William Golding's Lord Of The Flies: Chapter Analysis

A recurring theme among leaders in many societies today is that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” (John Acton, a 1700’s English Catholic historian, politician, and writer). In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, this idea of leadership, power, and corruption is put in the spotlight. Jack, one of the boys on the island, forces his way into the leadership position without actually earning it. It is clear that Jack has become corrupt as he turns into a person who is intimidating, egotistical, and selfish. Ralph, on the other hand, is a quality leader under most conditions as he appeals to the boys’ sophisticated side and has a

We fell out of the sky today. I don’t know where we crashed. Other boys were on the plane so they had to be around here somewhere, but there are no grownups—that’s what Ralph said. Ralph thinks we’re on an island and he’s been calling me “Piggy.” I don’t want him to call me that; that’s what the boys at school call me. He’s been making fun of my asthma too. Anyways, he said his dad is in the Navy and he’s going to come rescue us. Ralph spotted a shell in the water—I told him it was a conch—and I remember someone that had one and would blow into it and his mum would come. Ralph blew into it (it took a couple of tries), and then children started appearing. There were a bunch. There were these twins, Sam ‘n Eric and Jack Merridew and his choir.

William Golding's Lord of the Flies "Everything is breaking up. I don't know why." - Ralph What is going wrong on the island and why?

I was adopted by parents who could barely afford to keep me. It was probably best that I was on the island.”

There is always a leader to lead you in the right direction, but that is up to you and who you think is a good leader as in this book. Commanders show people the right direction and prove themselves as good role models. Through the revolt of two boys, Golding demonstrate that civilization can be either destroyed or made better by the right leader.

The first chapter of the novel, The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding is effective in establishing the characters, concerns and language for the remainder of the book, as well as introducing the main themes of the novel; that the problems in society are related to the sinful nature of man and good verses evil. In Golding’s first chapter, the main characters are introduced, we see many ominous signs of what’s to come through the authors choice of language and the beginning of rivalries, issues and concerns are portrayed which are to continue throughout the rest of the book. The microcosm on the Island is presented from an early stage, as well as themes that emerge and remain important throughout

In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the color pink is hard to overlook. Throughout the text there is pink mentioned at virtually every turn: The pink platform, cream-pink conch, pink mountain, pink faces of the children, pink pig, etc. This color represents a vast amount including, "This color represents compassion, nurturing and love. It relates to unconditional love and understanding, and the giving and receiving of nurturing." (Judy Scott Kennis, "The Color Pink") Pink further details, "Brighter pinks are youthful, fun, and exciting...” (Kate Smith, "All About the Color Pink") With so many meanings, however, the primary symbolism of this color lies with the utter youth of the children, the characters of Golding's novel; many of the

People are born with certain genes that either make them good or bad; the question is which genes do you have? In Lord of the Flies by William Golding these kids start to thrive on their bad genes because their surroundings are playing a part of how they act. When the boys started to hunt they would like to kill pigs for fun. At one point they thought of it like a sport. Jack one the characters in the book would make fun of piggy for being fat and wearing glasses. This is due because jack has certain genes that already make him not like piggy. Humans are born with genes that determine how they act and what they do. Humans are born with good or evil; There surroundings allow good or evil to thrive.

The author, William Golding uses the main characters of Ralph, Jack, and Simon in The Lord of the Flies to portray how their desire for leadership, combined with lack of compromise leads to the fall of their society. This desire for leadership and compromise led to the fall of their society just like multiple countries during times of wars.

wrote this after publishing Lord of the Flies. It is our world, in the form of a story. The two leaders in the story are Ralph and Jack. Ralph starts off a comfortable leader of the boys, but by the end of the book, Ralph and his companion Piggy are alone facing Jack and the rest of the boys. As the novel progresses and the society on the island starts to change, so does Ralph. He begins thinking he has all the answers, but comes to realize that without Piggy he would have never gotten this far. By the end of the book, Ralph and Jack are complete opposites. Jack is about savagery and fun while Ralph is holding on to society, rules, and civilization. Appearing to be a weak leader due to defection of his followers, Ralph is actually dedicated and insightful, only loosing his followers because he could not compete with one category that attracts nearly everyone in the world: fun.

The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a book that with multiple theories. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Freud’s concept of id, ego, and superego, and nature vs nurture are each of the theories that could be shown in this book. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is based on a pyramid with categories like food, sleep, family, security, family, confidence, self-actualization, creativity, and much more. All in all, Maslow is saying that you need to have the basic foundations of life before you are able to move up a level of the pyramid. Another theory is nature vs nurture, which is a controversy as to whether we were born as blank slates or if the way we act comes from those whom we are born from.

The need for civilization, innocence and loss of power is shown through the impaled pig's head. In order for the group to survive, animals must be killed in order for the boys to eat. Jack takes on the role of hunter because he enjoys killing living things, as seen when he states, “Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!” (104) Ralph is a more calm person and does not enjoy killing as much as Jack, although he takes a small part in killing the pig. However, in the end, Jack gains all the power because everyone looks up to him as leader because he attempts to hunt the pig throughout the novel and is successful in the end. “We’ll take the meat along the beach.” “Pick up the pig,” Jack said. (150) Meanwhile, Ralph doubts Jack's abilities to kill the pig, and constantly mocks him about being successful. “He tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up.”(51) Jack proves Ralph wrong and kills the pig. “Jack begins to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling."(58) He celebrates

Although the boys would prefer to have fun and play games, they follow Ralph’s rules at first. This order is maintained until Ralph loses his leadership role to Jack. After providing, or bribing, the boys with juicy pig meat, Jack asks “’Who’ll join my tribe and have fun?’” (211). This lure of enjoyment along with the promise of more food sways the boys to follow Jack. With the demise of Ralph’s leadership and under the leadership of Jack, the boys begin to turn towards savagery.

Civilization can be destroyed as easily as it is created.  Without the walls of society, humans are capable of committing actions that they would have never thought possible.  Lord of the Flies focuses on a group of boys who are alone on an island without authority. The novel reveals what can become of humanity without the presence of authority.  In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the protagonist Ralph symbolizes leadership, civilization,  as well as the loss of innocence.  Ralph is the closest resemblance to authority that the boys have on the island.  His appearance plays an important role in him signifying authority, “You could see now that he might make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went, but there was a

Ralph, shyly admits that had lost several honourable friends due to the actions made by the group. It was first the death of Simon, when Ralph realized that the group was capable of almost anything. Simon, being mistaken for a ‘beast’, was killed in the boy’s mob mentality to kill whatever they were afraid of. “It was dark no one could see him, it was an accident, I don’t believe anybody meant to harm anyone, but it was still… murder” says Ralph.