all’”(Golding 120). Both of them were trying to show how much better they were than to another one. This probably caused the divide that had already started between the two boys to become even worse. Jack already disliked Ralph because the boys had elected him the leader of the first tribe. Jack felt like had to redeem is self for not being the guy in charge. Jack thought that he had to become the alpha male of the group. These are the types of conflicts that can stall progression in a community. It was shown throughout the book Lord of the Flies that toxic masculinity is bad for a situation. Even some TED talks show how toxic masculinity can be bad in real life. The quote I choose from Lord of the Flies is when the boys are setting up shelters and Jack wanted to hunt. Ralphs saw the need for shelters “‘you wouldn’t care to help with the shelters, I suppose’ ‘We want meat’ Now the antagonism was audible”(Golding 51), and Jack wanted to provide for the boys by getting meat. The dislike between the Ralph and Jack really plays through here. When Ralph asked in a mean way, so Jack decided that instead of going along with Ralph’s idea he went his own way. This was another one of many power grabs by Jack to try to show he was more important. The fact that they had this argument just stalled getting anything done. The shelters couldn’t get done well, and Jack wouldn’t have help hunting. They could have been on to the next thing if they could have just agreed on something. A real-life example of toxic masculinity stalling progression was mentioned in Anand Giridharadas TED talk A Tale of Two Americas. It happened in a Dallas Mini-Mart “‘Where are you from’ he asks. ‘Excuse me’ Raisuddin answers.
His accent betrays him… a self-styled true American vigilante shoots Raisuddin in revenge for 9/11”(Giridharadas). With this, there was no chance of both sides coming back together. This stalled the reunion of Americans after the attack. It made everyone dislike the others more. If the 9/11 hadn’t torn the country apart enough then this would do it. Now everyone had a reason to hate each other. Instead of talking about it and trying to understand other people the man just decided to go out and should others. They may have been able to make friends, but instead, people got shot. Toxic masculinity can also stall progression within yourself. Just as Rebecca Walker, a writer, and activist, found out with her son. It affected him, because “My son could compete and score, perform and win, or be an outcast, or worse, invisible his unique gifts for unnoticed and unharvested”. This conflict was fueled by the social perception that created some toxic masculinity. The way for boys to get ahead is to go play sports and be really good. This can stall creative progression in a civilization. It would make everything physical and we wouldn’t have art or any other creative works. It would make a society much less intellectual. Creativity does not have very much social worth in the realm of
masculinity. These are just some of the ways that toxic masculinity is bad for a community. Toxic masculinity can make people feel like they are unwanted. I have heard of times that people are persuaded into doing activities that they don't want to. There are many more examples of toxic masculinity that can be found within a community. You can look almost anywhere and find that it is much more prevalent than what you think. Toxic masculinity doesn't help a community in anyway, and can stall progression. Next time you are out look and see if you can find any examples for yourself.
The topics that Joe Ehrmann uses as framework for his Building Men for Others program are quite intriguing and make you really question masculinity. The first topic, rejecting false masculinity, can be interpreted a few different ways. In the book, it states: “As young boys, we’re told to be men, or to act like men” soon followed with “we’ve got all these parents say ‘be a man’ to boys that have no concept of what that means. I completely agree with the statement of Joe Ehrmann and often question the definition of ‘being a man’. Many boys and men will reject the idea of a man being anything other than being big and strong or having power.
Throughout the novel, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the character Jack finds his true identity through a clay mask of his own making. At the beginning of the novel, Jack is unable to kill a pig for food, however, he later puts on a mask in order to blend in with nature and not drive the pigs away. To the contrary, by putting on this mask Jack gains a newfound confidence that was nonexistent in his own skin. For example when Jack first put on the mask he “looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger” (63). By putting on a mask Jack is able to lose his identity a little bit and act and feel like a whole new person. This idea of taking on a whole new role when putting on a mask can be seen in many modern tv shows and movies.
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies there are many examples of symbolism. The conch shell represents order, the appearance of the boys represents savagery, and the fire on top of the mountain represents rescue. These examples are all symbols in the book.
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a peculiar story about boys stranded on an island, and the plot and characters relate to many prevailing events and problems. A specific problem that is currently occurring is the mutual hatred and enmity between North Korea and South Korea. This is a current event, but the North and South’s hostility has been ongoing since 1945, when Korea was split into North and South, Communist and Capitalist. When the 38th parallel(Border between North and South Korea) was created, Kim Il-Sung ruled the North, and Syngman Rhee ruled the South. As of now, a power hungry dictator, Kim Jong-un rules the north, and an optimistic president who wants to see change was recently elected in the South, named Moon Jae-in. In Golding’s book, Ralph is a character who aimed to keep everyone alive and to stay together. Jack on the other hand, wanted to have fun and hunt, and although he also wanted to be rescued, he made no effort to help. In this sense, North Korea is a clear representation of the character Jack and his quest for power, and opposingly, South Korea is a representation of Ralph and his strive for order, democracy, and civilization.
