Category: Lord of The Flies

Everything you have can be ripped away at any moment. These kids were a bunch of prep school kids, seen to be very polite, moderate, and had great well-being. As soon as any adults and rules were taken away their entire demeanor changed. Golding’s message was that everyone doesn’t really know what to do with themselves once rules are taken away. As if, rules are the only thing holding people together. The boys used special items to hold order, they slowly drove themselves to craziness, and they made up certain things to be scared of and symbolize the extremities of their island life.

“And in the middle of them, with a filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.” These lines from the end of Chapter 12 occur near the close of the novel after the boys encounter the naval officer, who appears as if out of nowhere to save them. When Ralph sees the officer, his sudden realization that he is safe and will be returned to civilization plunges him into reflective despair. The rescue is not a moment of joy, for Ralph realizes that, although he is saved from death on the island, he will never be the same. He has lost his innocence and learned about the evil that lurks within all human beings. Here, Golding explicitly connects the sources of Ralph’s despair to two of the main themes of the novel: the end of innocence and the “darkness of man’s heart,” the presence of savage instincts lurking within all human beings, even at the height of civilization. As soon as any rules and punishments were taken away. The boys turned into completely different people, completely new kids.

In the beginning, the conch is a symbol of the union because it reunites the boys from when they are scattered around the island. Once the boys are all gathered in a group, the conch then changes to symbolize power and leadership. Ralph is the one who blew the conch, so he is seen as the leader of the group based on the power the conch seems to hold. The conch also represents a turn to talk within the group. Using the conch as a way to communicate fairly in the group, helps keep order within the group. ”Then I’ll give him the conch.’ ‘Conch?’ ‘That’s what these shells are called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.” (33). In the first chapter, the boys decide to vote for a leader. Everyone in the choir votes for Jack, but all the other boys vote for Ralph because he blew the conch. To keep Jack happy, Ralph says that the choir will be hunters and Jack will lead them. In chapter two, Ralph says that without adults, they’ll have to take care of themselves. He makes a rule that whoever holds the conch at meetings gets to speak. Another example of symbolism is, much like Piggy’s character, his glasses represent the intellectual part of society. His glasses, however, represent using that intellect in a new society created from scratch. When the boys figure out to use Piggy’s glasses to start the fire, it shows how they were able to think rationally for a moment and utilize what they have to make something they need. Also, Piggy’s glasses also represent a useful tool that they can use while on the island. Besides making the fire on the mountain, they were also able to cook their food by being able to make a fire with Piggy’s glasses. ‘Jack pointed suddenly. ‘His specs — use them as burning glasses!’ Piggy was surrounded before he could back away. ‘Here — let me go!’…Ralph moved the lenses back and forth, this way and that, till a glossy white image of the declining sun lay on a piece of rotten wood. Almost at once a thin trickle of smoke rose up and made him cough. Jack knelt too and blew gently, so that the smoke drifted away, thickening, and a tiny flame appeared. The flame, nearly invisible at first in that bright sunlight, enveloped a small twig, grew, was enriched with color, and reached up to a branch that exploded with a sharp crack. The flame flapped higher and the boys broke into a cheer’ (40-41). In chapter Four it states, Piggy and even some of the hunters start yelling at Jack. Jack, humiliated and angry, hits Piggy. Piggy’s glasses fly off, breaking a lens. Jack mocks Piggy and everyone laughs.

The beast represents the inner savagery of the boys and all mankind. The boys personify it by calling it a giant snake and mistaking a dead parachutist for it. Simon is the only boy who understands that they, the boys, are actually the beast. The imaginary beast that frightens all the boys stands for the primal instinct of savagery that exists within all human beings. The boys are afraid of the beast, but only Simon reaches the realization that they fear the beast because it exists within each of them. As the boys grow more savage, their belief in the beast grows stronger. By the end of the novel, the boys are leaving its sacrifices and treating it as a totemic god. The boys’ behavior is what brings the beast into existence, so the more savagely the boys act, the more real the beast seems to become. The boys also stand as symbols: Simon represents goodness; Ralph and Piggy symbolize law and order; Jack and Roger stand for evil; the big kids represent the ruling classes; and the littluns symbolize common folk. The use of symbols is crucial to this book because Golding shows us that an item is more powerful than it first seems.

The setting is extremely important. It is important to know that boys cannot turn to adults for help. Being totally isolated on an island, with no adult supervision and discipline, the boys give in to savage-like behavior. The setting is important in that the boys have to hunt for food. There is no food, except for fruit, on the island. The boys are forced to search for food. It is during the hunt that the boys become savage-like. In the beginning, it was difficult for Jack to kill a pig. He let the first pig getaway, more or less, out of fear of killing it. As he begins to kill pigs on a regular basis, he becomes more savage. The setting cooperates with his intentions which are becoming more evil. The boys are stranded on an island, they are exposed to dangers that cause the boys to abandon discipline. For example, the beast or imagination of the beast is becoming a part of the setting. Jack and his hunters become savage-like to contend with the beast. The setting offers Jack and his hunters an outlet to show their savage behavior. Indeed, the setting is ideal for exposing the boys’ savagery. These examples lead back to Golding’s message that everyone doesn’t really know what to do with themselves once rules are taken away. As if, rules are the only thing holding people together. The boys struggled with the lack of rules and felt relief when they were found although their lives will never be the same.

In Lord of the Flies, the author, William Golding, creates the novel to show the behaviors he noticed during the time of World War II. He depicts the different inner designs of the human body and soul. Golding helps detect one’s inner savagery and civility. Golding demonstrates that the children are not conditioned by society to act evil or, that a satanic force is driving them towards such a malevolent and nefarious demeanor; it is an innate evil within that is causing them to act this way.

