Abuse Of Power In Lord Of The Flies

Throughout history, humans have relentlessly fought for control over others. This desire for power is well depicted in a novel by William Golding, Lord of the Flies. The story revolves around a group of boys stranded on an island. Two of the main characters, Ralph and Jack, both want to be the leader of the boys, and their struggle for power clearly demonstrates the human desire for control.

An example of individual power is the group ISIS in the middle east that encourages religious violence and the muslims that don’t agree with their beliefs are majorly hurt and even killed!In lord of the flies by William Golding he has boys stranded on an island and the boys gets encouraged to become powerful but in the wrong ways, like ISIS encouraging violence and hurting the other boys. Golding shows how an individual is powerful if he has the qualities of being violent and threatening. Individual like Jack and Roger is powerful by being Violent. ”Jack stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach….Jack smacked Piggy’s head...

Throughout the novel the group of boys develop the nature of evil through killing Simon, this leads them to their strong desires, represented in a primitive way. Though Jack killed Simon he did not ensure any repentance to what they have committed; the killing has now become second nature. Dramatic irony is explored in the novel The Lord of the Flies as the “Beast from the Air” turns out to be a dead parachutist. “Maybe there is a beast…maybe it’s only us.” The beast is a metaphor that effects more clarity. Golding portrays the concept of the nature of evil to the audience to adopt the audience to anticipate the complicated relationships between civilisation and human nature. Golding explores that all age groups have the strength and capabilities of committing

He even goes on to imply that killing is more important than being rescued when he says: “all the same, I’d like to catch a pig first,” while Ralph notices “a mad look… [in] his eyes.” Jack and his followers fall so deep into the darkness that they murder an innocent boy: Simon. As the boys chant, “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood,’ Jack leads them on to kill “the beast” which is actually Simon. The next day Jack goes on to beat another child and shows no remorse for anything that he has done. That is when it is apparent to readers that he has officially lost all humanity and is completely savage. Golding is showing that anyone, even a young child, if pushed far enough, can give in to that evil inside them. Everyone has a choice, but some seem to give in a little easier than others.

With power also comes control over people. Sometimes when you or people have power and control they use that in ways that only benefit them but some use it for the benefits of others. These are both good examples of how people use power. In the book Lord Of The Flies, these examples can also be seen in everyday life. While observing the football team there are similarities to the book Lord Of The Flies.

Power is shown throughout the world in many people. Power is the energy within a person that allows them to control, influence, and lead people or something. Power goes back a far in history. It ranges from monarch leaders to leaders of today.This is shown in the Lord Of The Flies throught it’s characters and their actions. The Lord of the Flies illustrates power mostly through Piggy, Jack, and Ralph. The Lord Of The Flies, also shows the rise and fall of power in these key character. The novel also shows teens that there is good and positive ways to gain power. There can also be the lesson that power can be easily taken away.The novel brings in both sides of the hard truth of power like how it can be bad if misused or good if used correctly for the right things. This can mainly be shown by Jack and Ralph.

There is something in all of us that is the strongest desire we have, to have power. You see it everywhere, in our nation’s leaders, in our sport’s programs, even in something as basic as a middle school class. In Lord of the Flies, you witness multiple characters striving to be leaders, even though they only focus on one thing at a time. Once they have that power, it’s often taken too far or not even represented at all. William Golding used the desire for power in his book to fuel it with a very life-like feeling.

Children are especially susceptible to such terrors of the imagination; Jack being no exception. Simon serves as a quite philosopher that has a unique connection with the beast in both the novel and the film. Golding shows the ponderous nature of a boy who has a tendency to venture off by himself lost in thought. He provides a deeper evaluation by proposing to Ralph that they themselves are the beast. After coming face

In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, the first chapter, The Sound of the Shell, tells of the boys first experiences on the stranded island. The conch shell discovered by Ralph and Piggy represents hope, fellowship, and power because it brings strangers together into a vulnerable group of survivors, and it brings them hope that they may survive. The conch is a symbol of power because the beholder has the immediate obedience and respect of others. When the group of boys come together, “the children gave him the same simple obedience that they had given to the men with megaphones” (18). From the moment Ralph blows the creamy conch shell, he becomes a source of authority for the others.

Throughout the novel, Golding has a recurring theme that power is the root of all evil on the island. This is indeed true on the island because when Ralph is nominated chief, he has less power which allows the boys to have more freedom on the island. This changes when Jack has everyone except Ralph join his tribe and gain total power over everyone, which causes for complete chaos and corruption of civilization on the island. One example of this total power that Jack expresses is when he tells Ralph, “See? They do what I want” (Golding 179).

C.G. Jung states, “There is no coming into consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the dark conscious.” Lord Of The Flies shows how savage and absurd a group of young boys can get. It shows how boys can lose control of themselves when they lose an adult figure.The two main sources of power in Lord Of The Flies were the conch and pig’s head. The ideas developed by William Golding, in the novel Lord of the Flies show the importance of the conch and the pig's head, how each had power, what each of them symbolizes. The boys struggle with which of these powers are good and which are evil.

In general, power contains a broad spectrum of possible outcomes depending on its presence and how the dominance is enforced. Numerous pieces of writing focus on the different concepts of power due to its everlasting significance and multiple possibilities. One of those pieces of writing is Lord of the Flies, a realistic fiction novel written by William Golding. In Golding’s novel, power played a very important role which helped the stranded boys survive and attempt to maintain civilization within the island. A poem entitled, “To A Mouse” composed by Robert Burns also expressed the absence of power through an impotent mouse whose home was accidentally razed by a farmer.

Dangers of Power in The Wrong Hands “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.”- Abraham Lincoln. Power is a force to be reckoned with and everyone has it over something. Whether it be the power over a person, object, or animal there is the capability of transforming it into something else. A true individuals personality will be revealed given the The right amount of power because they have all the say, no one to have to respond to, and no one to limit their ideas, except the person itself.

William Golding presents the idea that abusing power can have an effect on a society. The Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of boys trying to survive on a deserted island following their plane crashing. No adults were aboard the plane aside from the pilot who was killed during the crash. The events of the book follows the boys and how their actions change after living without an authority figure for a long period of time. Golding’s message that the abuse of power leads to the deterioration of society is shown when the authority of the conch is ignored, Jack creates his own tribe, and when Jack’s tribe steals Piggy’s glasses.

In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, power is a notable theme that can be found very frequently throughout the novel. In the book, the theme of power is found in the form of items that revolve around the protagonist of the story, Ralph, and the antagonist, Jack (Burns 1). Ralph and Jack use these items in order to establish power in the group of boys for their own reasons (Burns 2). With Ralph, he uses items, which represent order in the story, to establish a democracy on the island, while Jack uses specific items that represent evil to create a monarchy out of Ralph’s democracy (Burns 1). The items used by Ralph and Jack in Golding’s novel will be later explained in the essay on how they represent power, what their meaning is, and their purpose in the story.