Category: Lord of The Flies

In his 2008 Ted Talk, speech entitled: “The Psychology of Evil,” Philip Zimbardo explores the nature of human evilness. He argues that when a person changes it is because the situation changes. When he put a good person in a bad situation they turn into a bad person. Then he talks about how these experiments affected the people mentaly. Zimbardo’s research becomes especially helpful when Reading William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, which also explores the idea of a person’s evil. If one loses civilization, feels the emotions such as fear and power, and wants to prove masculinity all these aspects can lead to evil behavior proven in Goldig`s Lord of The Flies.

Evil shines when civilization is missing. Golding expresses this through one of the main characters named Jack.The boys were in a meeting and they were arguing about the beast. They are all talking over each other and yelling at each other. The novel states, “‘Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong- we hunt! If there’s a beast, well hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat!’” (91). Jack saying, “Bollocks to the rules” reveals that all his forms of being civilized is gone. Then Jack wants to “beat and beat and beat”, his evil has taken over him.The rules is kind of the only thing they have left of civilization. They were saying they don’t care about the rules and they should be gone. This means the whole aspect of civilization is gone. All they want to do is hunt and kill in the end, it’s their evil that takes over the civilized side of them. From birth we are evil, but to what degree are the children responsible for their actions if they have evil with them? The novel is showing civilization it’s what keeps evil in the back of our minds. When the rules are gone then evil has a chance to come out and take over. The characters are all children and when people think of children they think of innocence, but Lord of the Flies reflects children differently.

Another topic, Lord of the Flies suggest is that a person’s fears drive them to enact evil. The boys are all at Jack’s feast. Simon comes down the Mountain and tells the boys the beast on the Mountain is just a person. The Boys fear get in the way and they think that Simon is the Beast, so they attack him. In the novel they say, “ A thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly and uncertainty. The shrill screaming rose before the beast was like a pain. The beast stumbled into the horseshoe “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!” (152). Fear of the unknown motives the boys; fear of “a thing” that came “darkly” and “ uncertainty” toward them this motivates them. Fear is the feeling we have that keeps us away from danger. How our bodies reacts when fear is in control is not how we normally will react. Fear triggers the fight-or-flight response that is meant to save us. Fear also skews our perception of reality, and it’s for this reason we can easily turn evil.. They boys experience the heat of the moment when Simon came.Their consciences shut down;they forget their morality and their evil therefore shines.

The Lord of the Flies suggest that the taste of power can shape an evil attitude. Piggy and Ralph went to go talk to Jack. Then Ralph called, an assembly so he can talk to all the boys. Before the assembly starts, “Roger took up a small stone and flung it between the twins, aiming to miss.They started and Sam only kept his footing. Some source of power began to pulse in Roger’s body” (175). Roger “ aimed to miss” so his civilized side stopped him from actually hitting the. After Roger almost hit the twins he got the feeling in the situation. If just this little action can get him to feel power it will lead to him actually committing an evil action. In Zimbardo’s “The Psychology of evil” he did an experiment called the Stanford prison experiment. He made 6 people guard and 6 people as prisoners. When the guard had the power they started do to evil actions to the prisoners. The taste of power made them lose all sense of innocence. They were good people put in a bad situation. That is what is happening to Roger. When he first got to the island he was a good kid. Then the small evil action he did gave him the feeling of power which led him to feel powerful. The taste of power gives the kids a rush and this causes them to commit evil actions.

In addition, The Lord of the Flies also suggests, that the urge to assert masculinity can lead to evil. In the beginning of the book the boys make fun of Jack for not being able to kill a pig. In other words they were scolding him for not being violent enough. This hurts Jacks ego to the point where he always wants to hunt. In the text it states, “‘ I thought I might kill.” “ But you didn`t.’” (51)This hurts Jacks ego to the point where he always wants to hunt. Later on Jack is trying to kill this pig he found after leaving Ralph and the rest of the kids. Jack finally catches the pig. Golding writes, “Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands” (135). At this point of the book Jacks unhealthy obsession with hunting has expanded to many others in the group. Hunting in the group of boys is like representing their transition to manhood. Jack is trying to be the Alpha male of the island and he finds killing the pigs is the way to do it. He is limiting his emotional range so he can only express evil and anger. This all goes back to the fact that the coys where scolding him in the beginning of the book. The urge to assert masculinity changing their morals and is leading them to commit evil.

The Lord of The Flies clearly offers a clear outlook on evil; the novel reveals that humans loss of certain aspects of life and emotions can lead to evil intentions and actions. It is true that Golding reveals how when people are put in bad situations there intentions and moralities change. These emotions still happen in the time we are in now. If we put people on an island now and they have no connection to civilization I feel they will react the same way. We are all evil in our own way. Despite our best efforts to keep the evil in the backs of our minds we still fail in certain situations. Soe situations will break us and let our true evil themselves out, just like the boys in The Lord of The Flies.

“There are very few people who are going to look in the mirror and say. ‘That person I see is a savage monster;’ instead they make up some construction that justifies what they do” – Noam Chomsky. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding suggests that one cannot acknowledge the presence of evil if evil has overcome them. Golding demonstrates how some characters including Ralph, Piggy and Simon acknowledge the chaotic behaviour growing on the island while other characters indulge in their savagery, which is ultimately why evil overpowers innocence on the island. This is seen through how Jack’s tribe adapts a new identity and therefore acts without remorse, Jack, Roger, and Maurice’s transformation from civil to savage, and finally, how Ralph, Piggy, and Simon are silenced for ignoring the calls of savagery.

