When the teachers leaves the classroom and it’s just left with a room full of students, rules are broken, pencils fly, kids begin to run around, and in the matter of seconds the room is filled loud voices beaming from the children. Whenever there is a time when it is just kids in a room and no adults, it gets hectic very fast and most of the time turns into utter chaos. What do people do in a time of chaos? Some people become leaders and others become followers. In the book the Lord of the Flies the kids are faced with struggling to survive, and what roles they will be playing as they are on the island. The kids desire for popularity and power gets a little out of hand and the kids feel peer pressure to submit to these power crazed children …show more content…
in order to fit in. Kids struggle with peer pressure and the desire for popularity already, but when put in an environment when there are no adults the desire for popularity and the act of giving into peer pressure gets out of hand. A part of this struggle comes from the younger boys who are not confident in their identities that they want to be followers rather than leaders. Throughout the Lord of the Flies the idea of peer pressure and wanting to achieve popularity become more prevalent as the story goes on. This is seen when Ralph belittles Piggy to boost his confidence, when Ralph leaves Piggy for Jack because of popularity, and when the kids all start to join Jack’s tribe because of peer pressure. It all begins in the beginning with Ralph and Piggy, and we see that Ralph makes fun of Piggy to boost his confidence, making himself feel better about himself. At first Ralph and Piggy were somewhat friends because they were the only two that had met up, but after meeting the rest of the kids on the island Ralph completely ditches Piggy and starts hanging around Jack, who is a more popular kid. This is the first example we see Ralph starting to strive for popularity. Not only did Ralph ditch Piggy, he also blatantly calls Piggy by a name he specifically said he did not want to be called by. Piggy said, “I said I didn’t care as long as they didn’t call me Piggy; an’ I said not to tell and then you went and said straight out-”Ralph completely ignores Piggy’s request because he wants to get a laugh out of the other kids, to belittle Piggy, and make himself look better. Ralph is striving for popularity and is willing to achieve it at almost any cost. Ralph is willing to hurt a friendship as long as it means that other kids will like him. By Ralph telling the other kids to call the boy Piggy, the positions are already are beginning to be established on who the leaders will be and who the followers will be as well. This is just the beginning of peer pressure and seeing the strive for popularity in the island. The second example we see about the boys striving for popularity and the kids giving into peer pressure is later on in the book again with Ralph, Piggy, and Jack. Piggy was out collecting a bunch of sticks for the fire, because Ralph wanted things done. When Piggy told Ralph that he had done what he had been asked, Ralph just said, “shut up.” (pg. 59) Ralph treats Piggy with much disrespect ever since he meets up with Jack and that was just one example of how Piggy gets treated by Ralph. Piggy does nothing wrong, he is just helping, but Ralph feels that he is popular enough to order people around. Ralph completely disregards all of Piggy’s hard work and does does not give him credit; he only tells him to shut up, which becomes a common phrase that Ralph says to Piggy. Even though Piggy is very sensible and has good ideas, no one pays attention to him. Piggy is viewed as the chubbier kid who has asthma, can’t swim, and is not a physical help on the island. This is a case of not judging a book by its cover. Even though Piggy may seem like he will not be real helpful because he can’t do much on land, he has very good ideas but they don’t give him a chance. The kids make an assumption of Piggy based on his appearance and don’t even try to listen to Piggy’s ideas even though they can be good and helpful. This theme of being peer pressured into hanging out with the “popular” kids (Jack’s tribe) is becoming more and more common as the story goes on and the popularity starts to go to Jack’s head. Peer pressure is at its peak at the end of the story when the demand to join Jack’s tribe is strong, and we see that the boys who gave into the peer pressure of joining the tribe, follow Jack aimlessly in violent actions.
