The Importance of Government As Shown In "Lord of the Flies"

Without government, society degenerates and people lose their capacity for moral behaviour. Survivors in Haiti say that if other countries had not provided aid and restored order, there would be much more violence and everyone would only serve themselves. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the author uses the events on the island to demonstrate that people require government to restrain their impulses. The creation of a democratic government with Ralph as chief allows the inhabitants of the island to make decisions together and take everyone’s viewpoint into consideration. Soon, however, the democracy begins to be disregarded. When Jack creates a dictatorship, he fails to restrain the impulsive behaviour of the boys, which demonstrates the superiority of Ralph’s government.

The island’s first government is a democratic one, created at the beginning of the novel. When the boys arrive on the island, two characters named Ralph and Piggy meet as they begin to look around the site where their plane has crashed. When they find a conch shell, they decide to use it to make a noise and call the other boys to a meeting. William Golding uses the conch shell throughout the book as a symbol of democratic government. Those assembled—except for Jack’s choir—vote that Ralph should be chief, and he sets up a democratic system where anyone is allowed to talk. This system involves using the shell like a talking stick: anyone who wants to talk holds the shell and everyone else must listen to what they have to say. As a goal for the group, Ralph says they should try to be rescued. Most of the boys respect Ralph and look up to him, so they support this goal. Rescue is a long-term goal, and this shows that Ralph thinks about the future....

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...ing him advice. However, they are tortured into revealing Ralph’s escape plan. Things like this show that Jack’s tribe have little respect for others. They do things that they wouldn’t do alone, because the rest of the group takes the blame. By this William Golding demonstrates what happens to society if order is not imposed by a government.

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.