Primarily, Jack painting his face to find a new identity allows him to act without remorse towards his actions. After painting his face and taking Sam and Eric’s focus away from the fire, he is exhilarated about his new identity. “He split the water and leapt to his feet, laughing excitedly. Beside the mere, his sinewy body help up a mask that drew their eyes and appealed them. He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling” (Golding 66). This shows how Jack is ecstatic to discover and endure in this new identity. However, as the novel progresses, Jack will soon forget who he truly is and make a new character out of this ‘mask’, overpowering the innocence of the island with savagery and evil. This also foreshadows how Jack does not want to acknowledge that he has turned evil and savage. Now, instead of being an innocent choir leader, he is becoming a leader of savagery, but he does not realize the wrong-doing of his actions just yet. Once Jack establishes his tribe, they are now being cautious of who is near them. “‘But didn’t we, didn’t we —?’ He squirmed and looked down. ‘No!’” (Golding 177). This exemplifies how Jack does not want to acknowledge the fact they have killed someone, and how they will have that stain on their hands even when they chose not to speak of it. Since they do not succeed in resolving their issues, this eventually leads to more tragic deaths among the characters. Especially since they did not talk about it all together, they start to get the sense that it is not bad to kill someone and when they do there will not be any consequences.

Moreover, due to Jack’s transition from civil to savage, Maurice and Roger use this as an excuse to act evil as well. Both Roger and Maurice come down from watching the fire to go swimming, when all of a sudden Roger decides to kick down the sandcastles the littluns were making. Maurice was laughing before adding to the destruction. “Roger led the way straight through the castles, kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones. Maurice followed, laughing, and added to the destruction” (Golding 62). The sandcastles symbolize the connection to civilization that is left on the island, however, once taken down by Maurice and Roger, the sense of civilization is gone and the island starts to become more savage. Similarly to the quote, they are adding destruction to innocence, as well as turning to the dark side of human nature. With no distinct authoritative figure, they assume that whatever they do will be followed with no consequences because they are hiding behind ‘masks’ or ‘new identities’. At this time, Roger is telling Robert that Wilfred, who has been tied up for hours, is going to get beaten by Jack. Robert shook his head with uncertainty. Without saying anything more, Roger’s climbs down from the rocks heads towards the cave with the rest of the tribe. “The chief was sitting there, naked to the waist, his face blocked out in white and red. The tribe lay in a semicircle before him” (Golding 176). This exemplifies Jack and his tribe’s journey to savagery. Jack, the leader of the tribe, is showing savagery because he is now partially naked with his face painted, in which he partakes in the islands to harm the other boys with no remorse. Without Ralph being their Id like leader, they have no one to tell them what is savage or not. This only makes it harder for innocent characters like Ralph, Piggy and Simon to voice their opinions, and ultimately causes Simon and Piggy to be killed.

Furthermore, in cause of Ralph, Piggy and Simon trying to end this savagery, these characters are silenced and ultimately, some of them are brutally murdered. Jack is now arguing with Piggy, voicing that Piggy did not help with the fire being made at the top of the mountain. Simon, being the kind-hearted person he is, tries to defend Piggy by saying he helped by using his specs. “‘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’” (Golding 42). Through this quote, the demanding and rude actions towards Piggy from Jack, shows the readers that characters who try to make things right are silenced and overshadowed. Since Jack is starting to indulge in his savage nature, Piggy is now a victim of not being able to voice his ideas or opinions. With the characters who try to end savagery being silenced, the island is taking a dark turn towards the evil and savagery of the boys. Thus resulting in not only Simon’s death but also Piggy’s. When visiting Jack and his tribe, Ralph hears a rock before seeing it. The giant rock eventually crushes Piggy while the tribe shrieks. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (Golding 200). In cause of all the distress on the island with the separate groups, Jack’s tribe decides to try, and successfully kill one of their competitors. After Piggy’s death, the island is now in disarray. Not only is Ralph the only sensible one left, but also the only prey to be hunted by Jack and his tribe. This goes to show that the characters who still stayed civil are hunted by those who have made a new distinguishable person and that even if they are doing the right things, savagery and evil still out rule the civil.

In the end, those who act upon their animalistic nature should acknowledge it and prioritize civilization instead of savagery. William Golding successfully demonstrates that one cannot acknowledge the presence of evil if it has overtaken them. The boys have all experienced a loss of civilization and humanity, some just to not recognize who they have turned into. They are scared to face the world for who they really are, thus having a new identity saves them from the savagery and chaos that they have caused.

Evil is commonly known as the lack of good. Wars, shootings, thefts, and robberies are all evil, but what about losing control? It all depends on how much control you lose and it depends on your definition of evil. Evil an extremely broad concept even in everyday use evil is used more narrowly to show great misfortune. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, evil can be looked at many different ways from the reader’s perspective. The novel is about a group of young British boys who are stranded on a deserted island with no supervision due to a plane crash. They create their own rules and systems, but with no adults to create a civilized manner for the boys, the rules get twisted and broken. The evil that most readers see, along with Simon, a character in the book who is the most logical thinker, is the evil growing inside the boys caused by them being out of a civilization for so long. It was only brought up once influenced by the ID needing to satisfy usual urges that it can’t access. Golding argues that most people seek to satisfy these evil urges, and characters such as Ralph, Piggy, and Jack in Lord of the Flies often show that these strong desires, though a product of the boys’ adult-free environment, have always been there but brought up by outside forces.

