Utilitarianism In Lord Of The Flies

A government is like the roots that gives life and holds the tree, and the laws are the branches which branch off the tree like of how they are composed from a government. A stable foundation is needed for the rest to stay in peace, but when the foundation breaks apart, so does the rest of the tree, or society. Cesare Beccaria and John Locke were two philosophers whose views were prerequisites to a stable society. Beccaria supported having a criminal justice system that incorporated utilitarianism, which means doing the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. Locke believed that citizens deserved the naturals rights of life, liberty and property. These rights are crucial for citizens to live a content and stable life in society, because

without having these rights, we are taking away the freedom and liberty a citizen should hold, and there is no point in living a life which there is no personal control. Beccaria’s view of enforcing a criminal justice system and Locke’s views of the natural rights are going to be encompassed throughout as they are imperative to a stable society.

The novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding illustrates a group of boys stuck on a deserted island without any basic necessities, and exemplifies an unstable society full of chaos that is created through the lack of a balanced government and egos clashing.

In the novel, the boys failed to create a criminal justice system, which Cesare Beccaria promoted, to place considerable punishments, which lead to the lack of a balanced government and egos clashing throughout. According to Beccaria, an effective government must have an utilitarian criminal justice system, which he argues is necessary because he believed in incorporating the greatest good into an enforced criminal system to create a stable society. The boys fail to implement this key governing component, and they face the consequence of a chaotic society. Beccaria urged for a criminal system that didn't influence severe, cruel punishment, but a system where it rehabilitated the criminal to not make the mistake in the future. (Hostettler, John) He viewed the government as utilitarian where it would help the greatest amount of people, and incorporated these views into the criminal justice system he seeked. (Mower, Allyson) The boys in the novel firstly, had no effective laws in place to keep an ordered and stable society. Secondly, when a boy did make a mistake, either there was no punishment to help them not repeat the mistake again, or there were cruel punishments that were used in anger. Ralph's decision to implement laws and punishments directly contrasts with Beccaria’s idea of the criminal punishment system which results in a government that is stable and lives by the laws to promote the greater good. Due to the fact that the boys on the island did not establish laws and a criminal system that would maximize the quality of life, as Beccaria argued any effective government must, they suffered through the poor decisions they made as a group, which led to an anarchy with no laws in place. Jack is a negatively influential character in the book who placed cruel punishment on his opposers, which Beccaria viewed as immoral. In the novel, Jack was angry at one of the boys opposing his views, so he reacted in an unusual, cruel way, “He got angry and made us tie Wilfred up.” (Golding 159). The anger Jack releases is shown through placing a cruel punishment on one of the boys which clearly opposed Beccaria’s views. Jack and the boys are creating an unstable society for them to live in, because of the way they treat the other members of the group and tend to only look at their interests instead of everyone’s, which violates an utilitarian government. Beccaria placed his lifetime into his work, and showed how a society needs punishments that is moral when the laws are broken and he looked to the bigger picture of the government.The ideas and views Beccaria proposed weren’t the ideal morals that the boys on the island followed, which lead to an unstable and chaotic society where no one had a voice and the basic morals of a government were not preserved. The boys failed to create laws and an enrichment system, which subsequently lead to the failure of preserving the natural rights that John Locke viewed.
In the novel, the natural rights of life and liberty that are indebted to a human, which John Locke advocated for, were not shown in the boys government which lead to a separation between the boys, and a dictatorship arising.

John Locke was the foremost expert of the incorporation of rights. He urged for a government which protected the natural rights given to a human: life, liberty, and property. He knew it was strongly necessary that all humans deserved the rights as they are the uppermost decisionmakers to their life. (Gonzalez Binder) Although, the boys on the island violated Locke’s views as they had no system in protecting these valuable rights. Ralph and Jack’s mentality was set upon leading the group, that they took no one's ideas and voices into consideration. This violated the boy's right to liberty as they were not in the decision making process to make decisions for the group's survival. Jack and Ralph’s decisions severely impacted the group in a negative way because of the horrible communication and trust they had between them. Jack’s ego was hurt when Ralph did not respect his decision of hunting and he separated from the group, “I’m going off by myself... Anyone who wants to hunt can come to.” (Golding 127). Understanding was the biggest issue Jack and Ralph faced as both of them wanted to be leaders, and no one was willing to compromise power. Jack had a desire to hunt for the group, although Ralph did not respect his decision to do so which violated

Jack’s right to liberty. Because there was no respect for each others decision, Jack branched off separate from the group af formed a dictatorship. This hurt the group as a whole because there was no unification among them and the two leaders were filled with hatred against each other. Jack and Ralph both made bad decision that violated the natural rights Locke divorced for because of their opposing egos, and it led to the destruction of the group of boys as Locke for seed if his views were in place. The boys on the island did not implement the key components needed for an effective functioning government which lead to mislead, disastrous problems.
In the novel, Golding magnifies the concept of different egos that clash when a government is being implemented. There were many types of personalities, egos, mentalities that formed the boys on the island. A few had the urge to be the leader, have ultimate power, and Golding clearly illustrates how power can corrupt anyone. The amount of mistrust and communication that revolved around created an unstable society, and Golding exemplified this throughout the novel. She showed how power can put people into a cruel trance which she showed through Jack, and how the greater good is not the interest in mind anymore. Governing is something that is done by all the people of the society. When everyone has equal power and follow a set of rules, the society will be smooth and stable. In the novel, the story clearly illustrates the opposite of how unlimited power can be like gold to the eye, very appealing, but turns out to be useless when it is in the wrong hands. The simple analogy of dark chocolate can sum up everything. Like dark chocolate, a little is good for one, but too much tastes bad. Like the analogy, a little bit of power is good to govern oneself, but too much can corrupt one as well.