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
tribe. Throughout the Lord of the Flies the children become hungry for popularity, and give into the pressure of peer pressure, even when it can get the kids into trouble. Even though peer pressure is really easy to give into, it ultimately builds more character by not giving into the desire because it shows that you are stronger than temptations and desires you face. Peer pressure is a very common struggle that especially children and teengers struggle with, but this book is an encouragement to not give into peer pressure, but rather to stand firm and not give in. Even though peer pressure is easy to give into it builds character to not give into it The boys on the island get so caught up in the popularity and who will be in charge that they even get distracted about trying to get rescued at times. Peer pressure and popularity are distractions in this case from the boys really focussing on getting rescued. Maybe if the boys would have cared less about all of the face paint and tribal stuff that Jack and his tribe did, they would have gotten rescued sooner. In the end, we see that when there are no adults around and it is just kids, chaos can occur but it is your choice what you are are going to do when there are no leaders, don’t give into peer pressure because you will ultimately gain nothing from it.
Jack ruled with, what we call today, an “Iron Fist”. Golding shows this by telling how Jack ruled, how he’d beat those who didn’t obey him and how he was violent, greedy, and self-absorbed. He rolled a boulder down the mountain the killed Piggy and organized a party to mutilate Ralph. By this point in the story, he was so infatuated with power that he didn’t care about being rescued and that he was willing to spend the rest of his life on that island just to be the leader and ruler of all everyone. This is Golding’s way of showing how Jack had become so obsessed with power that he would kill anyone who said he was unfit for it and have a public “example” to show what would happen to those who opposed and threatened his
Which is why he had gotten treated the way he did by Jack and the choir. The author writes, “ Jack made a rush and stabbed Ralph’s chest with his spear.” (Golding 177.) Even though Ralph is technically chief, Jack will stop at nothing to become chief. Ralph had been teasing Jack for being a thief, and that had pushed Jack over the edge, causing him to lunge towards Ralph. Jack does not have a high tolerance for Ralph’s actions, and Ralph obviously has a high tolerance for pain. William Golding states, “ ‘The chief and Roger.. They hate you, Ralph. They are going to do you.’ ‘They are going to hunt you tomorrow.’ ‘... Roger sharpened a stick at both ends.’ ” (188) As you, the reader, can probably tell, Jack certainly does not like Ralph. He only likes the faction that obeys and follows him. Those who do not obey Jack, he wants to kill. This island has really gotten to Jack, he is just pure evil now, and poor Ralph and every other character has had to deal with his
When Jack loses the election to become chief to Ralph, it becomes apparent that Jack is schismatic and wholeheartedly intends to act against Ralph’s actions and decisions. From small nuances such as churlish remarks to fights, it is obvious that Jack intends to eventually either dethrone Ralph or form his own tribe. In one instance, Ralph assigns Jack a very simplistic task of watching the fire on the mountain, yet Jack decides that his appetence for blood and meat is more important than fulfilling his duty to the fire. Disobeying Ralph’s orders, Jack defects from his post to hunt and does not attempt to have another person tend the fire in his absence. Because of Jack’s actions, Ralph verbally scolds Jack and states to Jack, “You talk. But you can’t even build hut...
Most children are obedient and well-behaved when they are supervised by adults, but how would they be if they are left to themselves? In the novel, Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, a group of boys, all under the age of thirteen, are stranded on an island and left unsupervised. At first, the boys are innocent and civilized, but as time goes by, they turn into savages. The children in this novel turned into savages because of peer pressure, their desire have fun, and the fear and chaos that evokes from children when they are left unsupervised.
Ralph is one of the few boys who realize that the only way to survive is through peace and order. Because he summons the boys at the beginning of the novel with the conch he and Piggy find, they look upon him as the most responsible of the boys and elect him as a chief over the humiliated Jack. Ralph creates a stable and peaceful society for the children to live; this significantly bothers Jack because he wants to have fun and do things that he never did back in the civilized society. Jack is eventually successful of pulling nearly all of the children out of Ralph’s control to form savages. Ralph represents the civilization, and Jack represents the primitive society.
