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Use of Symbolism
Use of Symbolism
The use of symbolism in the novel
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Fight for Power In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a racial discrimination against the African Americans because the whites think they are the superior. Tom Robinson, an African American man, is held on trial for rape. Although everyone knows he did not assault Mayella Ewell, society takes him to jail, so they can gain power by sending an innocent man away. Their white community feels superior, so they lock him up to receive status. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the boys on the island gain pride by being disrespectful and cruel toward those with a lesser position, revealing that society’s superiors will treat the weak poorly to earn power. Due to Piggy’s differences, he is a common enemy and an easy target, so the boys …show more content…
Roger’s heartless self emerges when Wilfred is tied up and he “received this news as an illumination. He ceased to work at his tooth and sat still, assimilating the possibilities of irresponsible authority” (160). To Roger, Wilfred deserves his punishment. Holding more power than most of the boys, Roger knows they cannot control him since they fear his strength. He feeds on Wilfred’s pain with malevolence by giggling at his discipline. Because Roger becomes more savage watching someone hurt, he turns closer to being the superior. The strong will torment the less. Roger’s innate evil appears when Ralph’s group finds Jack’s tribe and Piggy suffers: “Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever…The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee” (181). Demanding control, Roger sacrifices Piggy’s life for his own desires. Now, realizing there are no supervisors protecting the boys, Roger finally adapts to the island and his own immorality. Because Piggy acts defenseless, Roger kills him, signifying superiors end lives for their own self-esteem. Roger murders Piggy in need of power to acknowledge his skill and talent for success. Selfish individuals will do anything for themselves. Since Roger is inhumane, Samneric announces to …show more content…
At the beginning of the book, Jack’s evil progresses, until eventually, he “cut the pig’s throat” (69). Because he achieves his goal, killing a pig, he needs more control. Although Jack used to fear the unbearable blood of slaughtering animals, he now has courage to murder any living creature. He believes he can defeat society since he takes pride for killing the sow. The pride within him increases and Jack becomes savage. Even though he claims to spend his day slaughtering pigs for meat, the reality is he becomes obsessed with the idea of killing. In order for him to earn more authority, Jack changes by being selfish. He maintains his status by sacrificing lives, so others will be afraid of him. Once an individual becomes evil, they cannot stop themselves. During the third dance, Simon joins, trying to explain to everyone about the ‘beast.” Instead of the boys listening, they decide to murder him, “There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (152). Jack teaches his society to be vicious. Although every boy knows Simon is not the “beast,” they cannot control themselves, so they rip him to shreds. The savagery in their inhumanity makes them kill. As their adrenaline rises, the boys take Simon’s life to receive power. Although they all admire Simon, they had the chance to earn status, so they willingly use
Like Jack, the boys no longer value kindness, compassion, or empathy, Instead, they resort to violence and force. This is shown when the boys do their dance and chant “kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding 168) This chant is one of violence and savagery. When the boys see Simon crawling out of the jungle, they don’t care if it’s a human or a beast, their first instinct is just to kill. Another example of the boy’s lack of compassion and empathy, is when they participate in tying up Wilfred and allow Jack to beat him for no apparent reason. Jack’s tribe continues to slip further into savagery. They rebel against, and destroy everything that represents kindness, order and civilization. This is evident when Jack, Roger, and Maurice go to Ralph’s camp, taunt Piggy, steal his glasses to make a fire, and beat up the civilized group. Piggy’s death and the breaking of the conch also represent the group’s disintegration of humanity. Piggy says while holding the conch: “Which is better-to be a pack of painted niggers like you are, or be sensible like Ralph is?” (Golding 200) The tribe chooses savagery over order when Roger releases the boulder that kills Piggy, and shatters the conch. The evolution of savagery is complete when the group’s morals and values become the laws in which they abide
When the boys first arrived on the island, their behaviour was civilized and they attempted to convince themselves that they would soon be rescued by their parents. As the days passed, the boys began to open their eyes and realized that sitting around was not going to benefit them in any way, and most importantly it would not help them survive. Because of their new unrestricted life on the island, the boys become ruthless and replaced their previous identity.
