Microcosm Lord Of The Flies Essay

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In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the island represents a microcosm. In the beginning of the novel the boys elect a leader and establish rules, in order to survive. Even though rules were set, they get broken by the evil within each boy. When the boys begin to neglect their assigned tasks on the island, society starts to fall apart. The boys stranded on the island and their actions are similar to the larger world. The boys decide that the first thing they ought to do, to be rescued, is to have a chief and to make rules. The boys want to belong to a group with a leader to feel safe. They decide to have some sort of Government. They chose to have one chief to follow. Once Ralph is selected as chief, he starts assigning jobs and tasks. …show more content…

They were scared, and everyone else was doing it. They felt that if they acted like everyone else, they would feel safe and protected. Jack's hunger for power grew throughout the novel, coming to the point were he threatened people to join his tribe. The boys have no one to tell them what to do and, most importantly, what not to do. They do not understand what is right and what is wrong. Even when they do realise that their actions are wrong, they try to cover them up, using fear as an excuse. Summing up, the evil within each boy is triggered upon the bare exposure to terror. Just like in the real world, they need to be reminded of what is good and what is not, to stay civilized. However, when the boys neglect their jobs, society falls apart. In the beginning of the novel, the boys assign each other jobs. For example Ralph is the Chief, Jack is the head of the hunters, some boys are responsible for the fire, and other for building shelters. The boys need each other to do what told, to stay organized and to survive. Yet some boys decide to put their own needs before the ones of the group. In the larger world people depend on farmers and on the police to maintain society alive. The problem in The Lord of the Flies is that there was no one to reinforce the laws that Ralph had set. Slowly the boys ditch their jobs and society begins to …show more content…

Everyone needed to work together to build the shelters, instead only Ralph and Simon ended up building them. They did not do as great as they could have, if more boys would have assisted. Without the help of all the boys, nothing was accomplished. Jack takes advantage from the boy's laziness, and creates a fearful atmosphere leading the group into a false idea. He also splits society into two when he makes the boys choose in between him and Ralph. Most of the boys are scared of Jack, and what he is capable of doing and decide to follow him. Other boys just believe that Jack was fighting for the right thing, and that hunting should come before safety, yet several boys decide that Ralph has good intentions. This situation is a real life situation, just like when we vote for a Government, but what the boys did different was having two Governments run at the same time. Ralph and Jacks tribe were just like a civil

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