Why do the boys lose control torwards the end of the story? What makes them lose control and act out? What characters do the outside forces affect the most? Readers of the novel, Lord of the Flies, tend to ask themselves this when reading. Without a natural civilization for these boys their id needs something to satisfy. This is where the “evil” happens as they start to lose their super-ego. Jack, who is very self-centered and controlling, is the main example of the novel’s natural urge for violence, savagery, and everybody’s desire for power. Early in the story, Jack keeps the correct behavior that society has planted on him. Later, Jack starts to love hunting, painting his face like a madman and giving away all hope of getting rescued just to hunt. As Jack drifts farther and farther away from civilization the rest of the group follows apart from Ralph, Simon, and Piggy. The rest of the group mainly follows Jack for the meat and to support violence with the animal-like behavior. There is a link with Jack’s love for power and violence as both make him feel and admired as a king. Torwards the end of the book, Jack has managed to control their actions by using the beast’s terror over the boys. As Jack drifts away from civilization he brings most of the boys with him, this is why the boys lost control torwards the end of the story. Jack is most affected by the outside forces, unfortunately he drags the other boys down with him. What makes Jack act out so much? The answer is that Jacks id takes over faster than everyone elses since he has been out of civilization for so long. As each character drifts farther away from civilization their behavior becomes more and more animal like because of the enviorment they are surrounded with.

How does evil building up make one snap? Can a another person bring out others evil? Piggy is another example of having his id being pushed to the limit with outside forces. In the story, Piggy is shy twelve year old boy who remains the most loyal throught the story but once he’s pushed will he have an outburst? When Jack steals and breaks Piggy’s glasses (Golding 94) he builds up the courage to stand up to Jack then Ralph breaks up the scuffle. Since Piggy is not the type of person to do this this shows us that the evil inside him got pushed out by outside forces (Ralph stealing piggys glasses). This is also how someone can bring out someone else’s evil. Can this evil be controlled? Yes, Piggy shows us that when he often takes pauses to take a deep breath, rethink, and recontrol himself. Piggy also shows us this when he admits to taking some responsability murder of Simon. To calm himself back down Piggy tries to tell himself that Simon’s murder was an accident. Piggy in the beginning of the story was scared, shy, and way too afraid to act out in any way. Towards the end of the story Piggy’s evil has been building up with everyones childish acts and forgetting about their main goal: getting rescued. During a meeting nobody will let Piggy speak until he finally snaps and yells at everyone to remind them of their main goal. This is how built up evil can make someone snap.

Are there any tools that can be used to help the evil? Besides anger, what else can happen when the evil gets to someone? Ralph is known as the chief in the Lord of the Flies. He was elected as leader in the beginning of the story, Ralph shows the most leadership and civilized characteristics in the book. Being known as this character can the built up evil break him? The only tool that helps the boys with their evil is the conch. The conch in the story represents civilization, law, and order. This keeps Ralph calm throughout the story. When the conch breaks (Golding 260) Ralph hits the pigs head and unleashes the built up evil because he is mad at what Jack has done to the island. At the end of the story when they are getting rescued, after the evil has already broke out of Ralph, he cries (Golding 287). It never states why he cries but most think it’s because of the evil that consumed causing him to just break out. That is another way someone can deal with the evil when it gets to them. So far, to get away from this evil, finding a tool that represents something is the best way to go.

Golding suggests that most people seek to fulfill such dark urges and characters like Ralph, Piggy, and Jack in Lord of the Flies also indicate that these intense emotions, although they were a result of the parent-free environment of the children, were always there but brought up by outside influences. As each character from the story drifts farther from civilization the get filled more with evil. Evil can make people collapse in many different ways and they can deal with it in many different ways. A tool that will remind you of your main goal can often help you out with this evil. Society could learn that if they feel like their being filled with this evil they need to step back, take a deep breath, rethink, then re-enter. Evil is only brought up by outside forces. We need to learn how to control that and not unleash our evil.

One of the many popular beliefs that respected literature has revolved around for centuries is the belief that we all have good and bad within us, and that Individuals are born to be anything they’d like to be depending on their circumstances in life. In William Golding’s Lord of The Flies, a vast group of boys marooned on an island in the tropics is more than just an action packed novel. Lord of The Flies is a commentary on the darkness that exists in all mankind, and the evil in every soul that seeps through when humans are unsupervised, uncivilized and driven to madness. Through the lense of Zimbardo’s processes of evil, specifically mindlessly taking the first small steps, de-individuation of self, and passive tolerance of evil, Golding warns us about the ease with which humanity can descend into savagery.

The first process Zimbardo came up with is “mindlessly taking the first small steps” which refers to where evil always start out small. This first incident of evil is bullying, which happens most often when Jack Merridew, the novel’s main antagonist, is around, where all the boys gather together. As Piggy tries to speak, Jack interrupts and yells “You’re talking too much, shut up, Fatty.” (17) towards piggy. This quote demonstrates that Jack is verbally abusive towards Piggy and not only does this happen once, but multiple times. Such as circumstances where Piggy has the conch, which give the group power to speak, Jack interrupts and disrespects Piggy in front of the others. This type of action gives Jack a sense of authority and freedom because he can act in ways he could not act like off the island. As the story continues, Jack turns from being verbally abusive to physically abusive when he takes Piggy’s glasses against Piggy’s will. After taking Piggy’s glasses, Jack attacks Piggy again. “He took a step and able at last hit to someone, stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach” (_) This displays that Jack can not control his emotions which in most cases will lead him to act violently since there’s no adult authority figure to reprimand him. The small steps of evil in the novel quickly escalates from verbal to physical actions so small steps might not seem like much at first, but over time, these actions can have a detrimental effect.

