...In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the main theme portrayed is power. Throughout the novel as the boys progress into their lonely states, it becomes evident that power is beginning to embrace the inhabitants of the island. One way that power is shown in the novel is when Jack decided to take the rest of the boys except Ralph, Piggy, and a couple others and started a new tribe. Jack grew tired of how serious Ralph was as a leader, and he also wasn’t very fond of following Ralph’s orders. Jack’s cruel and overbearing nature caused most of the older and younger boys to follow Jacks lust for power. Another way that the theme power is shown in Lord of the Flies is through mob mentality. In chapter nine of the novel, one person started...
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...The most common misconception when it comes to ruling a group of people is giving the throne of absolute power to one person or government. It has been a historical loop of failure and sorrow for those who have abused their leadership derived by the masses; this fact can prove to us one thing. The perfect leader who can guide his or her people to stability in society is one who is willing to share his power with others. This is the kind of leader that the surviving group of boys need in William Golding's greatest novel Lord of the Flies . Although these young boys still lack the understanding of a just institution of rules and guidelines which they shall live by, one individual among the rest of the crew demonstrates internal characteristics...
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...An issue going around for many many years lately has been the abuse of power. It is not always abusing power, it is sometimes abusing rights. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the abuse of power and rights was represented by only a few characters and was portrayed all over the place. Ralph and Jack were the two main characters, Ralph the protagonist and Jack the antagonist, and they both abused their power by controlling the actions of the groups they controlled. Golding illustrates that having too much power can lead someone or something into the wrong direction. This meaning that Jack and Ralph were put with the task of being in charge of the two groups and controlling everyone's beliefs and idea of survival. Throughout the paper,...
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...To live in a civilized society, law, order, and authority must be present. In The Lord of the Flies, written but William Golding, a group of young boys are stranded on an island without older authority and are forced to survive with their own rule. Written in World War II, this novel is based on the battle for greater power and violence that occurred during the war, and is similar to the fight for power between the boys’. Without the authority of an adult, Ralph and Jack fight to win the position and leader. The struggle of power between Ralph and Jack resulted in civilization turning to primitivism on the island as Jack gains control. Jack gains control in the struggle of power with Ralph from the early stages of the novel, when the huts and...
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...Power’s Eden- Rough Draft Golding applies the theme of power to his novel, Lord of the Flies. Power can take form in many different ways. In this particular novel, power takes form in symbolic objects which are used to emphasize the main theme of power in the novel. These objects include: the conch shell, the boys’ spears, Piggy’s spectacles and the fire. At the beginning of the novel, Ralph and Piggy discovered a conch shell lying on the beach. To Ralph it seemed like an ordinary shell, but its purpose in the novel was far more significant. Piggy on the other hand, saw it as a valuable object that could be used to communicate with the other boys.–“A conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mom would come. It’s ever so valuable (pg.14).” After many futile attempts, Ralph was finally able to use the...
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...Imagine you’re a 10 year old boy living in a boarding school,you miss your family and just want to get back home. Suddenly, you have to leave. There is a war going on near you. Quickly, you grab whatever you can, and leave. After you get onto the plane , you think everything is fine, until the plane starts to shake. After what feels like forever, you crash onto an island. You step out, see that the plane is destroyed, and find out that no adults remain. This is exactly what the Characters went through in Lord of the flies. Throughout the book the boys are fighting for power, but end up letting power consume them. In Lord of the flies power is portrayed by certain objects and that being a savage is better than being civilized. One way...
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...Power to Pandemonium In the Loss of Innocence novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, power turns into pandemonium.Young British boys, big and small, land on an island when a plane full of students, trying to escape World War II, crashes. With no adults and no knowledge of what exactly happened, they create their own society and organize themselves as best they can. When they lose their innocence, they all revert to a state of savagery, and chaos takes control of the land. Power among the boys shifts throughout their time on the island, starting out with no order at all then soon turning into a democracy with Ralph as the presidential figure and afterward transforming into a dictatorship where Jack was “King” and the most death and barbarity took place. When the boys first learn they are...
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...People die every day, all over the world, but we must question how many of those deaths are the fault of others more powerful than them. In the stories Lord of the Flies, Macbeth and The Rocking Horse Winner, all three authors suggest that people who have power are often overcome with its lustful nature, through Jack, and The Twins, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, Paul and Mother. In The Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses Jack and the Twins to demonstrate the effect of lust overcoming an individual. Jack was given the position of head hunter by Ralph, but soon after receiving this position he became obsessed with the thought of more power. Furthermore, Jack became so obsessed with power that he took the lives of those who stood in his way...
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...In the novel, Lord of the Flies, there is an abundance of objects that are used to symbolize power as well as authority and savagery. The conch shell and the sow’s head portray these things indefinitely. In many ways the powers of the objects are different. Lord of the Flies is an allegory for power considering the amount of symbolism within the novel. The boys in this novel routinely used symbols to control the group of boys on the island. In all, there is a plethora of symbols used in this novel to display things like power, authority, and savagery. Symbols in this novel are used to control a group as well as serving as an allegory to the reader. Two of the main symbols are conch shell and the sow’s head. The conch represents power and authority. The sow’s head represents savagery and illustrates the novel Lord of the Flies, because the rotting head is swarming with flies as it sits upon a wooden stake. While both the conch and sow’s head had completely opposite meanings, both of them wield a certain type of power over the boys. The conch’s power over the boys is making them think that they have control over everyone once they have the conch in their possession. However, the sow’s head assists in the assembly of a new opposing tribe. This tribe was cruel to the other boys who solely wanted unity and peace...