Golding creates specific characters to represent our society. The characters are used to depict the different innate needs for savagery and civility. Ralph is represented as civility and Jack is represented as savagery. Golding also creates a character named Simon who represents a similar type of civility, natural goodness. Humans mirror these archetypes that Golding uses in the novel. The beast scares the boys throughout the novel, but only Simon realizes that the fear of the beast was created to hide the real beast which lived inside each of them. As the boys become more savage, the beast grows stronger. The boys’ behavior is what brings the beast into existence, so the more savagely the boys act, the more real the beast seems to become.

The boys are thrown into a situation where they are alone on an island with no parents or rules. Golding uses this to give the idea of human nature in not only boys but in all of society. The boys represent how far humans will go in order to survive and what they will do to suppress the evil they carry within. Golding underlies the idea that men will destroy not only themselves but the people and area around them, almost as second nature. At the end of the novel, Jack destroys the island by burning it down; which adds to the fact the boys once had a beautiful island to call home yet quickly turned it into a wreckage. “Someone called out. ‘Too many things.’ There came a mutter of agreement. Ralph overrode them. ‘And another thing’” (Golding 88). Ralph wanted the island to be a good, functioning society, but the other boys were tired of all the work and rules that were placed on them. The only boys who still truly understood the importance of the rules were not able to convince the rest to agree. This marks the downfall of Ralph’s orderly and clean society. Ralph displays the positive side of human nature with his realistic planning and firm leadership.

People will do anything even if it means losing their innocence. The author of Lord of the Flies, William Golding, fought in World War II, which suggests he knows what people are truly capable of, hence the reason he wrote Lord of the Flies. The novel is allegorical, which means the diagnosis of fictional figures and actions about human existence. The allegory William Golding develops in the Lord of the Flies, reveals that man’s fear is powerful and causes them to lose their innocence.

A man can easily lose his innocence by being afraid of the unknown. In Lord of the Flies, Jack, one of the main characters, proceeds to be afraid of the “beast” which later in the story is proven to not be true.“He noticed blood on his hands…then wiped them on his shorts.”(Golding 69). Golding was proving that even adolescent can lose their innocence easily. Jack killing the pigs and making these chants about killing them shows that a person fears of going hungry can make them do something anti-rational.

During the chants, they recited how they willing slaughtered a pig and how it was amusing to them, subsequently, making a visit about it.“Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (Golding 69). The boys dancing and chanting to this situation shows that no one will be innocence for their entire lifetime. Another piece of evidence is the deaths of Piggy and Simon. Killing people shows that you don’t really have any innocence or any self remorse.

In this chapter, Roger willingly pushes a boulder off a cliff to kill Piggy. But it did hit piggy killing him. “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;…Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea” (Golding 180-181). Then with all the boys ganging up on Simon thinking he’s the beast. “Simon was crying something about a dead man on a hill….The sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle crunched and screamed. The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abominable noise, something about a body on the hill….Only the beast lay still, … its blood was staining the sand.” (Golding 152-153).William Golding is trying to show that this quote shows the true evil that man inherent because they were slaughtering him.

Man inheriting evil is one of the allegories William Golding develops in the Lord of the Flies. One thing it demonstrates is the ‘beast’ inside the young men since it demonstrates that everybody can have malicious in them regardless of whether they think they are pure.“His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink.”(Golding 70) Man inheriting evil is one of the allegories William Golding develops in the Lord of the Flies. One thing it demonstrates is the ‘beast’ inside the young men since it demonstrates that everybody can have malicious in them regardless of whether they think they are pure.“His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink.”(Golding 70). In this quote Jack remorses how he feels after a satisfying hunt. Here, Golding makes a connection between Jack’s wanting to hunt and to commit violence.

‘The three boys rushed forward and Jack drew his knife again with a flourish. He raised his arm in the air. There came a pause, a hiatus, the pig continued to scream and the creepers to jerk, and the blade continued to flash at the end of a bony arm. The pause was only long enough for them to understand what an enormity the downward stroke would be. Then the piglet tore loose from the creepers and scurried into the undergrowth.’ (Golding 31).This quote shows how Jack is killing pigs because he is scared of starving. Golding is saying that fear is very powerful when it comes to men.

Revealing that man’s fear is powerful and causes them to lose their innocence is the allegory William Golding develops in the Lord of the Flies. The loss of innocence and that man inherent evil are both proofs of William Golding’s allegory.Everyone loses their innocence by doing adult actions such as children building a civilization. A man can simply inherent evil by murdering animals and people such as Jack murdering pigs. This topic is important because it could help more people understand the book.

“Maybe there is a beast….maybe it’s only us” (Golding 89). William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, lived through the two World Wars. During these wars, he witnessed the horrors and evils of our society: the numerous casualties, the Holocaust, and other tragic events. He even participated in one, World War II. It is clear that these events inspired him to write this novel; the characters and events in the story symbolize different aspects of our society (Alnajm). Based on the allegory developed in Lord of the Flies, William Golding believes that the state of civilization and authority declines and savagery as evil erupt.

As the story progresses, Ralph’s ability to lead and guide the group of littluns and biguns declines. The littluns were often out of control and could not be tamed, while the biguns, mostly the ones in the hunting group, would often go about and do whatever they pleased. “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong–we hunt!” (Golding 91). The fact that Jack stated this shows how he has little regard to the rules Ralph established. It also shows how Ralph’s leadership has little impact on him and his hunters. “All of the boys of the island, except Piggy, Ralph, Simon…were grouped on the turf” (Golding 148). At this point in the book, most of the children join Jack’s new tribe. This reflects how Ralph’s authority over the island decrease; he’s no longer a leader over anyone except for a few of the children. His inability to lead effectively cause many of the children to favor Jack as their chief, as opposed to him. The members of Jack’s tribe now face the repercussions of joining the group; they become more barbaric and primitive than what they were before. They lose their sense of civility and order.

