Power And Control 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.

In the end, all the boys learn a lesson. They had many struggles and troubles of staying together as a group. Jack and his hunting group ended up setting the whole island on fire. “ The fire was a big one and the drum-roll that he has thought was left so far behind was nearer. Couldn't a fire outrun a galloping horse?” ( Chapter 12, Page 278) The horrific fire caught the attention of a naval vessel passing by the island. Ralph collapses in exhaustion, but when he wakes up, he sees a British naval officer right over him.

Ralph represents order and discipline, while Jack represents an unhealthy drive for power and savagery. In the beginning of the novel, Ralph is voted the leader of the group and attempts to make life on the island disciplined and civilized, like their life in England. However, throughout the novel Jack rivals Ralph’s leadership role, attempting to overthrow him. As the boys’ savage impulses increase, more of them begin to side with Jack instead of going with Ralph. As Ralph loses his hold over the boys, almost all of them begin to act violently and barbaric. An example of this is when the children of the island murder Simon for no justifiable reason. Even Piggy and Ralph partake in the murder, showing that the violent human impulse is in

William Golding’s experiences in World War II deeply influenced his views on man’s nature. Golding’s allegorical novel, Lord of The Flies, explores the frightening and consistent, yet ignored, truths of man’s nature. British schoolboys board a plane in hopes to escape their war torn land. Unfortunately, the plane is shot down, thrusting the boys into a deserted island and leaving them to their own devices. At first, the boys look to find independence and freedom on the island where civilization no longer matters. However, it is soon clear that the boys cannot simply run away from their natural tendencies. Jack, previously a choir leader, is among the stranded boys, and slowly but surely rises to power on the island. Jack’s corrupted authority fuels his inner selfishness and leads him to consciously feed off of the fear of isolation and annihilation of his blind followers, thus proving that authority can overpower one's self-control.

“I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men; they are far superior and always have been.” Golding suggested the novel would not have worked if girls were on the island because it emphasizes the lust for power and other behaviors which are typically associated with masculinity, which offers a more accurate view of how society functions on a large scale. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies suggests that how people in power wield their power influences the entire society and on themselves. To begin, Ralph’s leadership brings stability and productivity to both himself and the island civilization as a whole. Initially, Ralph gained power through popular vote.

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...

Ralph asks the boys to build huts and find food. In the process of doing this the boys, and littluns goof off, and Ralph is infuriated. Making him lose his temper and altering his personality with the patience he had for the boys. Although Simon does help Ralph build the huts and find food, Ralph doesn't find that it is enough and thinks that everyone ends up doing the work very wrong. During this event it shows Ralph becoming aggressive with the boys, and the things that go on, on the island. In chapter Ralph calls a meeting discussing the rules and character Jack becomes loud and tries to take over the meeting and leads off with a group of boys and his “choir”. Leaving Ralph alone angered and with fewer boys.

Imagine your plane crashing leaving you alone on a deserted island without any adults or anyone to make rules. You have to create your own form of civilization in order to keep everyone from turning into complete savages. This is a reality for everyone in the book Lord of the Flies by WIlliam Golding. In the book, a group of civilized boys crash onto an island with no structure of leadership. In the absence of a social structure they were forced to create their own. The book explores the characters motives as they develop their social structure and the need for the power. Golding uses symbols of power such as the conch, Jack, and the fire throughout the text to illustrate that power and the need for it is overwhelming in a society.

The struggle between life and death was all too real for the many children who crash landed on the island. Their story is told in book written by William Golding called Lord of the Flies. This book tells the tale of many children who crash land on an island, with no parental supervision and become trapped in a vicious power struggle. This power struggle leads to death for many of the boys. Two themes in the book were very compelling and developed well through out the story.

The group decides that Ralph should be the leader, but that only infuriates Jack. Throughout the whole book, Jack is constantly attempting to get the power he thought he could never have. It became clear after reading Lord of the Flies what a good and bad leader is, what a leader’s role is, and most importantly, how a leader should act and treat his people. Throughout the book, Ralph remains leader, but goes through the struggle of maintaining his leadership role and keeping the boys in his tribe, with him for as long as possible.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel that shows a group of boys trying to deal with chaos from beginning to end. Throughout the story the boys realize that they are a community and the only way they are going to survive is if they all work together. They boys are faced with one simple but so complex task. Survive the extremes.

The striving for power is a human instinct in order to influence others and enhance authority. Golding’s novel “Lord of the Flies” explores the dynamics of attitudes when people control over others, as when Jack in authority, the greed and selfishness begin to grow. Nowadays, the similar events still happen, like Donald Trump uses his power to manipulate people for his own purpose. I would like to compare the similarities from the eyes of the public between the two events through drawing and folding.

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is tale of a group of young boys who become stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Intertwined in this classic novel are many themes, most that relate to the inherent evil that exists in all human beings and the malicious nature of mankind. In The Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the boys' gradual transformation from being civilized, well-mannered people to savage, ritualistic beasts.

In the novel Lord of the Flies, the author, William Golding, portrays a story about children that are stranded on an island with no adults to take charge and leadership; therefore, the children have to create their own system of government so they can survive. Throughout the story, there is a development of characters and each character represents various personalities and specific aspects of philosophies. Jack, Simon, and Ralph are the main focus throughout the book and their way of thinking is quite different from one another resulting in constant arguments.

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.