The process “Deindividuation of self” is basically perceived as a loss of individuality that can take place when an individual joins a group that focuses on a de-emphasis of individuation, which happens in Chapter 4 and _ . In chapter _ Jack walks out of the forest holding a stick of charcoals and leaves, with his face painted in red and white clays. He justifies the reasons behind painting his face, “For hunting, Like in the war. You know – dazzle paint. Like they’re trying to look like something else-“ (_) The other boys are amused and surprised after seeing the newly painted face of Jack. The masks and the charcoals cover the hunters’ identities and allow them to have the freedom to act savages. Then shortly after, Jack takes the chance to try and take over as a leader, evidently in the end calling ralph a coward. After this, no one is willing to agree with Jack causing Jack to run away into the forest, suggesting “anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too.” (_) Knowing the significance of this scene is important due to the fact that the boys separate into two groups, the problem of the “beast” still lingers and the disaster is commencing to change order. When individuals are amongst a large amount of people, they often get caught up in the heat of the moment and fall short of sanity finding themselves caught up in a mob mentality.

The last process of “seven processes that grease the slippery slope of evil’ is passive tolerance of evil through inaction and indifference. This process occurs in the book where Jack proudly and confidently shows his wound to the crowd, after killing a boar. As the hunters chant and dance, they begin to jab at Robert with their spears. “All at once, Robert was screaming and struggling with the strength of frenzy. Jack had him by the hair and was brandishing his knife. The chant rose ritually, as the last moment of a dance” (125) The characterization of Jack and his hunters cautions the readers towards the destructive impulses that reside inside all humans, where the hunters’ chant and dance pushes them to the brink of actual murder. Another scene that supports this process is when the hunters follow Jack’s lead to “kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood” (168) where they end up killing who they thought was the “beast”, but was actually Simon. “At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore” (169) At this stage, Jack and his followers are nothing but barbaric, bloodlust savages who now have the ability to commit villainous crime with a clear conscience. Because of Simon’s death, we finally see how tolerating evil leads to more catastrophic events, and when good people do nothing while depravity reigns, our communities will be devoured by the likes of savagery.

To sum up everything that has been stated, Philip Zimbardo’s seven social processes, particularly taking the first small steps, de-individuation of self, and passive tolerance of evil impacted and influenced the boys on the island. These processes intend to alert us how humanity can easily turn into savagery. Jack and his hunters’ way of thinking warns us how people possess a destructive instinct that could potentially damage other human beings.

Vaulting ambition is the insatiable desire for something greater in your life. Ambition is a theme imbued in many texts as it is what fuels people to achieve greater things in life. It acts as the catalyst for the downfall of those seeking power on both a political, social and economic level. William Shakespeare in his play ‘Macbeth’, follows the tragic hero, Macbeth, and the calamitous spiral he falls into after his vaulting ambition to be king becomes unconstrained and leads to his consequent downfall. Comparably, William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, exhibits similar themes of ambition. The protagonist, Jack, manifests characteristics similar to Macbeth’s in that his desire to be the leader steers him down a steep path of destruction, of which leads to his downfall. Both texts demonstrate the detrimental effects vaulting ambition has on those seeking power through the loss of of innocence, morality and how the ambition for power leads to the downfall of others as well as themselves. Thus, both texts are able to communicate the ways in which ambition leads to the downfall of those seeking power through the characterisation of Jack and Macbeth.

The composers explicate the idea that one’s innocence diminishes as they draw upon their vaulting ambition to seek and secure power by any means necessary. In Macbeth and Lord of the Flies, both characters forfeit their innocence, conscience and mental stability in order to fulfil their insatiable ambition for leadership and power. Shakespeare communicates Macbeth’s loss of innocence through the motif of sleep. When his ambition for power drives him to commit murder, Macbeth hears a voice whisper, “Macbeth doth murder sleep”, highlighting his already deteriorating conscience and further constructing the idea that sleep is only for those who convey honest innocence.

This positions audiences to build meaning and symbolic significance within the play and see Macbeth’s development from an innocent, valiant hero into a tragic mentally oppressed villain. The metaphorical illusion of blood also supports this idea of diminishing innocence. Blood represents the crimes Macbeth is guilty of, such as murder, treason, etc. Through the use of hyperbole and rhetorical questioning, “will all great Neptune’s oceans wash this blood clean from my hands?” audiences are able to acknowledge the loss of innocence within Macbeth’s character and consequent guilt because of these treacherous acts. Similarly, Golding explores the way in which the lack of societal boundaries leads to the loss of innocence within Jack as he fulfils his vaulting ambition for leadership. Golding portrays this idea through descriptive imagery. “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood”. This quote emphasises Jack’s loss of innocence as a result of the lack of civilisation around them. Thus positioning audiences to feel uneasy as they discover the savage nature Jack is reverting to while he tries to quench his thirst for power and leadership. Through the narration of Jack’s inner thoughts when he kills his first pig, readers are able to understand Jack’s perspective. “[They had] taken away its life like a satisfying drink”. The extremely graphic nature of this quote further supports Jack’s loss of innocence in marking a milestone in the boy’s decline into savagery in an attempt to gain leadership. This positions the audience to acknowledge Jacks transition from an innocent young boy to a sadistic juvenile. Therefore, both texts convey that the loss of innocence occurs as both Jack and Macbeth act upon their vaulting ambition.

