Corruption Of Power In Lord Of The Flies

     Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel that represents a microcosm of society in a tale about children stranded on an island. Of the group of young boys there are two who want to lead for the duration of their stay, Jack and Ralph.  Through the opposing characters of Jack and Ralph, Golding reveals the gradual process from democracy to dictatorship from Ralph's democratic election to his lack of law enforcement to Jack's strict rule and his violent law enforcement.

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” Abraham Lincoln. Once you give a man power, it all goes downhill from there. In The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there is one group of boys on an island. The boys elect one chief, Ralph, but another bigun thinks he’s a better chief. So the other boy, Jack, leaves and forms a new tribe with most of the boys. After a little bit of time, the groups begin to fight resulting in a couple of tragic deaths. Why would people follow a corrupt leader like Jack? They follow them because they feel like the new leader can help them better than the old one; they think that the leader or ruler can provide for them and it doesn’t matter who that leader is, they will follow them because there’s no one else to follow.

The Lord Of The Flies is a Nobel prize winning novel, written by William Golding. Who was an English teacher in 1930’s. The novel is about a group of young British school boys who find themselves deserted on an island in the Pacific Ocean and are forced to fight for themselves. This has a unique symbolism of characters and the events. The young boys don’t know how to fight for themselves and turn into complete savages by the end of the Novel and they have some freedom from the adult rules they are familiar with back at home.

Both Jack and Ralph were struggling for power. At first, Jack and Ralph had similar goals for what they should do on the island. They quickly retreated when Jack became obsessed with hunting for pigs on the island. Ralph thought that they should keep the signal fire going at all times. Jack started to see that he did not want to leave the island he like that there were no rules. Ralph on the other hand felt that they could not be here forever. Ralph wanted to be rescued from the island. They're very different opinion forces Jack to leave Ralph's group and start his own. Jack toke most of the other boys with him leaving Ralph with very few people. From all of this Ralph started to realize that leading a group of people was not easy. There would always be people like Jack that would disagree. Jack left feeling insulted from Ralph insulting his hunting he felt that Ralph had undermined him as a result Jack turned mean and

Even though Jack demonstrated his leadership qualities when proposing a rescue plan to the ‘tribe’, and by accepting Ralph’s election to lead the group, something he wanted for himself, he eventually turns into a savage through killing a pig. This incident gives him a sense of power realizing that he can act with impunity without consequences. Wanting to hunt and kill pigs turned into a priority, eliminating the need to be

Lord of the Flies is a novel, written by William Golding and published in 1954, about a young group of British school boys who are stranded on a desert island after their plane is shot down, in the midst of a raging war. The group encounters a myriad number of problems and boisterous arguments and disputes between the boys group. Internal and external conflicts are present throughout the novel, whether it be man vs man, man vs, himself or man versus nature. William Golding portrays conflict mainly through the characterisation of the two main characters: Ralph, leader of the civilised, and Jack, leader of the savage group. Golding draws on parallels with modern society through the growing tension between civilisation and savagery. The author does this in three key moments throughout the rising action

Jack was one whose personality caused the civilization to come tumbling down. When we first discover the boys on the island and get a mere glimpse of their personalities, it is quite apparent that Jack is going to be one who is power-hungry. He already has a group of followers, the choirboys, of whom he has the utmost power over. He has a very controlling personality that cannot be subsided by the obstacles that are shown in the novel. Jack suffers from wanting to be the best. When he is not chosen as the chief and supreme ruler in the very beginning, it is proven that he will find a way to claw up to the top and take the spot that in his opinion is his right. Jack has quite a reckless personality, and will risk all to be standing alone at the top as king or leader. Jack is also guilty of envy, which goes hand in hand with power. He is envious of everything that Ralph has. Ralph is the chief, and has much common sense. Jack senses this and is jealous of the fact that Ralph can command attention and a following that easily. I also believe, when reflecting back, that Jack is in a sense jealous of Piggy, without being aware of it. Piggy is the complete intellect on the island. While Jack is quite smart, he certainly is not as gifted as Piggy. Piggy can interpret any situation and be the lone voice of knowledge of the masses. Jack not only gets jealous