The more time the children spend on the island, the more they lose their sense of civility and order. They transition into a more primitive and impulsive behavior, and chaos erupts. “Ralph, carried away by a sudden thick excitement, grabbed Eric’s spear and jabbed at Robert with it” (Golding 114). Usually, Ralph doesn’t care for hunting with the hunters, but his behavior changed when he joined the group. It was like being with them changed him completely. “Demoniac figures with faces of white and red and green rushed out howling…” (Golding 140). William Golding described the hunters as demoniac figures to indicate that they lose their sense of civility. “He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling” (Golding 48). Every time Jack goes hunting, he transitions into another being. Jack, along with the other hunters, become savages.

As time progresses on the island, the state of savagery and evil rises. The children, especially the boys in the hunting group, become demoniac figures (Golding 140). “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding 152). Jack and his hunters tend to chant this throughout the book. This song has a dark and evil undertone; it reflects their inner wicked behavior. “Roger sharpened a stick at both ends” (Golding 190). It’s not a secret that Roger is more ruthless than the others; however, he never sharpened the spears at both ends. This action suggests that Roger meant to kill. In chapter 8, the Lord of the Flies, also known as the beast, is introduced to the story. Physically, the Lord of the Flies is a “Pig’s head on a stick” (Golding 143). Figuratively, this figure symbolizes the inner immorality that civilization possesses (Shmoop Editorial Team). When Simon met this figure, he realizes that “beast” wasn’t a physical entity; the beast was a part of them all along.

William Golding believes that as barbarity rises, civility and order often falls. As time passes on the island, the children became reluctant to following Ralph’s rules, especially Jack and his hunters. In the midst of this, they began to transition from civility to savagery. The children, specifically Jack’s hunters, lose their self-control and become demoniac figures, as Golding described. They channel their inner “beast” or evilness and become cold-blooded savages. This is what William Golding believed in; he reflected this in his novel.

The allegory in the Lord of the Flies is reflective of its author William Golding’s experiences. After a failed attempt at an author during childhood, Golding took to bullying as an outlet and said that he enjoyed hurting other people. Though he failed as an author during adolescence during adulthood he published his critically acclaimed novel Lord of the Flies. The novel explores the savage side of human nature as boys, free from the constraints of society, are turned against each other in the face of an imagined enemy examining man’s internal struggle between good and evil. Therefore the novel shows how Golding perceives that people are easily influenced and can become corrupt when they aren’t being held to strict standards.

Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies was published in 1954, after 21 rejections, which was his first and most acclaimed novel. Golding examines man’s internal struggle between good and evil by casting a group of young boys set free of the constraints of society and authority. They are influenced by the desire for power, pride, and fear. ‘Maybe there is a beast… maybe it’s only us.'(Golding 80). ‘Fear can’t hurt you any more than a dream. There aren’t any beasts to be afraid of on this island….(Golding 75). It shows them being fearful of something that is not real because they have no clear reference to sanity. After fails and practice, Golding succeeded but what led him to success.

William Golding was born on September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. He attended a primary school where his father taught Marlborough Grammar School. Golding attended Marlborough Grammar School from ages 11 to 18. At 12 years old, he unsuccessfully tried to write a novel. A frustrated child, he found an outlet in bullying his peers. Golding even went as far as to say ‘I enjoyed hurting people'(William Golding) when he was younger. He was determined to achieve success as a child. He is so determined that his failure had sent him into a fit of rage. This explains why there are characters like Jack who enjoy bullying others. In adulthood, he grew out of his bullying phase and went to go protect others.

During William Golding’s time in the royal navy, he was involved in sinking the German battleship, Bismarck. Golding was a lieutenant in the royal navy also known as an OF-2. Lieutenant Golding was placed in command of a rocket-launching craft. Which had most likely traumatized him to see how unsympathetically easy it was to take a life: ‘I began to see what people were capable of doing. Anyone who moved through those years without understanding that man produces evil as a bee produces honey, must have been blind or wrong in the head’ (William Golding). Along with his teaching, Golding’s action in the war proved to be fruitful material for his novel The Lord of the Flies. In chapter 11 Jack and hunters kill Piggy with no regret and then resolve to kill Ralph. So Golding is aware of humans savage nature hence the resolution of the book.

So all in all the Lord of the Flies contains an allegory that dwells in the depths of the innate evil and human savagery. Showing how it can be revealed or exploited through fear, desire for power, and pride. Golding uses his characters to show different aspects of society. Jack is man’s savagery, Ralph is Authority and order, Piggy is intelligence, and Simon’s a hippie(peace, love, and different understanding of the surrounding environment). With the characters related to structure dying or coming close to. Reveals that Golding views the world as a place where we are our own worst enemy. In which our actions and decisions rarely benefit our well being as a people but the well being of an individual. No matter what length a person or group of people has to go.

Works cited

1. ‘William Golding.’ Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 15 May 2019

Napoleon Hill, who was a famous author once stated, “Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.” To achieve major feats, one must not be self centered which is one of the main conclusions that can be drawn from this quote as well as from the book, Lord of the Flies, and the play, The Crucible. Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, is about the journey of teenagers who are stranded on an island where they are faced with both mental and physical hardships such as the distribution of power among them. The Crucible, is about the Salem Witch Trials and how accusing of witchcraft spread like wildfire throughout Salem. Both of these pieces of art share a common generalized theme, as well as characters that help portray it. In Lord of the Flies and The Crucible, there is a hit of malevolence in human nature causing an imbalanced society due to narcissism as well as selfishness.