Shakespeare and Golding conceptualise the iniquitous nature of man when vaulting ambition and desire for power leads to the disruption of one’s internal moral compass. This is portrayed through both Macbeth and Jack’s character development throughout both texts as they descend into evil as a result of their unharnessed ambition and need for power. Shakespeare through the use of prophecies allows Macbeth to draw his ambition from the fate he is prophesised. Ultimately, this is what leads to his downfall as he becomes more and more morally corrupt. “All hail Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter” is what fuels Macbeth’s ambition, sending him into an immoral spiral that involves tyranny, treachery and murder. This change in character is evident during Macbeth’s aside, when he states that, from now on, he will do anything that comes to mind, irrespective of the consequences, to ensure his reign remains unthreatened. “From this moment, The very firstlings of my heart shall be, The firstlings of my hand. And even now, To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done…” This palpable change in character dramatically exhibits the ways in which ambition and paranoia (as a result of ambition) lead to the downfall of Macbeth. Similarly, In Goldings Lord of the flies, Jack transitions from an innocent, arrogant, young boy into a barbaric youth whose ambition causes him to become morally corrupt. “‘I ought To be chief” said Jack with simple arrogance. ‘because I’m the chapter chorister and headboy.

I can sing in C sharp.’” This quote highlights Jack’s innocent self-confidence through the use of colloquial diction, allowing readers to read his remarks in a conversational tone. This is contrasted by his character towards the end of the text, when his ambition for power over threw his civilised moral compass, resulting in the iniquitous actions that lead to his downfall. “Eat! Damn it!” accentuates his character transformation as he evidently has become more hostile and antagonistic. The use of exclamation exemplifies his animosity as he notices his rage elicits respect from the other boys, and acknowledges that he can use fear, rage and intimidation to attain and fulfil his ambitious desires for power. Thus positioning the audience to feel threatened and scared of what Jack has become as he continues to neglect his morals and fuel his ambition. Thus, both composers are able to commune the destruction that results when ambition goes unconstrained by moral restrictions.

The composers evince that one’s unconstrained ambition for power can lead to others’ downfall as well as their own. Within both novels, ambition leads to the downfall of those seeking power as well as all those who stand in their way. This is evident in Macbeth, where Shakespeare links Banquo’s death to Macbeth’s unconstrained ambition. Banquo who was prophesised to father a line of kings, threatens Macbeth’s reign and therefore must be eliminated. “…And before the dung beetle makes it’s little humming noise to tell us its night time a dreadful deed will be done” Foreshadows Banquo’s untimely demise. This foreshadowing creates dramatic tension between Macbeth and readers as they convey the possible outcomes that may occur. This concept is further depicted during the murder of Macduff’s family.

Macbeth was given three apparitions one of which being “Beware Macduff…”. Macbeth immediately acknowledges that Macduff is a threat to the safety of his reign and therefore must be killed. However, Macduff left Scotland in seek of Malcom, Duncan’s rightful successor. This doesn’t stop Macbeth, only fuels his vaulting ambition. He decides to slaughter Macduff’s family. This occurs during his soliloquy “The castle of Macduff I will surprise seize upon Fife, give to the edge o’ the sword, his wife, his babes…”. This positions audiences to gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which Macbeth’s ambition has led to the downfall of Macduff’s family and decline in Macbeth’s empathy towards people. Likewise, Golding highlights the similarities between Macbeth and Jack in that both will sacrifice the lives and well being of others to fulfil their own ravenous desire to hold both political and societal power. Golding uses an extended metaphor to unveil the ways in which Jack’s approach and ambition to be the outright leader inspired the savage behaviour that led to the boys’ downfall. The conch shell acts as an extended metaphor for socially accepted, civilised behaviour that forced the boys to remain humanised. When attempting to become the group’s leader and fulfil his ambition for power, Jack proposes “we don’t need the conch anymore”, suggesting that in order to survive on the island they must follow Jack’s leadership and retreat to barbaric natures. This …. Positioning the audience to … This idea is further communicated through the death of Piggy. Jack’s ideologies he inflicted upon the group as he began to fulfil his ambition of power resulted in the barbaric and bestial death of Piggy. Golding, through the use of similes, creates a clear mental image of Piggy’s death. “Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it had been killed.” This allows audiences to immediately envision a mental image of what Jack is seeing. Hence, Shakespeare and Golding are able to depict that the destructive and powerful link between ambition and power can result in the downfall of others, as well as your own.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies effectively convey the shared thematic concern of vaulting ambition and its destructive link to power. The main protagonists in both texts, Macbeth and Jack, prove that one’s rapacious ambition for power is directly linked to their downfall. Both composers acknowledge that loss of innocence and morality are a result of unconstrained ambition, of which leads to the downfall of those seeking power, and those in their way. Therefore, through texts such as Macbeth and Lord of the flies, readers are able to understand the noxious relationship between ambition and power.

Imagine a world with no superior power and no rules. When a group of small boys’ plane crashes on a deserted island, they do not live with any of these. They have to survive and in the process many flaws in present society are pointed out. Certain objects can be used to show these connections and how they relate to today. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses a conch for a symbol of civility and power, a signal fire as a symbol for hope of rescue, and the character Jack as a symbol of immaturity and the cruelty of man.