Ralph gives everyone on the island equal rights and freedoms. Ralph makes everyone feel worthy but Jack makes almost everyone feel useless. Firstly, Ralph lets everyone on the island have a say. They can express their opinion or idea as long as they have the conch. “ I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak,” (Golding 31) says Ralph during an assembly. He is giving everyone an equal chance to talk. On the other hand, Jack just wants the “important” people to talk. Jack says to piggy, ” Who cares about what you believe-fatty,” (97). This shows that Jack doesn’t want Piggy to talk and that is not fair. Nextly, Ralph also assigns everyone equal work and does a lot of work himself. Ralph builds the huts with Simon and he also assigned different people times to watch the fire. Ralph is also very caring towards the lilun’s. He gives them positive motivation towards getting rescued while Jack just ignores them. Therefore, Ralph makes everyone feel worthy by listening to their opinions and assigning equal work among the boys unlike Jack.
Golding has made the two boys’ act similar at the beginning of the novel to show us how ‘normal’ they are. This demonstrates Golding’s view that absolutely anyone can be over ruled by power and become savage (like Jack) when civilisation collapses. After this incident, we can see a continual conflict between Ralph and Jack. We can see this when Jack proclaims that Ralph, “Isn’t a proper chief.” Golding is trying to show us that this conflict is very similar to the conflict between human inner barbarism and the living influence of reason.
When it comes to Jack’s fear of not being chief, it brings out the worst in him and it has an effect on others. For instance, when the boys are deciding on who should be the chief, Ralph wins by a landslide. “Even the choir applauded; and the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification” (Golding 19). That is the first physical evidence of Jack being humiliated by Ralph and judging by Jack’s personality, he is not used to failure so it has a big impact on him. This motivates him to destroy Ralph and the rivalry between the two begins. Another point is that Jack uses fear and threats to control the boys. For example, when Robert tells Roger “’He’s going to beat Wilfred.’ ‘What for?’ Robert shook his head doubtfully” (Golding 176) it shows that Jack is violent and is using his...
Ralph shows that he has a better understanding of the boys than Jack. He knows that the boys need some sort of order on the island in order for them to survive. He starts a simple form of government and sets a few rules for them. Even though they don’t last very long, the fact that he tried to help the group is what makes him a better leader. Ralph’s wisdom and ability to look toward the future also has an advantage over Jack. He has a sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. When the fire goes out, Ralph gets upset because the chance to be rescued was gone as well. Ralph enforces his role of leadership as he gives the boys a sense of stability of an authority figure. He keeps the boys in pretty good order at the meeting by making a rule that they can only speak if they have the conch. Ralph knows that the littleuns are afraid and they need shelter to feel more secure. They work together for a while, but as the time goes on the smaller boys want to go play. They slowly lose all their help until Simon and Ralph are the only ones left to work on them. Ralph knows that this is a necessity and keeps bringing it up at the meetings. Jack, on the other hand, is doing nothing but causing chaos.
At the beginning of Lord of the Flies, the boys create a democratic government. As the story progresses, the initial democracy on the island is ignored, and a dictatorship rises in its place. This dictatorship fails to keep the boys in order. The author, William Golding, shows that without the institution of a strong government and set of rules people will become impulsive and seek instant gratification. In the absence of order, people tend not to become disciplined of their own accord, but rather dissolve into destructive chaos.
... Ralph has proven to have a much better understanding of people and their needs and this makes him a much better leader than Jack. With Ralph's understanding of the need for order and rules, he improves the condition where the boys are living in. Jack's condition was horrible. Also, Jack treated the boys very badly and like he better. Ralph, on the other hand treated the boys all equally and with respect. Ralph's priority to get off the island shows his wisdom and ability to make good decisions. Although Jack was popular on the island for the short amount of time the boys were there, he would not have been popular for much longer. He does not have any of the qualities that a good leader should have and turned himself and the rest of the boys into complete losers. Jack's plan would have soon faded but if Ralph had become leader, his wisdom would last much longer.