In the development of selfishness, arrogance and ego both play a big role. They are the exaggerated sense of self importance that one may feel during certain situations. In Lord of the Flies, Jack possesses these qualities and in the play, The Crucible, Abigail does. These two characters are haunted by their egos and all their actions are in relation to their self centered mindset. To satisfy themselves, they take an evil approach even if it means mentally or physically harming other beings. In the novel, Jack dislikes the fact that Ralph is the leader of the islanders because he himself wants to be chief. He wants to be the person who gives commands to others, and not be the one who follows them. Jack questions once more to the tribe, “‘Hands up,’ said Jack strongly, ‘whoever wants Ralph not to be chief?’ The silence continued, breathless and heavy and full of shame. Slowly the red drained from Jack’s cheeks, then came back with a painful rush,” (Golding, 162). This agitates him tremendously resulting in him leaving the tribe and creating his own where is the leader. He is not able to control his ego, causing the breakup of the islanders. Abigail is also very similar due to her unstable arrogance caused by lust. She is the maid for John Proctor and his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. As time passes after their marriage, Proctor’s tie with Elizabeth get rough and he decides to be in a relationship with Abigail. Proctor soon realizes his mistake and gets back together with Elizabeth which offends Abigail causing her to have enmity towards him. Her ego goes out the roof, and she starts accusing the Proctors of witchcraft without any factual evidence. The usage of these roles reveals how one can be blinded, as well as brainwashed by ego. In history for instance, Alexander The Great was extremely self centered. During one of his breaks from war, he thought he was the son of Zeus (God) and spread his belief throughout Greece. People actually believed him and sent religious delegations. Not only that, but he even named around 70 cities after him calling all of them Alexandria. Golding and Miller also include these characters to show the destructive results that can occur due to people who have this kind of mindset. They don’t understand the correct action to take because they believe all of them are righteous.

What drives or causes this self centered mindset, is because of a struggle that both societies deal with. In other words, the reason for the characters to act this kind of way is due to a specific issue that they come across.. A common connection that shows this can be made to the “beast” in Lord of the Flies, and the accused witches in The Crucible. In the book, the problem is the fact that there is a “beast” roaming around the island trying to devour people. All the islanders are terrified, but a majority of them do not realize that that beast is within them. Simon understands who the real beast is when The Lord of the Flies fictionally says, “‘Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!’ said the head. For a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of laughter. ‘You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?’” (206). None of the islanders other than Simon realize this due to there being no unity and everyone only thinking about themselves rather than them as a whole. In the play, the problem itself is witchcraft and the villagers want to get rid of it to purify Salem. Even though there is no evidence that witches are real, people still believe the accusations as long as they themselves get out of trouble, displaying their selfishness. In both pieces of art, the “beast” and accused witches are most feared everyone. They are also the problem society faces and has to overcome making all of their actions based off of resolving it. If everyone had worked together in the two civilizations rather than doing what would benefit them the most, then everything would have been settled in an instant.

With a scale, there is always two sides with the goal of balancing it out. Most of the times it leans one way, while other times it remains evenly surfaced. In the two forms of art, a majority of the characters are part of the egotistical faction like Jack and Abigail. To balance civilization out, there are characters who act the complete opposite bearing the quality of humility. In the play, Elizabeth Proctor is very humble and acts according to the benefit of others. She is also incredulous about the accusations of women being witches is true. One of the main examples would be when she gives herself up for having a link of witchcraft even though she has no connection. In order to protect her husband, John Proctor, she agrees with the court to hang her. In Golding’s novel, Simon is also very innocent and his actions show this trait. When talking with young islanders, he is kind and not assertive hoping to build a connection with them. He also heeds whatever Ralph or Piggy say without refusing and talking back showing his obedience as well as unselfishness. Golding states in the text, “‘We used his specs,’ said Simon, smearing a black cheek with his forearm. ‘He helped that way,’”(50). This illustrates how he has Piggy’s back when Jack is jeering him. Simon knows that if he stands up for Piggy, Jack’s perspective will change towards him but he still does it anyways. Due to his unselfish behavior, he is the only one that understands that the beast is themselves and not another creature. Golding and Miller use these two characters to illustrate how unselfish people are necessary to balance the weight of selfish people. A great affiliation can be made about these type of people, to Mother Tereasa. She was a missionary and founded the “Order of Missionaries of Charity.” Not only that, but she gave up her income just to help charities which resulted in her begging for food. Her whole life, she devoted her time in helping the needy and making the world a better place. If everyone only does what is best for themselves, society would not function well, because there would be no unity. As a result of this, there has to be people who step up and act according to the means of others.

As a whole, the theme of evil in human nature is present in both, Lord of the Flies, and The Crucible. This theme is shown through many similar characters that express it thoroughly, in the novel and play. As Napoleon Hill stated, selfishness is the cause of failure and can be avoided if one is humble. Jack, for example in the book is very egotistical and lacks judgement causing civilization he is part of, to fall into shambles. In these pieces of art, there is a hindering presence of evil in human nature causing a dysfunctional society due to both selfishness and narcissism. Conclusively, these two abstractions emphasize the importance of humility, and the drawbacks caused by self-indulgence.

In social science and politics, power is the capacity of an individual to influence the conduct of others. The term ‘authority’ is often used for power that is perceived as legitimate by the social structure. Throughout the novel ‘Lord of the Flies’, William Golding presents how power can be destructive. It discusses that without law and order, humans revert back to savage and primitive ways. This is demonstrated through the main characters in the novel, Jack and Ralph. Ralph gained power because he was the oldest and one of the biggest boys on the island, where Jack gained power with brute force and appeal. Both effects of this power lead to either a democratic society or an aristocratic society.

At the beginning of the novel, Ralph uses ‘the conch’ to assemble the other young boys that reside on the island. Once the boys finally gathered, they had expected to find an adult but only Ralph was there holding the conch. One of the boys then asks, “Where’s the man with the trumpet?”. Ralph then proceeds to answer, “There’s no man with a trumpet. Only me”. Soon after this the boys decide to elect a leader, the obvious choice was Ralph because the conch and Ralph had given order to the young boys. Once elected Ralph decides to establish the conch to be a tool of constructive debate, whoever holds the conch will have the right to speech. The democratic society that Ralph has created is similar to that in Australia’s society: everyone has free of speech and live peacefully amongst one another.