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...Imagine life with no rules, supervision, and no responsibilities. Does it sound great? A group of boys found that the greatness of total freedom was short-lived. In the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of boys find out certain things they were once grateful for. This novel is an allegorical novel because of its major symbols. These symbols represent the fate of the boys and how they should appreciate what they had. The first major symbol is the conch shell. The shell is first used to gather everyone out of the forest. The group crashed on this island and were separated throughout the forest. By blowing the conch shell, everyone was reunited. However, the conch shell took on a very different meaning shortly after. "'That's what this shell's called. I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking'" (Golding 33). The conch is now a symbol of power. Whoever has the conch is allowed to speak. No one else is allowed to interrupt the speaker with the conch. This power soon goes to the boys' head. "The rock struck Piggy a...
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...How could Lord of the Fliesbe described as an allegory? If it is an allegory, what message does Golding want to get across to his readers? What allegorical roles are the characters playing? Allegory Allegory is a form of extended metaphor, in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The underlying meaning has moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas as charity, greed, or envy. Thus an allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. Types of allegory 1. Political allegory 2. Social allegory 3. Religious allegory POLITICAL ALLEGORY Political Allegory in William Golding's Lord of the Flies’ “Lord of the Flies is an allegory on human society today, the novel's primary implication being that what we have come to call civilization is, at best, no more than skin-deep" Though the need for civilization is focused on in this novel, the significance of political order, shown allegorically, is consistently referenced to. When utilizing political allegory, the characters are used as symbols that, overall, represent some kind of political organization. In Lord of the Flies, the persons, or characters allegorized include Ralph, Jack, Piggy, Roger, the biguns, and the littluns; each considered an important component of their political establishments. For most every society, there is a system...
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...evil ways.” In essence, this quotation denotes that because every human being has a brain, they also possess the ability to think and act in a malicious and inhumane manner. Considering this, William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, illustrates that uncivil behaviour will prevail on the adult-free island. In a like manner, Macbeth by Shakespeare gives insight to the lengths people will go to so that one can achieve personal profits at a rapid pace. Through similar fashions, both novels depict the true nature of human beings. Similarities between the characters of Jack from the Lord of the Flies and Macbeth from Macbeth reveal that power and greed is the root of all evil. In addition, the use of knives and representation of blood in both novels plays large roles in the quests for power. Also, similarities in plot structure help to further establish the sinful nature of humans. One can conclude that both Macbeth and Lord of the Flies give insight to the fact that human nature is predominantly evil through the characterization of Jack and Macbeth, symbolism of knives and blood and similarities within plot structure. Initially, the predominantly evil aspects of human nature show through the characterization of Jack and Macbeth. In the Lord of the Flies, the society the boys live in begins to crumble as Jack becomes less and less civil while the others follow. Jack quickly turns from an innocent young boy to an uncivil animal, “He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself...
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...novels. Some may see these cherished books as out of its time era; in reality, these books contain important values and newly learned reading skills that can help students in the future. Lord of the Flies has a good, timeless plot that quickly reels readers in. The theme behind the story can teach readers necessary knowledge that is still useful in today’s society. In addition, Golding’s masterpiece contains good diction and although challenging, a great learning tool to all readers. The theme and memorable characters in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is important to all standards of education and should remain on library shelves. The intensity builds from the first page as a group...
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...How Are Power and Corruption Related? by Sebastian Sandoval "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." – Lord John Dalberg-Acton Macbeth and Lord of the Flies depict power and corruption. However in Macbeth's case it is his fear of being forgotten that leads to his ambitions for power and in turn corrupts him. In Lord of the Flies we see Jack's ambition to become chief corrupt him into doing whatever it takes to achieve that position. Both works seem to coincide with Hobbes theory that "man is naturally savage" and that savagery combined with the notion of power can only lead to one thing, corruption. In this essay the relationship between power and corruption will be explored through the lens of three texts: Macbeth by William Shakespeare (1623), Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954), and Of Man, Being the First Part of Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes (1651). Let us begin with The Tragedy of Macbeth. Throughout the play, we see Macbeth change from a noble and brave soldier into a shadow of his former self. In the beginning we see an internal struggle with the decision to kill King Duncan. This is most clearly depicted in act I when Macbeth says, "We will proceed no further in this business. He hath honored me of late,"(1.7. 28-30 ). It is after the murder of Duncan that we begin to notice a sinister change. Macbeth begins to murder anyone who has or could get in his way even his friend Banquo. In act 3 Macbeth's plan is first revealed in his conversation...
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...The Lord of the Flies and “Milgram Experiment” The lost boys in The Lord of the Flies have many similarities with the test subjects of the “Milgram Experiment”. The boys will listen to whoever the strongest leader is and obey them no matter what, and the subjects in the “Milgram Experiment” do the same. Obedience is focused on power and respect and many people, fictional or real, will listen to the strongest ruler due to their influence over them.The Lord of the Flies and the Obedience to Authority Experiments have many similarities, especially the idea of obedience to leaders and why some people follow orders without thinking. The boys in the Lord of the Flies were only influenced by the power of their leader. Whether they thought Ralph...
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