A Struggle for Power (Lord of the Flies) Essay

In Lord of the Flies by William Golding the different views and beliefs of Ralph and Jack and the need for power in both boys’ segregates the group and

In William Golding’s novel, The Lord of the Flies, a large group of privileged English schoolboys are stranded on an island in the Pacific with no adults after the plane they were on crash-landed. The boys are brought together by the Conch that is blown by Ralph in the beginning of the book. The conch is symbolic of order and authority in the book. The boys go under a transformation of these privileged schoolboys to a group of rag tag savages trying to kill each other for power throughout the course of this book. This essay will be outlining the transition from good boys that listen to authority, into boys that rely on their id of savagery, and the descent to evil, destruction and panic through the journey and

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of boys who are lost on a deserted island and must do what they can to survive. At the beginning of the novel, two of the boys, Ralph and Jack, become leaders. These differences will form the main conflict in the story. The differences will cause them to hate each other and the anger that results is a recurring part of the plot throughout the novel. These two boys can be compared by the way they change, the reason for their actions, and the way they use or abuse power.

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of boys who are lost on a deserted island and must do what they can to survive. At the beginning of the novel, two of the boys, Ralph and Jack, become leaders. These differences will form the main conflict in the story. The differences will cause them to hate each other and the anger that results is a recurring part of the plot throughout the novel. These two boys can be compared by the way they change, the reason for their actions, and the way they use or abuse power.

The conch keeps the meetings and even simple conversations in orderly terms. When its purpose begins to get ignored, more conflict arises. Ralph keeps hold of the conch even in times full of fear. In the text, it is stated, "He could see the whiteness in the gloom near him so he grabbed it from Maurice and blew as loudly as he could," (Golding, 88). While all of the boys are filled with fear about the talk of the beast, Ralph wants to keep them calm and keep matters controlled. The conch does help him to easily call meetings for the group, and it helps to keep society present amongst the boys. However, when the fear overcomes the peace that the boys have so far, the orderliness begins to deteriorate. Ralph tries his best to control the situation, but losing touch of a truly experienced society has made the boys struggle with staying calm and rational. The boys let of any sense of morals and obligations that they had gathered so far in their childhoods slip right out of their hands, and most of the boys let hunting and savagery become their top

     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.

Imagine being stranded on an island without hope or assurance of help being on the way. This is the scenario William Golding presents in his novel, Lord of the Flies. Golding uses many symbols throughout his novel to help shape the theme of how the flaws of human nature create the flaws within a society. Jack and Ralph interact throughout Golding’s novel to demonstrate how the flaws in human nature cause the flaws and chaos in a society. Jack begins to show his oppressiveness and power hungry characteristic not too long after he separates himself from Ralph.

Ralph’s attention was attracted to the “glimmering conch” that “jigged up and down”. The use of imagery shows the importance of rules and regulations as unlike before, Jack didn’t care whether or not he had the conch. Ralph realized that their system was crumbling apart as rules no longer mattered to Jack. The author implies that the conch was representative democracy on the island and soon it no longer had meaning. Jack was “breaking the rules” and according to Ralph, “rules are the only thing we’ve got!” The conch symbolized democracy and authority, which is now being defied by

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.

Throughout William Golding’s book, Lord of the Flies, there lies an interesting battle between being civilized and adhering to one’s primal instincts. This is clearly illustrated through two distinct characters: Ralph and Jack. While the two of them clash, they are still strangely able to get along at times. By illustrating this relationship, Golding is able to present both an intriguing duality and represent the two characters as the "Id" and the "Ego”.

Jack and Ralph have contrasting strategies when leading the boys on the island. Ralph, who represents the primary good, prioritizes creating a smoke signal in order be rescued. Ralph also promotes order, representing the civilized instinct of humans. On the other hand, Jack lacks foresight, and prioritizes hunting. Jack also fear-mongers, and appeals to the emotions of the other children, ultimately embodying the savage instinct of humans. The way in which the dynamic of the island devolves reveals Golding’s views of human nature, as well as the importance of a central power, which aligns with the views of Thomas Hobbes. Additionally, Golding’s perspective resembles Hobbes’s, as they both oppose the division of power. Ralph’s priorities while leading represent the primary good, however his passive and weak leadership exposes the evil nature of the boys, and the island degenerates into chaos.

Ralph calls upon regular meetings that everyone will attend, to discuss important issues. He also decides that the person holding the conch shell and this person alone will be the only one aloud to talk. Ralph brings ideas and rules that bring law and order (Civilization) to the island. Unlike Ralph who wants to retain a civilized society on the island Jack shows little interest in the idea of rules.

In The Lord of the Flies, William Golding creates a microcosm that appears to be a utopia after he discharged from the British Royal Navy following World War II. After an emergency landing, Golding places a diverse group of boys on the island that soon turns out to be anything but utopia. The island the boys are on turns out to be an allegorical dystopia with inadequate conditions (Bryfonski 22). The boys reject all lessons they learned from their prior British society, and they turn towards their desires, including hunting pigs and engaging in dance and chant rituals. The protagonist, Ralph, a charismatic and natural leader, clashes against the antagonist, Jack, a power-hungry, malicious boy. Ralph leads with example, and honors order while focusing on survival, while Jack leads a free-for-all life, and is an impulsive and chaotic savage. Each boy has a close and intimate group of boys, Ralph’s being Piggy, who is “basically ineffectual without Ralph” (Telgen 179), and Jack’s being the choir. When order and civilization is no longer apparent, even the most moralistic of the boys begin to descend into savagery. A full identification and explanation of the major conflicts of Ralph versus Jack and good versus evil are mandatory to prove Golding’s central theory that man’s descent into savagery is caused directly by a lack of order.

Lord of the Flies by Nobel Prize winning author William Golding tells the story of a group of English schoolboys becoming trapped on an island after a plane crash during World War I with no adults. The story follows Ralph, Piggy, Jack, Sam, Eric, and the littluns. Most of these characters have different conflicts. Man vs Supernatural, Man versus Technology, Man versus Self, and Man Vs Man are just a few examples of conflicts that arise in this reading. The six main conflicts in reading bring murder, Satan and even forest fire to the boys alone on the island and exemplify the theme of “Evil may win”.

War is the state of conflict and competition between opposing forces. Nonetheless, war can be caused through emotional and psychological issues through two sides that obtain power from the support of influential followers. William Golding exhibits this perception in the novel, Lord of the Flies as a plane carrying a group of British schoolboys is shot down over the Pacific during a combat warfare in Europe. In the midst of consternation and chaos, Ralph, one of the many young boys on the plane, is able to distinguish the fear among the boys and use them as a barrier to survival. Ralph’s leadership is visible from the beginning as he is elected leader of the boys, on the other hand, Jack is cheated out of becoming the leader as he resembles a militaristic attitude who is greedy to make rules and discipline anyone for breaking his rules. A component of the novel consists of Ralph and Jack struggling to invest in each others distinct power leading to the boys descending into savagery and the loss of civilization during the events of the atomic war. Through the background of the atomic war, Golding demonstrates the