The conch symbolizes power and civilization. When Ralph and Piggy first find the conch it is just a shell but when they decide to blow on it and realize how loud it is, it becomes an object of power. “A deep, harsh note boomed under the palms” and “clouds of birds rose from the treetops” (17). They use it in meetings to gain organization and only the person holding it can talk. As the story proceeds, the conch loses its power and eventually is hit by a boulder and “explode[s] into a thousand white fragments” (181). When this happens any humanity and organization still left is now completely lost. The conch is their tie to the real world and when it is gone it is total chaos. Although it is just a shell, it is their way to govern the island.

The signal fire is a symbol for hope of being rescued. From the beginning, Ralph is determined to keep the fire going in case a ship or aircraft passes by. He makes everyone help keep it going. But as the story proceeds, the boys lose sight of the end goal: getting off the island. When the fire goes out Ralph says, “‘The fire is the is the most important thing on the island’” and they should die before they let it go out (80-81). Anytime the fire goes out it signifies the boys’ loss of hope. By the end, Ralph is the only one who still cares about being rescued and all of the other boys are caught up in killing and having fun. When there are only three left with Ralph they still do their best to keep the fire going (163). In order to stay connected to civilization, they have to keep the fire going because it is their only hope of surviving. If the fire goes out they will not be rescued.

Jack is a symbol of savagery and the cruelty of man. Jack is introduced as head choir boy and already seems rude and somewhat cruel when Simon faints and he makes fun of Piggy calling him “‘Fatty’” (20-21). As the story progresses, Jack slowly becomes more and more uncivilized. He is described as “dog-like” and “ape-like” while hunting on his hands and knees (48-49). He does not care about being rescued, he just wants to hunt a pig. He then decides to leave Ralph and take the others. While covered in paint and naked they hunt and have feasts as well as murdering Simon and Piggy. By the end he has turned completely evil and a totally different person. This cruelty and evil could be in anyone. It may not seem like it but everyone has some evil in them and it just takes certain actions to see the results. Jack is just an example provided to show how many people are just like him.

Symbolism is a large element in Lord of the Flies. They may lose or gain importance of power throughout the book but they still hold the same truth. Any person could be the kids in the book. The conch, the fire, and Jack are just objects put in place for society. The symbols are meant to point out the good and the evil of mankind.

Works Cited

1. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006.

Lord of the Flies is a 1954 novel by Nobel Prize–winning British author William Golding, published 17th of September 1954 is 224 pages of a genre of Allegory. The book focuses on a group of British boys stranded on an unknown uninhabited island during a fictional worldwide war in 1950 during a disastrous attempt of a group of young men to govern themselves, Set But the real disaster comes with the uncontrolled power that eventually tears them apart, hence the main theme of power. There are various forms of power, but the ones that are most effective in Lord of the Flies are Authoritarian power, Democratic power and power in symbolism.

Here the subject of discussion is all about symbolism and how it represents Power, In Lord of the flies there are multiple, for example the conch shell, The Beast and Piggy’s Glasses.

The Conch shell is what started everything as piggy used it to summon all the boys to the beach after they got separated from the crash, from this moment till the end, the conch shell became a symbol for power as it is used as order and civilization as Ralph says Where the conch is, that’s a meeting. The same up here as down there” and “partly because Ralph blew it, and he was big enough to be a link with the adult world of authority; and partly because they enjoyed the entertainment of the assemblies”. You might be thinking, what? How? It’s just a shell but in their fictional world the shell effectively governs the boys’ meetings, for the boy who holds the shell holds the right to speak as it only works as long as the boys all believe in its power and the necessity of the idea it symbolizes.

Another demonstration of power in the form of symbolism is The Beast, as it is the imaginary beast that frightens all the boys, it is used as symbolism of power as the boys use the idea and concept of the beast for personal gain, The boys are scared and frightened of the beast, but only Simon reaches the realization that they fear the beast because it stimulates the fear that’s already in each and every one of them. And just like the conch shell The Beast only exists because of the boy’s belief in it and when they grow more savage, their belief in the beast grows stronger hence making it more powerful in their minds.

Symbolism of power in Lord of the Flies can be found in what we could go down to the $2 shop and get ourselves. Jack and his rebel band decide that the real symbol of power on the island is not the conch, but Piggy’s glasses—the only means the boys have of starting a fire. They raid Ralph’s camp, confiscate the glasses, and return to their abode on Castle Rock. Ralph, now deserted by most of his supporters, journeys to Castle Rock to confront Jack and secure the glasses. Taking the conch and accompanied only by Piggy, Sam, and Eric, Ralph finds the tribe and demands that they return the valuable object.

Power in Lord of flies can be represented in all sorts of ways including authoritarian power as certain characters throughout the novel display this, including none the less Jack. Authoritarian power is when power is given to an individual or small group.

Jack displays his authoritarian power, by defying the existing power of democracy on the island. For example in page 98 when Ralph had control over the conch, Jack confronted ralph about his leadership saying “and shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing”. William Golding portrayed this through heavy use of repetition, not just in this quote but throughout the novel. Golding illustrates jacks authoritarian power through rhetorical questions that is used to emphasize the point that Jack is defying the democratic power already in play. Authorities power often use fear and threats to control the public, Although Jack doesn’t do this often throughout the novel, there has been sightings of it, and for example, “The boys of jack’s tribe are afraid of jack, making them follow him”. As Golding asserts jack as one of the more dominant leaders, he declares that one of Jacks dominant qualities is pathos and Golding emphasizes this through fear and terror. Golding Portrays power in many different ways in lord of the flies including authoritarian power.