Golding shows the ways Ralph handles things in Chapter 2 when all the boys keep talking at once it states, “The meeting hummed and was silent. ‘And another thing. We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school.” He held the conch before his face and glanced round the mouth. ‘Then I’ll give him the conch.’”(Pg.33) Golding is basically trying to establish that Ralph represents a democracy in this novel because he is the one that tries to let everyone speak. A democracy like America, lets everybody say what they want and are free to do some things. Another example would be in Chapter 11 when Ralph and Jack are fighting it states, “‘See? See? That’s what you’ll get! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone-’ He ran forward, stooping. ‘I’m chief!’ Viciously, with full intention, he hurled his spear at Ralph.”(Pg.181) Golding is establishing that Jack represents totalitarianism and dictatorship; he uses fear and violence to get what he wants throughout the whole novel. We have seen lots of people who act like Jack in the real world, for example: Hitler; Jack lured his prey and then used violence to finally capture the people, just like Hitler. Golding does not only use the older boys to represent the people with power in society, but he also uses items that the boys use in the story to represent other
The ability for a society to function depends largely on the amount of individuality or uniformity the society contains. Throughout history, many different leaders have tried various approaches to the structure of the society under their rulings. Popular examples include socialism in the USSR, communism in North Korea, and capitalism in the United States. All of the previously listed examples have a similarity: they involve changes in the involvement of people in their community. For example, communism consists of all people being treated equally. Capitalism, on the other hand, focuses on not conforming individuals to be exactly like each other. In Aldous Huxley’s 1930s novel Brave New World and William Golding’s 1950s novel Lord of the Flies
In books like Lord of the Flies and Othello, the main characters go through many personal changes and make many decisions that change their fate and that are based on conforming or not. Ralph’s actions throughout his journey show that individuality helped him make the right decision, while Othello shows that conformity lead him to making the wrong decision. In Lord of the Flies, two different clans are very apparent; the ‘good’ clan with Ralph, Piggy, and others, and the ‘bad’ clan with Jack and all of the other boys. Towards the end of the book, Jack’s clan “fought their way through” Ralph’s camp in order to “ [get] [their] fire” (Golding 167) (Golding 169). While Ralph could have conformed to this violence, he stayed with his individuality
First, Jack is embarrassed and rude when Ralph wins the vote for chief. As Ralph counts the votes Jack immediately thinks that he is going to win, but when Ralph wins he tries to change his mind and becomes embarrassed. After the vote is counted, ”the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification. He started up, then changed his mind and sat down as the air rang”(23). Jack is self absorbed and believes he will, with no problem, win the vote of chief, and does not look at Ralph as an equal but as less than himself. This is extremely rude and selfish of Jack. Jack wanted the outcome of being chief, and when he is waiting he is selfish and does not look at ralph with respect. Jack is selfish driving him to not give Ralph equal respect. Next, Jack splits the boys in half to create his own tribe. The tribe is talking to their chief by which the face paint and talk of blushing is identified as Jack Merridew. He is now the chief of his tribe. As they describe the chief, “The chief's blush was hidden by the white and red clay. Into his uncertain silence the tribe spilled their murmur once more. Then the chief held up his hand”(161). Jack knows it is wrong to split tribes and not work together, but his want for the power over the other boys drives him to act selfishly. Jack desires to be the chief of all the boys, and this makes him split from Ralph’s power. This is evil because he knows it will only create issues. Finally, Jack attempts to hunt and kill Ralph. Sam and Eric are talking to Ralph about what Jack is doing to find him. The lengths Jack is willing to go to and the plan on how. As Eric speaks to Ralph, “we’re going to spread out in a line across the island-” “we’re going forward from this end” “-until we find you.” “And the chief- they’re both-” “-terrors-”(189). The want to be the only leader drives Jack to search Ralph down and kill him. Killing a fellow boy is evil. The