Jack is very arrogant, and is used to being in charge. This is seen on page 19, “”I ought to be cheif,” said Jack with simple arrogance, “because I’m chapter chorsiter and head boy. I can sing C sharp.”” (Pg. 19). Jack is very entitled and expects to be the chief, even though his qualifications weren’t exactly fitting for this kind of leadership. Also, Jack is very selfish, this is seen on page 199, “The cheif led them, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions wth his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses.” (pg. 199). Jack had no regard for the fact that Piggy can’t see without his glasses, and he only cared about getting fire for himself and those who follow him. He could of just asked the other tribe for some of their fire, but instead he stole something essential to Piggy for his own, personal, selfish gain. Next, Jack does have some strengths to his character. Earlier on in the book he has common sense, and knows when to respect the common votes of the other boys on the island. This is seen on page 20, “Even the choir appaulded; and the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortifcation. He started up, then changed his mind and sat down again while the air rang.”” (pg. 20). Also, Jack knew how to perseude the boys to join him. This is seen on page 164, “”Listen all of you. Me and my hunters, we’re living along the beach by a flat rock. We hunt and feast and have fun.””

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a classic novel and portrays just how the society surrounding us can corrupt our once pure nature No one is born a killer, no one is born with an intense compulsion to kill, the island that the boys are stranded on has a very unusual, corrupting society; A society that erodes the boys innocence through the power struggle between Jack and Ralph, readers see the transfer from innocent to savagely through the hunting and Piggy’s death.

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an allegory that explores the instinctual evil humans possess and how this evil manifests into our societies. The book demonstrates this through young boys who are stranded on an island due to a plane crash. Despite their best efforts, the lack of adult guidance inhibits the boys from maintaining an orderly society. The boys turn to their survival instincts, many of which are evil. The lack of order exposes the internal savagery within the boys, resulting in an understanding of the flaws within all humanity. The Lord of the Flies uses the innocence of young boys to show the societal impact of human errors through their lack of adult supervision, the desire to inflict violence, and the need for authority over others.

Killing a pig was way too low for Jack. Jack and his followers killed a pig in need for food. If an adult civilized group was stuck, They would kill the pigs, but not that brutally. The civilization of Jack was gone and they were living like cavemen.

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a plane escaping Britain in the midst of the next World War crash lands on a desert island. The surviving group of schoolboys begins to fend for themselves without adult supervision. Immediately, a boy named Ralph rises as the leader when he gathers the children with a conch shell. The other children draw toward his charisma and mature age. However, not everyone agrees with this institution of leadership, namely Jack Merridew. The island corrupts as Jack gains a foothold of power. Because of this corruption, two children--Simon and Piggy--die. Throughout this story, these crises are blamed on man’s inner evil prevailing with a lack of civilization and become evident through Jack’s interactions with Ralph,

In the novel, “Lord of the Flies,” by William Golding, a man is born innocent and is corrupted by society. Golding illustrates innocence and corruption with ethical, and emotional appeals based on human nature. Group influence, a distracted society, and group influence can corrupt a man. With that said, innocence is only temporary.

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.

Jack, in sharp contrast, is an authoritarian leader who uses fear to force others to accept his ideas and to follow his orders. Jack leaders by force and reward. He bullies and bribes people into following him. He was a former choirmaster and “head boy” at his school, and arrive to the island having experiment some success in gaining power and control over others by dominating with his militaristic attitude. He is eager to make rules in order to punish those who break them. Jack attempts to dominate the group as a “whole” as opposed to working with Ralph to maximize their chances of surviving. He frequently impugns the power of the conch, declaring that the conch rule is not important on certain parts of the island. The dictator in Jack becomes dominant in his personality and he begins to establish his leadership.