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.
Men are allegedly competitive, aggressive, dominant, and strong and if these attributes are not acquired a man is not a man. When other men recognize a man failing in those four areas of “manliness” they compare him to a female with negative connotation as expressed in the following quote, “The worst insult one man can hurl at another-whether its boys on the playground or CEOs in the boardroom-is the accusation that a man is like a woman.” These actions create perceptions that women are unworthy and pitiful. Jensen mentions that because of masculinity men are thought to seek control over women resulting in an increase of physical violence towards women. However, masculinity has harsh effects on men as well. Men are constantly trying to prove their dominance to each other, while competing against one another for ultimate dominance. This creates a never ending cycle of competition and unease for
Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding in 1954 about a group of young British boys who have been stranded alone together on an island with no adults. During the novel the diverse group of boys struggle to create structure within a society that they constructed by themselves. Golding uses many unique literary devices including characterization, imagery, symbolism and many more. The three main characters, Ralph, Piggy, and Jack are each representative of the three main literary devices, ethos, logos, and pathos. Beyond the characterization the novel stands out because of Golding’s dramatic use of objective symbolism, throughout the novel he uses symbols like the conch, fire, and Piggy’s glasses to represent how power has evolved and to show how civilized or uncivilized the boys are acting. It is almost inarguable that the entire novel is one big allegory in itself, the way that Golding portrays the development of savagery among the boys is a clear representation of how society was changing during the time the novel was published. Golding is writing during
This doesn’t occur just in their relationships, but in every facet of life. Men are constantly in a struggle for power and control whether it is at work, home, during sports, or in a relationship, this remains true. So the only way for them to get this power is for them to be “men”; tough, strong, masculine, ones that demand and take power. Where does this thirst for control come from? Is it the natural structure of a man, or is it a social construct?
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.
My Essay is about Ralph and and his Motivation’s and did he contribute to the tragedy in any way. Also about if he prevented any of the deaths and what would I have done differently in his situation. I defend Ralph’s actions as leader, He had tried his best but everyone fell apart. Did Ralph contribute to the tragedies? Ralph had tried his best but he was struggling at handling the problems on the island, He was unaware of the boy’s and what was going on. He had tried to contribute to all of the tragedies but there was too much going on around him it was just hard. What was wrong with Ralph too was that jack ignores everything and try’s to do his own thing the whole time instead of working together with everyone. All Jack wants is his way or his way to him there is no other way. So yes Ralph had try to contribute to the tragedies but Jack and other boys had just did what they wanted to do instead of doing what they should have done. So Ralph had really struggled dealing with everybody. In my opinion Ralph was doing a good job, Yes he kind of gave up for a little b...
How are the characters of Ralph, Jack and Piggy established in the opening chapters of the novel Lord of the Flies At the start of the novel we learn that during a nuclear war, there was an atomic explosion. Many boys were evacuated on an aircraft with a detachable passenger tube. They were flying over tropical seas via Gibraltar and Addis Ababa when the tube was released and crashed-landed in the jungle of an island. The aircraft flew off in flames and overnight the remains of the tube were swept out to sea in a storm.
One of the most important themes running through the whole story in Lord of the Flies by William Golding is the power of different symbols. Golding frequently uses symbolism, which is the practice of using symbols especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning. The main point of each symbol is its use and its effect on each of the characters. They help shape who the characters are and what they will be. The symbols weave their way throughout the story and are more powerful than they first seem. Two boys from similar upbringings can both be so drastically different when put in difficult situations and given things to make them wield power among others. Spitz says, “But his desire for many controls did not, of course, extend to controls
Lord of the Flies: Final Essay Exam. Are the defects of society traced back to the defects of human nature? The defects of society, and how it relates to the defects of human nature, can be explained with the savagery that drives the defects of society and the same savagery that drives the defects of human nature. In this story, Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the id, ego, and superego within the characters in the book. Golding represents the id with Jack, whereas the id says “I want, and I want it now,” and Jack constantly wants and needs power, and wants his way in every situation.
Males continually want to be the best, being a distinct priority in their lives. Knowing that they are the best acts as a control valve in their life. This is best demonstrated in our own society through sports. Men trained to be brutal "killers." When a sports career is over men are left with a void to vent frustration. This characteristic of today's society can also be seen in Shakespeare's time in the sport of falconing.
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.