With Ralph being the authoritarian leader, he creates a civil and democratic society. For a short while everything was peaceful and organized, but Jack lusted for power and often sought out power where ever it may be. This was evident when he spoke up and said “I ought to be chief” with simple arrogance. Deeper into the novel Ralph decides to build a signal fire and huts to maximize their chances of survival. However, the group of boys slowly succumb to savage instincts and Ralph’s power declines, whereas Jack’s increases. After a short while, all of the boys join Jack’s tribe, all but Piggy. Both boys are committed to a civilized society and their morals are strong, because of their strong morals Piggy is murdered. Piggy’s gruesome death and the simultaneous annihilation of the conch symbolically represent a turning point in the novel when savagery reigns supreme, and there is no longer a chance any type of civil establishment to exist on the island.

In the face of fear, power prevails and becomes a constant burden to those who reside on the Pacific island. At the beginning of the novel, Ralph has authority and his democratic society on the island runs relatively smooth, though Jack thought otherwise and was a constant struggle for Ralph’s authority. Jack soon becomes tired of Ralph’s power and displays his everlasting lust for power when he announces that “it’s time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of us” (Chapter 6, p.126), showing his desire to be in command of the decisions around here. In the end the boys favored Jack, he used his brute force to win stability over Ralph. Jack is being tainted by power, which can be seen on page 223 when he kills Piggy, screaming: “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe here for you anymore? The conch is gone – I’m Chief”. This shows how power makes humans vulnerable; it is necessary to organize and keep the chaos at bay, however power overcomes and corrupts those who hold it, and brute force wins over democracy.

As power slowly clouds one’s judgement, it soon takes over their identity to be human and controls them like a parasite. Inevitably Jack’s power soon led to pain and destruction, the children soon begun to do things of unforeseeable darkness. As the boys further immerse themselves in Jack’s parasitical power, bit-by-bit they begin to lose their source of humanity and plunge back to savage and primitive ways. A clear representation of this plunge into primitive ways was displayed in Roger. At the beginning of the novel, he was a normal civilized boy picking on those smaller than him, such as Henry. Further into the novel he becomes more malicious. Roger was the cause of Piggy’s death, and pushed the boulder onto Piggy “with a sense of delirious abandonment” (Chapter 11, p.222), sending Piggy into his plundering death. Roger felt no remorse for his action and did not feel the “taboo of his old life” (Chapter 4, p.78). This regress to savage ways is also very evident in Jack, the ‘Chief’ (Chapter 11, p.223). At the beginning of the novel, Jack is a simple boy apart of the choir who was bossy but seemingly harmless. But by the end of the novel, Jack had completely delved into a savage and was extremely capable of taking a human life. It is clearly evident that Jack’s use of power led to nothing but dehumanization.

In conclusion, whilst following the boys’ adventures on the little Pacific island, William Golding demonstrates how in the wrong hands power can lead to the ultimate destruction in society and how the effects of power lead straight back to human nature. When fear is placed into the boys’ eyes, everything becomes chaotic and resort to irrational behavior. It was evident in Golding’s novel that when placed in the wrong hands power will be the end of civilization as we know it.

The world-renowned author Stephen King once said: “It is better to be good than evil, but one achieves goodness at a terrific cost”. Throughout the novel ‘Lord of the Flies’, Golding suggests that being evil has more moral consequences than being virtuous, but one must sacrifice their comfort for the greater good to take a stance with righteousness. This is evident when Piggy decides to go face Jack to get his glasses back, when Ralph loses Piggy at Castle Rock, and finally when Simon goes to inform everyone about the hoax of the beast, but instead gets murdered by them.

Firstly, when Piggy decides to go face Jack to retrieve his glasses and talk about the fire, he exits his comfort zone to take moral action. His unusual decision is demonstrated when Piggy says, “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, 188). Throughout the book, Piggy proves himself to be the most moral boy on the island and never betrays his morals regardless of the intensity of the situation. On the contrary, after getting invaded and stolen from, Piggy changes his mind because he gets tipped over the edge by the rival tribe. After spending his whole time on the island being suppressed by Jack, he decides to follow his moral compass and swiftly take the decision to stand up for himself. Morality is one of Piggy’s strong areas as he always overcomes any negative thoughts which occur in his mind and he makes the virtuous decision. As compared to this judgment, in the previous chapters Piggy stays beside Ralph and follows his decisions, which are shown when he argues with Jack: “‘I got the conch’, said Piggy bleakly. He turned to Ralph. ‘I got the conch, ain’t I, Ralph?’” (Golding, 45). Since their first meeting, Piggy has always remained close to Ralph and has never gone anywhere alone. Moreover, throughout the book, Piggy constantly asks for Ralph’s approval, and without it, he restrains from taking his desired actions. In contrast, after being assaulted, Piggy disregards his usual approval from Ralph and chooses to be his own leader. In the text, as important as Ralph seems to be towards Piggy, he also needs Piggy to make a rational decision.