William Golding asserts the theme of power very heavily in lord of the flies, so much so that there are too many forms of power throughout the novel to count but the form of power Jack defied was democratic power, democratic power can defined as a form of government in which the people have the authority to choose their governing legislature, on the island this is demonstrated through Ralph as he is put through an election and wins to obtains this power with the title of chief. And what Ralph does with this power is he creates a system of government that is organized and based on laws. An example of this is, “We need an assembly. Not for fun. Not for laughing and falling of the log”. Golding portrays this through Logos as when Ralph makes rules, he thinks logically about safety, security and staying connected with each other. Democratic power is also strongly represented through the conch as it drives everyone power hungry for it as the boys see Ralph with the conch they say:

“Him with the shell”

“Ralph! Ralph!”

“Let him be chief with the trumpet thing”.

The tone illustrated by Golding is hunger and lingering horror, the hunger for the democratic power of the conch and the horror from what the hunger brings later on in the novel. William Golding uses hyperbole to convey how much influence and power the conch actually has, by over exaggerating the conch’s power, it sends the boys down a savage path and that’s when hyperbole comes into play again with savagery and the theme of horror. Golding asserts democratic power heavily into Lord of the flies that is demonstrated through the conch and Ralph.

In the psychological fiction novel “Lord Of the Flies” by William Golding, a group of boys are stranded on an island with non adults after a plane crash. Out of the group of young boys, two neutral leaders arise which are Ralph and Jack. The innocent civilized boys start heading towards evil and savagery due to their actions and conflicts between individuals. The actions of the boys in Lord Of the Flies are similar to Zimbardo’s 7 processes that displays the slippery slope of evil.

At the start of the novel, the opposer, Jack sincerely shows repulsive behavior through his animosity. For example, when Jack makes the movement to cut the pig, ‘there came an pause’ and ‘the piglet tore loose from the creepers’ (31). This speaks to the initial move towards evil and how despite Jack is reluctant to really kill the pig, he thoughtlessly winds up fixated on chasing after some time. Also, one of the characters, Piggy, is known as a debasing moniker all through the whole novel after Jack lets him know, ‘Quiets down, greasy’ (21). This demonstrates Jack treats individuals with no regard for their sentiments so as to pick up control and is dehumanizing Piggy which depicts the second step. With everything taken into account, the way that Jack picks up opportunity from being far from development, it just winds up impacting him to grasp his evilness.

Thusly, Jack can influence others into tracking with his remorseless goals by controlling them through dread. To take for example, when Jack leaves the wilderness in the wake of murdering the pig, his face is ‘spread with muds’ (69). Not exclusively does the face paint change Jack’s appearance, making him mysterious which is appeared in stage 3, however it changes his disposition, enabling him to let out the his inward evil spirits and at last murder the pig. Additionally, the young men murder Simon, confusing him with the brute, which is depicted by ‘the tearing of teeth and paws’ (153). This shows how Jack could get alternate young men (stage 4 and 5) to slaughter Simon through persuading in something false. By and large, Jacks capacity to control alternate young men makes a disorganized situation driving everybody towards brutality.

Besides, the kid’s ville attitude is standardized because of the way that any type of human progress has been disposed of on the island. In particular, when Piggy passes on and Ralph turns into the foe, Samneric encourage Ralph to ‘fend off similarly as [he] can’ and that it’s ‘for [his] claim great’ (189). This proposes Samneric have discovered that in the event that they obey Jack, no mischief will come, and thusly, they do what he says beyond a shadow of a doubt (stage 6). Furthermore, the young men don’t mediate and know that Jack’s activities aren’t right in light of the fact that Roger states, ‘[Jack] is going to beat Wilfred’ (159). This exhibits the seventh step, and how Roger recognized what Jack was doing yet chose not to mediate. To put it plainly, these characters have the capacity to have insidious attributes, yet not every one of them can face the abhorrent they confront.

All in all, the characters in this novel depict certain parts of human instinct that relate to Zimbardo’s seven stages. Regardless of whether each character followed up on their detestable musings, they took an interest in permitting another person to, which mirrored the valor factor, all things considered. Zimbardo clarifies that individuals’ malevolent attributes can be brought out in specific situations which is appeared all through Jack’s activities. The solidarity to battle this attribute originates from the psychological toughness an individual has, however no everybody is fit for this.

William Golding uses different types of symbolism throughout the story “Lord of the flies”. The first symbol of ‘the beast’ will be explained in depth and talked about how it effects the characters within the story. Paragraph 2 includes piggy’s glasses, which are very symbolic for a simple thing and also creates a signal fire. Paragraph 3 is about the fire which is used a lot throughout the story, having strong meanings and symbols towards it, as well as helping the kids gain warmth. Golding uses these symbols to explore broader ideas / concepts to show people that some of the most basic objects, could potentially have a strong symbolic meaning.

Imagery is appeared all through the entire story, some more than others. One of these are the monster, which the young men fear, however just Simon arrives at the assembly that they dread the monster since it exists inside every one of them. The monster in actuality speaks to symbolism as it isn’t generally there, the young men simply observe one. It likewise represents the basic impulse of viciousness that exists inside every single person. The Beast is the shrewd that dwells inside man. The kids were all mindful that such a monster exists, however none of them understood (aside from Simon) that it exists in them. Showed in three structures all through the story, the Beast continually torment the littluns – moulded by society. The monster was innocuous and loathsome; and the news must arrive at the others at the earliest opportunity. Here, Simon finds that the monster that the young men thought they discovered is, actually, a dead human pilot. Simon needs to promise the young men that the monster isn’t genuine.

