Power In Lord Of The Flies

The desire for power and leadership has been established into people's consciences since the beginning of mankind. Power has been used to improve the quality of life, and power has been used to suppress and control. For example, there are leaders in the world that are tyrants who use their leadership to better the world. In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of boys are stranded on an uninhabited island and try to set up the structure of society, an undertaking in which they ultimately end up failing. We can see this idea when two boys are fighting for power and leadership. Jack Merridew, the head of the choir, sways the boys to follow under his violent leadership and power. This conveys the theme that when people have

power, they exploit it and use it to hurt others physically and emotionally.
People naturally want to be the leader and the most powerful member of a group. After Ralph was elected to be chief of the island, he tried to be fair to Jack: “Ralph looked at him eager to offer something” believing “the choir belongs to [Jack] of course” but “the suffusion drained away from Jack’s face” (23). Suffusion is when color slowly spreads throughout one’s cheeks. Jack became embarrassed and mad when the boys voted because Jack thought he had the vote in the bag. Jack was not satisfied with this arrangement. People have a tendency to whatever it takes to become the most powerful and important person they can be.
The use of power and leadership have to be used well or people will start to contradict the leader.

When the boys find out that there is a “monster”, Jack thinks that Ralph should not be a leader because he is a coward. Jack tries to tell the boys that Ralph does nothing for the tribe and Jack has done everything for them: “[Ralph’s] not a hunter … he just gives orders and expects people to obey for nothing” before saying “all this talk” to which Ralph responds, “Talk, talk! Who wanted it? Who called the meeting?” (126). Jack then blushes and sits back down “[glowering] up under his eyebrows” (127). When someone has power and tries to be controlling they normally have everyone’s full attention. We can see when Jack tries to take over the situation he ends up embarrassing himself. Jack expected to be the authority of everyone, but instead, most of the boys agree with Ralph, including some of the hunters. We can see when Jack gets “schooled” by Ralph when Ralph takes control and uses his leadership skills, Ralph glowers and is infuriated by the

situation.
If one is in charge and makes the rules of how the island is run they have the jurisdiction to make it okay to murder and the consequences to be little to none. After killing the first pig, many of the boys celebrated and were ecstatic. Soon the glory of the kill subsided: “The boys drew back, and Jack stood up, holding out his hands. ‘Look’ He giggled and flicked them while the boys laughed at his reeking palms. Then Jack grabbed Maurice and rubbed the stuff all over his cheeks” (135). We associate giggling with happiness and joy. Jack giggles over the blood of the dead pig demonstrating that he has no mercy for the death of a living animal. When someone laughs, they are showing amusement and cheerfulness. When Jack flicks the blood toward the boys and they laugh at him, this illustrates how the boys think that death is something that one can play with for enjoyment or amusement. When someone rubs something on another person’s cheeks, it normally is an endearing action. When Jack smears the blood on Maurice’s cheeks, it proves that Jack is completely relaxed with the idea of the death and all its ramifications. Since Jack is so comfortable with the idea of death and blind to its ramifications, it demonstrates the idea that Jack is prepared to kill without weighing the consequences of his actions.
People who are bigger and have more of a following can become bullies and use their dominance to hurt people.

Bullies have so much more power that they do not understand the effects of their actions. Jack and the rest of the hunters did not keep the rescue fire going which prevented the boys from being saved. Ralph and Piggy have a fight with the hunters and Jack. Piggy had been fighting with Jack which caused great tension between the two. The other boys and even the hunters had begun to agree with Piggy: “ … and the walls of agreement from the hunters, drove Jack to violence. The bolting look came into his eyes. He took a step, and able at last hit someone, struck his face in Piggy’s stomach. Piggy sat down with a grunt Jack stood over him. His voice was vicious with humiliation ‘You would, would you? Fatty!’ ” (71). To have a “bolting look” often times means one will explode or become very angry. When Jack sees that even his own group has turned on him, he becomes enraged and has the desire to hurt people physically with his power as the head hunter. Jack proves this when he starts to beat up Piggy and hurt him. Finally, having “vicious humiliation” we would assume is when someone is trying to belittle or bully another human. Jack calls Piggy a “fatty” due to the boys siding with Piggy instead of him. This caused Jack to use his power and bully Piggy, so he would feel he was in power. As one can see, Jack uses his power to hurt people mentally and physically. When one

does not have to face the repercussions of their actions, bullying can result.
When those having an extraordinary amount of power people are abusive and controlling, this causes people to be terrified and follow the rules set in place. Jack had become the chief of the tribe and the island. As the chief he had become more demanding and harsh:
“ Jack spoke ‘Give me a drink’ Henry bought him a shell and he drank, watching Piggy and Ralph over the jagged rim. Power lay in the brown shell of his forearms: authority sat on his shoulder and chattered in his ear like an ape” (150). When someone gives an order and it is immediately fulfilled it shows that the one is important and has power. Henry brought a shell full of water to Jack proving that many of the boys know that he is a leader with great power. In addition, when power is on one’s “forearms”, it means that it is right in front of them and they can do whatever they want with it. The audience sees that Jack has power right in front of him. The boys come to his beck and call whenever he demands something. Furthermore, having authority “on his shoulder and chattered in his ear like an ape” proves that his authority is important. When someone says they have something on one’s shoulders it usually means that they have power resting on their shoulders (Swedenborg). Jack has a remarkable amount of authority over the boys. He uses much of it to his advantage. In addition, when someone “chatters” they usually go on and on knowing that they have the authority to talk without getting in trouble. When Jack talks, one can hear the violence and harshness of his voice and demands. Jack has so much power and authority that he abuses it and hurts others. jack’s followers obey his rules because they are terrified of the consequences.
People usually try to be anonymous when they do something against the norms of society. When the officer found the boys and asked who was in charge on the island, Ralph took responsibility while Jack stood in the background. “A little boy who wore the remains of an extraordinary black cap on his red hair and who carried the remains of a pair of spectacles at his waist, started forward, then changed his mind and stood still” (201). When someone sees a little boy, they expect them to act immature and follow the rules established their by elders. Jack being described as a “little boy” instead of chief shows the shift of power between the officer and the children. “Starting forward, then changing one’s mind” means one will start to take responsibility but then back out of the situation due to something different in one's thoughts. Jack is seen not taking responsibility for the boys and the island. This shows when there are consequences for one's actions and they do not want to face the consequences of their actions. Hence, Jack’s refusal to take responsibility when confronted by authority. So, although it may have been Jack’s responsibility to be the leader and watch over most of the boys, the standards of civilized behavior and the consequences for not following those norms prohibited jack from taking responsibility.
Jack has the best intentions to become the chief and organize a structure like civilization back home. Without laws or consequences, Jack’s plan ultimately fails and ends in chaos. Jack becomes a tyrant and the consequences on the island are dire. Golding sets up a social experiment when the boys are stranded. Golding tries to see what would happen if the most elite English boys are left to fend for themselves without laws or consequences. Throughout history, we have seen countries and kingdoms oppressed by their tyrant or king because they did not have balance in their system of law. Today there are more than one hundred countries with a democratic government (Haines). When there are checks and balances set in place, society runs more smoothly. People can not have a successful democracy without consequences to bullying and oppression.