The Ebb and Flow of Power Modernists believe that power is a held within a certain class and they are exclusive to it. Postmodernists, however, argue that power is no longer a possession and to continue to believe that power can be owned would be irrational. Power may not be a physical or actual possession but currency is. Power may come in different forms but it remains sadly and primarily in the hands of the wealthy. At this period of time, our society and government are still living a Modernist lifestyle of believing that the ability to possess power is real and can only be obtained by the affluent social class. Through the examination of theorists and philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, Karl Marx, Robert Dahl, Peter Bachrach, and Morton …show more content…
However, he also states that vainglory is the one aspect of beings that could overthrow a peaceful state of nature. Although noble status is only given in actual governed societies, a few individuals could feel that their status is higher than those around them and therefore should be allowed greater pleasures and honor (36). Again, the aspect of power is shown to rise again even in a theorist who believes all humans are equal. There will always remain a few whom believe that they are greater and will fight for more recognition for that greatness, even if it is untrue. In the Lord of the Flies film, an immediate need for leadership is spoken of and soon after, appointed by the stranded young men. Even in this state of exclusion from society, the need for a central power is recognized and developed. The film also expands on the tyrannical forms of government shown by Jack and his endless thirst for power even though he claims that they’ve “got to have rules and obey them” and they are “not savages”
The influence of power, or “power hungry”, has had a huge effect on many people who feel that they must be in charge. These people often have trouble being told no or being told that they can’t be in charge. People throughout history have done it in many ways. Our own government displays this when we elect a new president every four years. These candidates often tell the public what they want to hear and how they’ll make it a better place, when, in reality, they only mean half of it and they just want to be able to have the power of the president. In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the antagonist, Jack, shows throughout the book that he craves power and feels that he deserves it more than anybody else.
Jack, William Golding’s antagonist in Lord of the Flies, reveals through his experience on the island that it is an individual’s assertiveness, manipulative abilities, and charisma which dictate who commandeers power and privilege over others, and that possessing these traits often negatively impacts the lives of the people leaders seek to control.
In Lord of the Flies, Jack is a symbol for the desire for power, in which plans to use it to treat the other boys as objects for his own amusement and gratify his own desires. Jack’s thirst for power is highlighted in his characterisation, particularly through dialogue, like in the beginning of the novel when voting for chief, Jack simply states “I ought to be chief”, emphasizing his arrogance and plain desire for dominance. This is further demonstrated when the boys are discussing about the beast in one of the meetings, and Jack, although he doesn't believe in the beast, is willing to use its possible existence as a source of power over the littluns, proven though Jack’s use of dialogue in “-not only the littluns, but my hunters sometimes-talk of a thing, a dark thing, a beast, some sort of animal”. The dialogue illustrates the way that Jack allowed himself to exploit others’ weaknesses and commit evil acts in the attempt to attain dominance, proving that intrinsic evil is brought out by one’s desire for power. Thus, in the presence thirst for power, evil is an inescapable consequence of human
Being a part of a group of children having to adapt after being trapped on a island with no surrounding civilization is an unimaginable situation. However, William Golding shows just how terrifying it can be in his novel, Lord Of The Flies, by his use of symbols to represent hardships. The main symbols, which best portrays characteristics are the fire and the conch; symbols leadership and confidence.
The need for social order is a very common theme throughout The Lord of the Flies. Over the course of the novel the reader witnesses the slow collapse of all forms of order, government, and civilization on the island. The results of this collapse are astounding. Golding writes, “As they watched, a flash of fire appeared at the root of one wisp, and then the smoke thickened. Small flames stirred at the trunk of a tree and crawled away through leaves and brushwood, dividing and increasing… Beneath the capering boys a quarter of a mile square of forest was savage with smoke and flame” (Golding 44). This quote marks the first point when the boy’s Civilization begins to collapse. If the boys had person overlook the building
Power is very dangerous, as shown in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. The novel explores the use of power in both the hands of good and evil and for success and for failure. Also, how some characters respond to having power. An examination of William Golding’s LOTF will show how fear is powerful and how the characters use that to their advantage. Also, the power shifts between the characters and the aftermath of that.
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.
Arrogant, disparaging, fearless, and merciless, this resembles the characteristics of an evil dictator. He rules not to serve the people, but to serve himself. He is in absolute control; nothing can stop him from being the king. In Lord of the Flies, Jack is mean, irrational, and scornful, and does not care about anyone’s interest. Jack symbolizes absolutism because he expresses divine right, emphasizes war, and removes the basic rights of others.
Lord of the Flies is “an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature” (Themes). Many times society will trump human nature, and other times it may be engulfed by it. Freud Sigmund Psychology expresses these thoughts using the terms id, ego, and superego. Freud states that the id is the instinctive and primitive part of a personality, and ego is “that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world” (Freud). Sigmund Freud also uses superego to represent the values and morals that are taught through someone else. Golding wrote the novel Lord of the Flies during a time of war. In times of war, people become killers and savages to “protect” the country they are fighting for.
Civilization is the main difference between human and beast. Rules, order, and morals are what keep us sane and humane. In Lord of the Flies, we witness the joyous beginning and fiery end of civilization on the island. Though not only one person or thing can be blamed, I believe that Jack is most to blame for the destruction of civilized behavior on the island.
“Everybody has good and evil within them. All we're trying to say is that people are not all good or all bad. People are more complicated than you think, and one has to be more knowledgeable about the complexities.” This quotation from Stephen Schwartz establishes that even the best of people can be bitter by their own nature. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding removes the restraints of society to prove that it is human nature to live primitively and that evil lies within all of us. The sanctions of society begin to deteriorate due to the loss of communication, Jack’s obsession with hunting, and the inhumane nature of Jack and his “tribe”.
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.
of Louis XIV was that he thought human nature would always be the same. The
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.
Learning is quite an influential aspect of every organism’s lifetime. We learn through experience, which over time allows for a certain amount of change in our behaviour. The process of learning influences and alters the way we act, interpret, and perceive, and may effectively adjust our views on numerous subjects. If we are trained or become accustomed into acting a certain way, our behaviour may alter to allow for this new change in perception. The field of psychology is full of previous and recent studies which revolve around conditioning a subject. This method of conditioning is a learning process through which an organism relates a stimulus to another simultaneously occurring event. This process has been used for a very large number of studies with different topics and objectives, one of these topics being alcohol and drinking behaviour. The two following studies incorporate and test different conditioning techniques related to altering attitudes toward drinking behaviour. The objective of both studies is to determine whether alcoholism and drinking behaviour can be influenced either positively or negatively through conditional learning.