The signal fire consumes on the mountain, and later on the sea shore, to draw in the notification of passing boats that may have the option to save the young men. Accordingly, the sign fire turns into a gauge of the young men’s association with civilisation. In the early pieces of the novel, the way that the young men keep up the fire is an indication that they need to be protected and come back to society. At the point when the fire consumes low or goes out, we understand that the young men have dismissed their craving to be safeguarded and have acknowledged their savage lives on the island. The sign fire accordingly works as a sort of estimation of the quality of the humanised nature staying on the island. Incidentally, toward the end of the novel, a fire at long last calls a boat to the island, however not the sign fire. Rather, it is the fire of viciousness, the woods Jack’s group begins as a component of his journey to chase and slaughter Ralph.

Ralph and Piggy find the conch shell on the sea shore toward the beginning of the novel and use it to call the young men together after they accidentally isolate themselves. Utilised in this limit, the conch shell turns into an incredible image of human progress and request in the novel. The shell adequately oversees the young men’s gatherings, for the kid who holds the shell holds the option to talk. In such manner, the shell is in excess of an image. It is a genuine vessel of political authenticity and power of democracy. As the island development dissolves and the young men plunge into brutality, the conch shell loses it’s capacity and impact among them. Ralph grips the shell frantically when he discusses his part in killing Simon. Afterward, different young men disregard Ralph and toss stones at him when he endeavours to blow the conch in Jack’s camp. The stone that Roger rolls onto Piggy likewise pounds the conch shell, implying the end of the enlightened sense among practically all the young men on the island.

A stereotype is a mistaken idea or belief many people have about a thing or group that is based upon how they look only on the outside. The character, Piggy, defies stereotypes by using his intelligence through his words instead of his actions. The novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, tells a story about a group of British schoolboys whose plane crashes on a deserted island. The rules and regulations that they develop slowly fade because of the lack of civilization on the island. Because there are no adults on the island, the boys eventually turn against each other, and they become violent towards one another. Piggy helped Ralph try to keep the boys civilized and had many positive qualities, which is why he is the real hero of the story.

Piggy is the most significant hero in the story for trying the hardest to keep the boys civilized. For example, he is the one that had the idea to make the conch an important part of the group’s meetings. The conch represents a form of democracy and ruling in which piggy wanted to have to keep things under control. This shell gives the right to speak to the boy who holds it. Without the conch, the voice of piggy would have never been heard. Piggy tries to keep everything under control by taking the conch and saying, “I just take the conch to say this. I can’t see no more and I got to get my glasses back. Awful things has been done on this island” (Golding 240). Another way that he tried to keep everyone under control was at the point where Ralph wanted to let Jack take over. Piggy knew that having Jack as a leader would turn things for the worse and civilization would not exist. He convinced Ralph to not give up his spot as leader because they were the only two who wanted to be civil. Piggy knew that nobody would take him seriously and he wouldn’t have a voice without Ralph being an important leader. When Piggy was convincing ralph to stay as chief he says, “I voted for you for chief. He’s the only one who ever got anything done. So now you speak, Ralph, and tell us what” (Golding 240). In the end, Piggy had to find a way to make his voice heard, and the only way to do that was through Ralph being chief.

Despite having obstacles in his way for his voice to be heard, Piggy has many important qualities that contribute to the group. He is very smart and has ideas that benefit the entire group. For example, he had the idea to move the fire closer to the shore so that ships would be more likely to see the smoke on the island. Piggy’s glasses were a tool used to create fire to increase the chances of getting rescued and to be able to cook food. Piggy tells the boys to give his glasses back as he says, “Give me my specs!” (Golding 41). This quote foreshadows the importance of Piggy’s glasses to the group’s need for fire as said before. This quote also contributes to the developing plot of the story. Piggy’s intelligence was also strong enough to recognize that the beast was not real. He also realizes that the beast is actually apart of the boys themselves. In The Lord of the Flies, the beast is the savagery that exists within all human beings. The boys are afraid of the beast because it is inside each of them and they are unaware of what could happen with it. Piggy notices that fear itself exists, and could become dangerous if the boys start to become frightened of one another by saying, “I know there isn’t no beast—not with claws and all that, I mean—but I know there isn’t no fear, either…unless we get frightened of people” (Golding 84). As said before, Piggy has a personality that gives advantages to the rest of the island.

Some people may say that Piggy is not the real hero because he was an overweight boy with asthma who wore glasses. However, Piggy is the real here of the story because he assisted Ralph with keeping the children civilized while on the island. Piggy suggested the conch be used to let everyone have a fair chance at expressing their ideas. This is Piggy’s way of getting his ideas through to the group. Without it, Piggy would not have a chance at being considered valuable to the group. Despite his physical disadvantages, Piggy was able to use his personality to benefit the group. He had smart idea like moving the fire and realizing the beast isn’t real. Instead of using his actions to take part in group activities, he used his brain and words, which seemed to work better in his case.

In conclusion, people in the real world who are like Jack think that intelligence is incompatible with strength, but Piggy is an example of how that is untrue. Piggy is one of the most significant characters in the novel, The Lord of the Flies. Piggy is the real hero of the story because he helped Ralph maintain order throughout the island and had a few positive characteristics that benefited the entire group. In real life situations, people shouldn’t act so fast on judging someone based on their looks, but they should get to know them better because they could end up being a real hero.