The Fall of Societies: To What Extent is it the Leader's Fault?
As Frederick Douglass once stated, “Where justice is denied…[and] where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress… neither persons nor property will be safe.” In society where law and order is ignored, people are more likely to believe that they are being held back, starting rebellions to obtain their way, placing others in the way of danger. In every society, a leader is always present, and they attempt to preserve order and civilization to their best ability. However, sometimes factors play into causing a leader to alter their decision on how they believe they should govern as well as rule over the people.
…show more content…
He gathers the boys who survived the crash to initially address how they are to remain alive until adults were able to locate them and rescue them. From the beginning of the first meeting, Ralph utilises the signal fire he makes as the key to the group being rescued, along with huts and frequent assemblies. These assemblies were necessary to keep the boys congregated and to uphold order by creating laws that would keep things in check and preserve the aspect of civilization. By remaining civil, the boys were able to remember their past and keep faith until being rescued, rather than turning into a pack of savages. Jack’s feelings, however, were to enjoy the island and have fun instead; he can be categorized as the main reason that the downfall of civilization began and was encouraged. Eventually, Jack splits off from Ralph’s group because of his lack of interest in performing his assigned duties. Jack’s group starts to hunt for pleasure, gruesomely killing animals and chanting around fires as they cooked their meat. Golding portrays the boys as a pack of savages, which is the opposite of what Ralph wanted from the start. Many boys part of Ralph’s group go to join Jack’s group because of their lack of interest in performing tasks that adults would normally do. These boys began to lose faith in themselves, …show more content…
When Jack departs to create a group of his own, he does not have a competitor that could overthrow him in power, which causes it to develop into a dictatorship, making the boys perform tasks at his will. Eventually this goes too far, as Simon is killed for being mistaken as the beast. Although one person has already been killed, the boys do not realize the severity of this because of their detachment from reality and civilization, and continue to abide Jack’s every order. Jack and his tribe then proceed to kill Piggy, and Jack leads them like a pack of dogs on a rampage. He has made the boys believe that what Ralph was teaching them about being rescued and surviving civilly was wrong and boring. Because of this, Ralph is chased to be killed towards the end of the book. As one can see, Jack’s tribes lifestyle turns more primitive and buried in current pleasure, while Ralph's is seeking happiness in the future. Ralph's method of a tribe is a democracy, where everyone was entitled to their own opinion. Ralph only exemplified power when establishing duties and rules during meetings. In Ralph's group, the conch is the symbol of law and order, as well as civilization, power, and freedom of speech. Ralph was first made chief because he was the first to blow the conch, and the boys choose the conch to be the most powerful item on the island. On the other hand,
I personally found this book to be an excellent read, and while I haven’t read to many business management books. I can feel safe to say that I think this one does an excellent job in conveying key management principals for today’s workplace. It also appealed to me due to my fascination with the way in which our military operates. I believe he did a great job of staying clear of getting too detailed in either is leadership model and military jargon. I would recommend this book to anyone who feels intimidated by management books that read more like a textbook, who want to learn but also enjoy the reading too.
During the novel, the reader becomes increasingly aware of Jack’s dominating and violent tendencies. Specific actions taken are when Jack suggests using one of the younger children as a substitute pig, ties up Wilfred, and hunts Ralph. Things begin to get out of hand when the group’s game turns into a cruel beating. Not long afterwards, Jack suggests that the group
They often obey his destructive orders just to avoid being punished. Jack tells Ralph, after Roger kills Piggy, “ ‘See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone—’ -He ran forward, stooping- ‘I’m chief!’ ” (Golding 181) Jack threatens Ralph and the boys by reminding them of the consequences of not succumbing to his authority. They are physically and emotionally tormented, forced to participate in Jack’s violent acts. As time goes by, they willingly join in on Jack’s brutal endeavors, such as hunting Ralph down in an attempt to sacrifice him to the beast. He
The crumbling of man without consequences is a scary but realistic threat. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the theme of the Downfall of Society Without Consequences is demonstrated through the conch, the fire, and the beast. For example, the conch had a power and authority within it that was lost. Another way the theme is conveyed in when the fire that blazes out of control. In addition to that, it is seen when the beast escapes Jack and his hunters from within. First, let’s look at the conch’s story.
To begin, survival is the key in every ones mindset. You only live once as most people say. However, with Jack and Ralph and the rest of the boys, they all seemed that all hope was lost. They had been stranded in the island for months, hoping that one day, someone will find them and return them home. Ralph was the most panicked person in the group simply because he hadn’t cut his hair and it was growing. He also did not shower at all, and he did not shave or eat as much simply due to the lack of surviving. He had given up on the hope for rescue, until in chapter 12, he, along with Jack and the rest of the boys, were saved by an officer which saw the destruction and the vicious bodies of the ...
Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, many different conflicting societies develop. These groups of young English schoolboys have conflicts between them for many different reasons. Some of them are so spread apart in age that their beliefs and actions are very different. Other groups are conflicting because they have different opinions about who the leader of the entire group should be. The groups also argue about what their priorities should be while trapped on the island. These conflicts continue to grow until the very end, when one group finally gains supremacy.
the story of a group of boys stranded on a deserted island to examine a multitude of
While the boys are under Jack's control, they quickly went back into how they started when they first got there. However, Ralph was able to keep the boys under control by holding meetings. At the meetings, a sense of order is instilled because the boys are not allowed to speak unless they have the conch shell. "I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking." (p. 31) By making this rule, he gains respect from the boys and becomes for confident as a leader. Ralph uses his power to tries to make the boys better people. He shows his by building them shelters. "They talk and scream. The littuns. Even some of the others." (p. 53) Ralph is saying that the boys need the shelters because they are afraid and the shelters will help the boys feel more secure. This shows he has better knowledge of people making him a better leader than Jack who does not understand this. Jack does not realize that the boys need to feel secure and need someone in control.
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.
Ralph first takes on the position as leader at the beginning of the story, when the rest of the boys vote him in as chief. He carries this position until Jack and his fellow hunters break away from the group. Ralph makes it his job to set out the rules to organize a society. Ralph always thinks of what is best for everyone and how they will all benefit from his decisions. Rules and standards are set when Ralph is the chief. He orders the group to build the basic necessities of civilization, shelters, and most importantly to keep the fire going, in hope that they will be rescued and return to humanity. "But I tell you that smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one" (Golding 75). Jack, on the other hand, takes on the idea of every man for himself. He does not care about making homes, only about hunting. When Jack is the leader, evil takes over and all good is destroyed. Under Jack's power both Simon and Piggy are killed.
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 the Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses a variety of symbols to represent ideas, or abstract notions or conceptions about people, places, and things. A symbol, according to the Webster's Dictionary, is an object that stands for something in addition to its literal meaning. In the book, there is a continual breakdown of society and civilization on the island. During this breakdown, Golding uses symbolism to further explain the process. Some of the things he symbolizes in the novel are the island itself, the conch, the boys clothing, and the violence.
The boys took off their clothes, their hair grow longer like animals, Jack's group paint their faces with red and white, and they dance a conventional war dance. The beast within them arrives and gains strength in them with brutal behaviors. Barbanity within them influence boys to kill Simon who was the only one realizes the evil in a man. Golding describes their savageness for the most in the chapter 11. Ruthless Roger murdered Piggy, and he acuminates his spear. At the end of the novel, civilized society by Ralph and Piggy has been changed to inhuman society by Roger and Jack who tried to kill Ralph by their imposition towards their members. From the contexts in the novel, "Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy" when Ralph is rescued at the end of chapter 12. This scene makes emphatic to the readers because Ralph is not an emotional character except when he conflicts with Jack. He is more fair-minded person who always tries to look for the group goal and ways to get rescued, but he wept
Ralph is initially firmly in control as the leader of the boys, but the power dynamic shifts away from his calm leadership. Jack’s primal approach gains popularity the longer the boys are isolated from society, and Ralph is not entirely above it. After the boys break into two camps, and Jack’s tribe has the hunting dance, Ralph responds to Piggy’s assertion that they were scared by saying, “I wasn’t scared… I was---I don’t know what I was” (Golding 156). Ralph feels immense guilt and confusion over his involvement in Simon’s death, not wanting to admit that he was entirely at fault, but knowing that his actions were not out of his hands when he participated.
In the beginning we see that Jack is so worried about his own reputation and standing with the group that he sometimes makes thoughtless actions that cause the boys to follow in his footsteps because they are young and vulnerable. He is very dependable on the others in the tribe and doesn’t contribute to what needs to be done for their group to have a shelter, other than hunting. For example, he doesn’t help build any of the huts on the beach and argues with Ralph about it. His acts of violence cause lots of chaos in the tribe, as seeing that Simon was killed after being mistaken for the pig when the boys reenact its killing. They are so wild that they cannot even think straight and murder one of their own, and Jack is held responsible for this action. Jack is always making aggressive jokes when he is mad, such as “‘I cut the pig’s throat,’ said Jack, proudly, and yet twitched as he said it. ‘Can I borrow yours, Ralph, to make a nick in the hilt?’” (69) When Piggy told him that he should’ve stayed by the fire to signal nearby ships, he smacked Piggy and his lenses on his glasses broke. In chapter 8, Jack asked who would want him to be chief of their tribe. When no one raised their hand, he was so furious and decided to leave and make his own tribe. One by one, hunters and littluns began to join his tribe. He raided Ralph’s tribe and took their supplies and fire, so young boys wanted to follow him because they believed that if they did, they would have a better chance of survival. Jack plans to send his whole tribe out to hunt down and kill Ralph, which is absurd. He sets the jungle on fire to try to isolate Ralph, and at this point, all the boys in his tribe are on board with him. When he does this, his tribe starts to fall apart because he doesn’t have any rules in place. Jack doesn’t think before he acts, and also doesn’t make decisions to benefit others in his tribe, but