Regardless of the right moral intention, after Piggy is murdered, Ralph loses the mental support that Piggy once provided. Piggy has always been Ralph’s companion and has always supported him, no matter what drastic event took place. At the beginning of the novel, Piggy is the first person whom Ralph meets, and since then Piggy has helped Ralph whenever he is weak. This is exemplified when Piggy states, “‘It was an accident’, said Piggy suddenly, ‘that’s what it was. An accident’. His voice shrilled again. ‘Coming in the dark – he had no business crawling like that out of the dark. He was batty. He asked for it’” (Golding, 173). Simon’s death is a negative factor mental impact on Ralph’s mind. He blames himself for the death because he deems himself responsible for the death, which makes him think he is a murderer. Furthermore, after Ralph’s base is invaded by Jack’s tribe, Piggy is attacked and Jack steals his glasses. Therefore, Ralph and Piggy decide to take the moral action and they travel to Castle Rock. Since the beginning of the story, both of them always make moral decisions and try not to forget their values. Both of the boys’ intentions are positive, which are to reach an agreement with the opposing tribe without repercussions, but instead, Roger decides to pull the lever, resulting in the death of Ralph’s closest friend Piggy. This event leads to Ralph experiencing a sea of emotions and struggling to distinguish between the rational decision and the irrational decision because of the absent reassurance that Piggy constantly provided. This is exemplified by Ralph’s dilemma caused by the fear of Jack’s tribe when Ralph says, “‘Think’. What was the sensible thing to do? There was no Piggy to talk sense… Most, he was beginning to dread the curtain that might waver in his brain, blacking out the sense of danger, making a simpleton of him” (Golding, 218). When Ralph is being hunted by Jack’s tribe, he is full of fear and trying to make the right decision, but a curtain of indecisiveness takes over him and he struggles to take a sensible action. Contrary to his loneliness in this situation, if Piggy was with him, being the most rational bigun on the island, he would be able to quickly comfort Ralph and take the necessary action to ensure their survival. Hence, Piggy’s death leads to Ralph’s decision-making skills weakening due to the absence of a helper.

In the text, Simon follows his moral obligation to inform the others about the inexistence of the beast regardless of his immense discomfort, only to fall victim to murder. This is depicted when Golding describes Simon’s thoughts: “The beast was harmless and horrible; and the news must reach the others as soon as possible. He stared down the mountain and his legs have beneath him. Even with great care the best he could do is a stagger” (Golding, 162). According to Simon’s imagination, the head of the pig was the Lord of the Flies with whom he has a conversation, but then he discerns that it is nothing but a figment of his imagination that he creates to make sense of the situation. Following his realization, when Simon quickly leaves to inform others about their false beliefs, he ignores the pain in his legs to help others. Correspondingly, he experiences a great deal of discomfort just to get mistaken for the beast by the dancing boys. As he leaves the forest, all the boys are scared because Simon appeared in the dark, hence they confuse him for the beast and all attacked him. Throughout the story, Simon’s morals are only demonstrated a few times, but one of the times he attempts to be virtuous, it results in his demise. The death of Simon is a consequence of the boys’ fear which is exemplified when a bigun yells, “‘Him! Him!’. The circle became a horseshoe. A thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly” (Golding, 168). Using Simon’s intentions, Golding shows the obvious irony of the situation because Simon’s goal was to inform others about their misinterpretation of the beast, but ironically, he is mistaken for the beast himself and murdered. It is evident that doing the right thing requires discomfort, but it does not guarantee a reward or even appreciation. Consequently, Simon’s effort to notify others that the beast is nonexistent leads to the dissolution of himself.

Using his novel ‘Lord of the Flies’, Golding implies that being corrupt comes with more adverse outcomes than being idealistic, however, remaining moral for the wellness of everyone comes with the sacrifice of one’s amenities. This was evident when Piggy and Ralph go to confront Jack, when Piggy is murdered by Roger, and when Simon travels to tell everyone that the beast is not real. Similar to ‘Lord of the Flies’, in anyone’s life, sacrifices are necessary to do the moral thing.

There are powerful dictators throughout history for example Adolf Hitler who used his social power with violence, Julius Caesar who broke rules to gain all power for himself and Gaius Cassius who uses his manipulation to persuade people to follow his orders. All those dictators who rose to gain social power resembles the main antagonist from William Golding’s 1954 novel “Lord of the flies ”. In this paper were closing in a deeper understanding on Golding’s demonstration of gaining social power in “Lord of the flies”. This paper will offer a much deeper insight on the main antagonist and how that character rose to social power in the novel and what methods that character used to gain social power. The main question that will be answered in this paper is “How does the main antagonist in “Lord of the flies” rise to social power, and what does that argue about the strategies people use to gain social power?” A bit more context for those who haven’t read Golding’s “Lord of the flies”. Golding’s novel is mainly about a group of young boys from England who are trying to get out of the island but in the meantime building their own society since the boys are all stranded on a deserted island. One of the boys on the island named Jack rose to power using strategies to get that power. Jack is our main focus throughout this paper and analyzing closely on the strategies he used to rise to power on the island.

There are various strategies a person can use to gain social power but Golding had implemented three specific strategies his character Jack used to gain social power on the island. Golding character “Jack” showed twisting the main protagonist Ralph’s words in front of all the boys on the island using manipulation in his favor. Jack disobeys the rules on the island which will create an influence on the young ones and hunterson the island. The final strategie that Jack used is he uses personal relationships with the choir boys also known as hunters who already know him very well before the main plot of the story has happened which will help him over take Ralph’s crew. Golding in his novel has 3 key scenes that will be analyzed later on throughout the paper that shows how Jack used these three strategies to gain social power and their impact that has to all those who are on that island with him.

To get a deeper understanding of Jack’s strategies to gain social power, one must know his use and process of manipulation to gain power in the novel.

Jack often uses manipulation for his personal gain, but often uses his manipulation to convince his hunters and the children on the island to turn against Ralph the leader of the island and prove Ralph is no leader. “ He’s not a hunter. He’d never have got us meat. He isn’t a prefect and we don’t know anything about him. He just gives orders and expects people to obey for nothing. (Golding 126). In this scene Jack is trying to convince everyone on the island ralph is no good for power. Jack choses to slander Ralph’s role as leader where it leads to some of the boys questioning his demands. This moment would help Jack rise to power. He uses this opportunity to manipulate those around him in order to get the power he desired throughout the novel. This strategy he used would eventually lead to convince the young boys on the island to join Jack, and give him all the power he needs to overrule Ralph leaving him powerless on the island.