In the Lord of the Flies the littluns share a big role. One of the main importances is that the littluns provide situations and are able to interact with the bigger kids. They seem to be the followers in the novel. There trying to mind their own business but also help and do what they can do for survival.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once stated, "I am not interested in power for power’s sake, but I’m interested in power that is moral, that is right, and that is good,” and a character from "Lord of the Flies" applies to this, and his name is Ralph. He symbolizes civilization within William Golding's allegory. First off, he brought up the idea of designated chief to lead the survivors, rather than anarchy. Also, being elected by most of the survivors and they trusted him to help them. Concerning the idea of being rescued, he constantly enforces the idea of the fire. The idea is for someone not on the island see the boat and to leave the island. Due to that, Ralph places a rule of having a fire constantly on. This rule, along with the many others
Piggy tries to do what’s best for everyone. He was the ‘word of reason.’ But since nobody respected him, he was never given power. The author states, “ ‘I got the conch,’ said Piggy indignantly. ‘You let me speak!’ ‘The conch doesn’t count on top of the mountain,’ said Jack. ‘So you shut up.’ ‘... I got the conch!’ Jack turned fiercely. ‘You shut up!’ Piggy wilted.” (Golding 42.) Jack treats Piggy as if he is unimportant. All characters show cruelty towards Piggy one way or another. Because Piggy has the mentality of an adult, the boys refuse to listen since they want their freedom. The author indicates, “... Roger with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all
Ralph is ruled by his emotion while Piggy uses cold, hard logic to solve problems. “Ralph, remember what they came for, the fire. My specs!” (Golding 177) This quote show that Piggy must snap Ralph out of his blind rage at Jack raiding their camp, Piggy must show Ralph to not worry about the tribe harassing them, but about him losing his glasses and the ability to light a signal fire to warn adults where they are. This part of the text especially shows that Piggy is ruled by logic while Ralph is ruled by emotions such as rage, and fear. “Ralph was fighting to get nearer, to get a handful of that soft vulnerable flesh.”(Golding 114) This is from the section of the book where Jack is reenacting the first killing of the pig. Maurice is playing the pig and the other boys surround him and start to hit him with spears, and their fists. Even Ralph who is supposed to be their leader joins in and starts to beat Maurice almost to the point of killing him. This shows that Ralph cannot use rational thinking when caught up in his emotions, and in the book Piggy is one of the few boys who doesn’t join in to the horrid display of savagery. This brings another question to mind. Why isn’t Piggy the leader? Is it because he is different from the other boys having asthma and being physically inept? The theory the book points to is that Piggy is a huge know it all, and never believes that anyone can be right over his own opinions, and the boys resent him because of
History repeats itself. There is a reason that this adage is so common, and that is its overwhelming persistency to be true. Over the course of history all societies have had a sameness to them, which has created a repetition that has prevailed through the centuries. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding boys ranging in age from six to twelve imitate the basic layouts of any society, following the path from good intentioned beginnings, to a messy revolt, and finally a violent take-over.
Fear, a curse upon human beings which prevents them from exceeding to do good and bad, Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing that scares you every day”. In the story, the boys experience immediate fear, from crash landing to the nonsense about some “beastie”, But in reality the boys cause all these problems themselves. The suspense and fear grows within them and it results in them making irresponsible decisions. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding the notion of fear is scrutinized. It becomes clear that Fear causes humans to think illogically which results in irrational decisions being made. Evidence of these accusations is when Simon is brutally murdered. This argument uncovers that once law and order
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
A group of kids got stuck on an island after their plane got shot down and they all have many different personalities. Being stuck on an island usually brings out the worst of people.But, there were two characters in novel, “The Lord of The Flies” that had good morals. These two characters were Ralph and Simon. Ralph and Simon weren’t intimidated by not having any adults around, instead, they tried to bring out the best of themselves and not take part in any horseplay the rest of the boys did.
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.
Do you believe when people are born, they are born with a blank slate? An English philosopher named John Locke believed that people are born with a blank slate and we acquire ideas from our environment and the people that influence us. In the book “Lord of The Flies” by William Golding it shows us that everyone has evil inside of us and even children can do things that we will not expect they would do. Jack Merridew was a good example because he represented evil in the novel he turned savaged and let the evil inside of him take over his actions and these actions impacted other characters. Jack Merridew let his anger toward Ralph change him and also him wanting power and being the leader of them.
Jack’s negative effects on others are shown when “Maurice pretended to be the pig and ran squealing into the center, and the hunters, circling still, pretended to beat him” (75). This quote displays Jack’s evil influence because he has made perfectly normal British boys act like mindless savages and participate in this sadistic ritual. The hunters seem to regress to more prehistoric times as they enjoy performing this act. Jack also changes the boys’ behavior when, “The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (153). This quote is essential because it conveys that Jack has altered the boys’ minds to such a degree, that they are blinded by their bloodlust and can’t even tell that the “beast” that they are mutilating is really Simon. It also shows how delirious Jack has made these once civilized children. As you can see, Jack is not a necessarily evil person, but he creates evil
Jack corrodes the group using the beast as during the meal Jack screams “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” Jack didn’t care to first scout out or pursue who the beast was and ended up killing Simon, who just came to explain his discovery of the beast. In this incident Jack caused the group to cross the boundary line to savages who lack rational thinking because of they had murdered Simon.
Simon is the traditional moral Christian character while Jack is a raging savage. In psychology, the id is the impulsive part of the human psyche, while the superego is the conscience, and the ego mediates between the two, manifesting appropriate actions (Freud). So from a Freudian perspective, Simon is the superego of the schoolboys while Jack is the id. We can look at these characters as representing the struggle within every one of us and thus treat them as one. The rest of the boys represent the more rational brain that is the ego. Knowing this, It is clear that Jack’s sins lead to Simon’s death. Jack is the one to whip up the other boys into a frenzy of destruction. He leads the boys in the brutal slaughter of a pig, shoving a spear “right up her ass!” (Golding 138) after the pig is already long dead. The hunt is no longer just about having meat to eat—it is about uncontrolled and over-the-top behavior and the use of excessive force. This contravenes the doctrine of Christianity where love and compassion are among its foundational pillars. Jack also uses the artificial concept of ‘the beast’ to play on the boys’ fears (Golding 126). For Jack, the beast is an opportunity to make himself appear stronger and braver than Ralph; he uses the polarizing topic of the beast to draw attention to himself, capitalizing on the boys' fear of the unknown and dark jungle paths. Here he exhibits