Despite Jack’s being manipulative when it comes to overrule Ralph, Jack also uses manipulation of the fear inside the boys on the island which shows how he can use the fear within someone for his own personal gain. This fear the boys witness is due to their own head with a beast roaming around the island. Not only did he try to influence the fear within the boys due to the beat, but he also managed to use that fear to create a savagery pure evil within each of the children to be able to control them. “Jack‟s love of authority and violence are intimately connected, as both enable him to feel powerful and exalted. By the end of the novel, Jack has learned to use the boy‟s fear of the beast to control their behaviour.” (Abid 6). The significance of this was that someone else is looking through the same lens as this paper is trying to aim for. This was a crucial part to Jack’s plan to power which builds how he can control the minds of the boys on the island. To get the further idea, Jack wishes to gain power over Ralph which leads him to manipulate his hunters, even though he hasn’t witnessed the beast. Furthermore, it shows us the readers this twisted part of Jack’s character, which is a huge reason why he rose to power to over take Ralph. Jack wants the power, but had to do a lot more to rise to power. What Golding’s “Lord of the flies” wanted to show us is that Jack is the kind of person who would manipulate someone that he knows that can help him gain power, and to also control the minds of the youth on the island in order to strip Ralph’s power so Jack can have that power.

Golding has textual evidence which backs up this online source who believe Jack uses manipulation when talking about the beast on the island to the hunters and the young ones. At this moment Jack is claiming he now sees the beast raising fear to the children that the beast they created in their own head is actually real which starts to bring tensions. “First, you know now, we’ve seen the beast. We crawled Up. We are only a few feet away. The beast sat up and looked at us. J don’t know what it does. We don’t even know what it is-.” (Golding 126). Jack knew he had the control of the emotions of the other boys because they had the fear inside them. Claiming that he saw the beast would trigger in the back of the kids heads that it’s true putting Jack in a very strong advantage over Ralph because he claimed the beast is like a hunter comparing himself with it showing that he could stop it and Ralph only trying to deny the beast. Golding has that scene to prove that the boys are fearing the beast and would do anything to stay safe even if they have to follow Jack in order to survive.

Upon attempts of manipulation throughout the novel, Jack incorporates that strategy and uses his second attempt to gain power when he starts to break a lot of the rules on the island realizing he already influences his hunters and the youth now he can use that to show Ralph’s rules are not so ideal to follow.

Jack always wanted there to be rules on the island in order to keep it efficient and keep the island easy going, and it all because he wanted to become leader. He soon snaps at Ralph with all the demands that Ralph sets upon all the boys and Jack on the island. “And you shut up! Who are you anyways? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing-”(Golding 91). While Jack had begged there to be rules on the island to Ralph, he couldn’t help it if he wanted those rules to follow under his power not Ralphs. He became more aggressive when it came to the rules, who, unlike Ralph was trying to live up to the rules inflecting them to everyone on the island constantly reminding them what they are. This soon leads to another strategy Jack used when he starts the very few rules he and Ralph created before Ralph was given power. His ideal plan was to have all the power on the island but every since Ralph was given the power he slowly gained envy over the power Ralph had over him. Jack began to not listen to the conch which symbolise there way to hear everyone speak, but now knowing he has more power with his hunters over Ralph and already manipulate some of the children, Jack took the chance to snap at Ralph saying he can’t do anything on the island that he is no true leader as Ralph was the only one standing in the way of Jack’s power.

Knowing that Jack pushed forward to create laws, he had known that after he didn’t get power he wanted to break them. This is the moment that Jack starts to not follow the rules he doesn’t want anyone to have control over him, and was one of the two reasons Jack started to disobey the rules because no power was given to him . Seeing this a deep view of Jack is shown his view on the laws Ralphs has put upon the island. According to Mr. Spitz,“But his desire for many controls did not of course extend to controls he disliked, to those over himself.” (Spitz 27). In other words Mr. Spitz believes Jack couldn’t follow under Ralph because he wants to be the one making all the rules himself. Ralph had an advantage of making the rules that all kids and foucing Jack to break them to get the young ones on the island understand that Ralph’s rules are pointless and easy to break. This leads to the outbreak of the rules not being followed wreaking havoc upon the island. With this argument another writer noticed this argument where Schuppert agree with Mr.Spitiz and being supported by golding writes,“But this is not the end of the story; the boys experience a power struggle as a group-dynamic process between the rule-conscious Ralph and the more violence-oriented Jack, who finally gets the upper hand and thus destroys the pre-existing rule-based order”(Schuppert 60)

There are good points raised on how Jack wants power and tries to raise the tension on Ralph’s leadership and rules in front of the boys on the island. Especially when Golding has text evidence that proves someone else writing correct. There are more moments where Jack is snapping due to the anger he has over Ralph in power. “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong- we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat-!”(Golding 91). As mentioned before Jack is snapping that his side is much better than some rules that were made at the process of the novel. Showing Jack’s deeper character in hatred of others and how power controlled his morals to break rules in order to get what he really wants which is all the power on the island. This shows Jack true colors wanting to control everything and rule with an iron fist.

In order to survive as a human being, one must have the five basic needs to self-actualisation as theorized by humanist psychologist Abraham Maslow; these are needs such as food and water, safety, belonging and esteem. (Heise, 2014) With this in mind, it is important to not only consider the purpose of society but also the need that creating a society fills in multiple survival situations. Importantly, society is often defined as a group of people working together in order to ensure survival. For instance, in William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies and Wes Balls The Maze Runner each individual society is constructed in order to ensure survival in crisis situations. Firstly, as both texts present a context of isolation with limited resources, this highlights the need to divide into skill centred groups to ensure survival. Moreover, it is that same dangerous setting which causes the influence of fear and as such provides the motive behind constructing society to ensure safety. Overall however, it can be seen that society acts as a means to provide order, in so much as the deterioration of power structures leads to dire consequences. By understanding how each society is constructed, from group co-operation to the need for hierarchy and leadership, we are able to understand whether or not that society can be deemed as successful in the end.

Firstly, societies depend on the organisation of people into separate groups in order to provide the basic needs which ensure survival. The society in Lord of The Flies establishes order so that they can reach the five needs of self actualization and ultimately, to survive. The characters in Lord of The Flies decide to have a meeting to determine how they will construct their society, ultimately deciding to split into groups. There are the hunters – provide physiological needs, gatherers and builders – provide shelter and fire guards who provide hope. For instance, Jack highlights the need for division based on skill when he suggests that, “All the same you need an army – for hunting. Hunting pigs” (Golding, 2012 pg 43). Here, this quote exaggerates Jacks demand for them to construct a society in order to ensure food which is a major prerequisite for survival. Golding has done this in order to amplify the idea of how the division of skills is vital as full cooperation and communication is required in order to ensure survival. Another moment which conveys the concept of how cooperation and shared skill to provide food ensures survival is when Ralph says, “We need hunters to get us meat.” (Golding, 2012 pg 43). This quote further highlights the significance of teamwork in the formation of society and the value of food in the boys’ situation. Similarly, the society in The Maze Runner also institutes a system based on shared labour which is beneficial for all characters and is successful and very effective. (Snape, 2014) The Maze Runner has formed a system of society which is very efficient, creating groups such as the runners, builders, slicers and the med-jacks. In this way, the work within the glade is divided in order to provide shelter and food for all, with an emphasis on fulfilling one’s role. For instance, one of the leaders of the glade, Alby states “First, do your part. No time for any freeloaders” (Oppenheim, 2014) thus meaning that in order to function a civilization everyone must cooperate and thereby ensure fairness amongst the labour forces. Furthermore, Ball presents the importance of coexistence as Alby continues the introduction of the maze to Thomas saying “Second, never harm another Glader. None of this works unless we have trust.” (Oppenheim, 2014) This quote highlights the importance of trust and everyone working together as one so that all characters can stay alive. Above all, in both texts the basic construction of society is shown to require the creation of separate groups in order to effectively divide labour, therefore providing essential food and shelter necessary to ensure survival.

Overall, society is constructed out of necessity as the influence of fear and perceived danger creates the need for individuals to find safety in numbers. In Lord of The Flies, all the characters decide to stay together as one group as a means of maintaining safety and security from outside forces. In so much as, Golding utilises “the beast” (Golding, 2012 pg 46) as a symbol of fear which propels the boys to form a mob in the interest of survival. Importantly, the incident involving the death of Simon is a prime example of the means the boys resorted to in order to preserve themselves. As Simon approaches the group on the beach, the “solitary and reclusive” (Oliver, 2015) figure is contrasted against the mob and ultimately viewed as a threat. In this way, the mob frenzy overcomes the boys and ultimately leads to Simon’s death, “a murder” (Golding, 2012) which represents the loss of civility. Moreover, the fear and exhilaration exhibited in the chant “kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding, 2012 pg 188) highlights the violence that the boys, led by Jack, resorted to in order to preserve their own safety. (Sparknotes, 2019) Similarity, in The Maze Runner Ball depicts strict rules the Gladers implement in order to maintain the safety of the group, as anyone of the Gladers who is perceived as a threat to safety is ceremoniously exiled. As the “The maze is a dangerous place, (Oppenheim, 2014) the fear caused by the Grievers is similar to the perceived fear of the beast in Lord of the Flies, (Snape, 2014) as it creates a need for the Gladers to solidify themselves against the outside world. For instance, in the case of the exile of Ben the Maze itself is used as a means of exterminating any individual who may be seen as a threat to the greater community. As the Gladers use the “poles” and are ordered to “push him in” to the maze the need for self-preservation in a mob mentality is highlighted, as everyone knows that “no one survives a night in the maze”.(Oppenheim, 2014) With these examples in mind, it is clear that Golding and Ball highlights the concept that the benefit of the majority outweighs the benefit of the individual in order to maintain survival in the two isolated societies.

The societies in both texts establishes their own hierarchical structure in order to function successfully and provide order, however the consequences of leadership struggles force society into disarray with often dire consequences. The character of Ralph is picked as leader due to the rest of the children’s stereotype of an ideal leader, and Ralph fit the physical attributes, however he is not the most knowledgeable. From the beginning of the narrative, the island society in Lord of the Flies is constructed around the use of the “conch”, (Golding, 2012) which originally gathers them all to an assembly and from then on acts as a symbol for democracy and civility. However, towards the end of the book the conch “exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” (Golding, 2012 pg 222) This symbolizes the fall and destruction of the society in Lord of The Flies, as everyone is out of control and violence and savagery has claimed them. Moreover, Golding illuminates the means of gaining power through manipulation of fear and basic needs for survival through the characterisation of Jack, who influences the rest of the boys into serving under his leadership. Indeed, Jack is shown as enacting his superiority over the other leaders Ralph and Piggy as he claims, “I painted my face-I stole up. Now you eat -all of you.” (Golding, 2012 pg 93) Ultimately, Jack’s manipulation of the boys leads to the savagery and demise of civil society, which is understood through Piggy’s death. Likewise, in The Maze Runner a power struggle ensures when the group of Gladers leaves the original society under the guidance of Thomas. While the character Gally tries to maintain power through the manipulation of fear as he claims “free? You think we’re free out there?… I belong to the maze, we all do”. (Oppenheim, 2014) In this way his struggle for ascendency over Thomas also has dire consequences as it leads to the death of Chuck, (Adan, 2014) who holds a similar position in society as Piggy in Lord of the Flies. Overall, in both texts Golding and Ball highlight the loss of order when power struggles ensure, which in turn presents a commentary on the flaws of the hierarchical structure of society and how it often falls victim to people’s ambition.