Lord of the Flies Essay Even though having a government that cares and gives what is best for people is the most ideal government, countries from all over the world fail to establish an effective government for people to trust. However without a form of government, people will not be able to survive on their own. William Golding demonstrates in his famous novel Lord of the Flies, how people failed to govern themselves when put into a completely new and unknown environment, and how people change overtime due to an environment with no civilization. In the book, a group of schoolboys crash onto a deserted island and is left to govern itself without any adults. Ralph, the main character in the story, is elected to be chief by the other boys …show more content…
Jack, the boy who is outvoted by Ralph causes most of the conflicts in the book. The boys try to figure out how to maintain their society by themselves, but due to their failure, the boys transform from being innocent to savages. The two essential components lacking from the boys’ island government are discipline and respect for one another’s property, which political Enlightenment philosophers Cesare Beccaria and John Locke believes are essential for a successful government. Since the boys do not establish these components, they ultimately face death and chaos.
One reason the boys in Lord of the Flies fail to effectively govern themselves is their lack of discipline, which Beccaria argues is a necessary for an effective government; because this governing component is absent from the island, their government results in chaos. Cesare Beccaria believes that laws are made to maintain and protect our society, and suggests that any type of discipline ought to discourage crime (Phil. Bios
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Locke believes that the government should protect the natural rights of the people, which are life, liberty, and property, and it is unacceptable to use any kind of force under any circumstances to take away people’s rights and property. Additionally, he believes there should be limitation of the monarch’s power, so a dictator, who has no respect for people’s property, should not be present (Phil. Bios 3). Jack’s decision to take Piggy’s spectacles by force directly contrasts with John Locke’s belief that property must be respected, therefore leading to crime and violence. When the boys first arrive on the island, Ralph proposes that they make a big fire so that if a ship passes by, they will be able to spot the smoke and rescue them. The boys do not have any tools to light a fire on the island so Jack takes Piggy’s glasses without his consent to reflect sunlight and make fire, “‘His specs--use them as burning glasses!’...Jack snatched [Piggy’s] glasses off his face”(Golding 40). By snatching, Jack uses force to take away Piggy’s specs against his will in order to make fire, which goes strongly against John Locke’s idea of respect for property. Piggy dislikes Jack throughout the whole book due to the fact that Jack gave him no respect, and teases him regularly. Not only does Jack take Piggy’s glasses by
In the book, The Lord of the Flies, the boys’ are unable to establish a successful government that is led by an absolute monarch and incorporates a strong justice system. The novel illustrates a simple scenario that highlights the consequences of an ineffective government. With a society similar to the stranded boys, modern day governments are bound to fall into destruction and death if a sovereign leader and a fair and equal justice system aren’t
They figure out how to use these glasses to make a fire which is then used to cook and make the signal which stood for civilization on the island. The one thing Ralph reiterates is the importance of the signal fire; however, Jack makes hunting as his only priority and this leads to tension among the two. During one particular scene, Ralph and Piggy chastise Jack for leaving the fire when a ship passed and there was no signal which could had led to their rescue and with that news Jack “smacked piggy’s head. Piggy’s glasses flew off and tinkled on the rocks” (70), He takes the opportunity to not only be the first person to physically hurt another boy, but he ruins one of the only source of technology the boys had available to them. Inevitably, when Jack makes his own tribe he needs everyone on the island to know he’s in charge and does the one thing
These boys felt that Ralph was not providing the rights that they needed. On the other hand Jack was. This was a reason to form a new government. The boys wanted fun, food and protection, which was nothing Ralph provided. Ralph’s main goal was to get off the island, where the boys wanted to enjoy their time.
Kaylee Tran Ms. Cruz English 2A (5) March 2, 2023 Stealing Authority Written by William Golding, Lord of the Flies is a novel about young British boys who, stranded on an uninhabited island, are forced to find leadership and order among themselves. In the beginning of the novel, the group of boys vote for Ralph to be chief, but as the story progresses, the power begins to shift to a boy named Jack who acts as the catalyst for the violence and savagery that the boys engage in towards the end of the novel. Although others may claim that as chief, Ralph should bear some responsibility for the tragic events that occur at the end of LOTF, Ralph is in fact not at all responsible because Jack diminished all of Ralph’s power when he ignored Ralph’s
Have you ever felt too scared to speak your mind because every time you do someone makes fun of you or calls you cruel names? Can you imagine getting stuck on an island with no adult to help me survive? Would you be able to survive? The book the Lord of the Flies was written by William Golding. In the beginning of the story a group of school boys from England are in a plane that crashes onto an island, but they all fell in different areas of the island.
John Locke would not approve this on the island because Jack's group is violating Piggy’s and Simons’ right to live. The second reason he would not approve the behavior on the island that the hunters stole Piggy's glasses. For example The hunters raided rest of the people and stole Piggy's glasses. (Lord of the Flies) John Locke would not approve this because they stole piggy's glasses and that violated Piggy’s
Democratic power can be used to control a society, as well as establish a closeness as civilians. To lose sight of this can mean the corruption of a civilization caused by the lack of order. One’s choice of independence in order to better the chances of their survival requires complete dedication and willingness to risk. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Ralph loses his democratic power due to his failure to ensure survival and protect the boys as a leader. Ralph’s failure to lead the group is due to his initial and chronic independence and inability to compete with Jack’s followers, accounted for mainly by fear.
(page 18) The entire time they are trapped on the island, Ralph is determined to get rescued. He views a fire with a smoke signal to be the only way to be saved. Piggy's glasses are the only way the boys know to start a fire so this give him some degree of importance.
In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph and Jack compete to have the title of chief, this illustrates Golding's message that in society dictatorship can be more successful than democracy. Characters in this novel resemble people in WWII. Jack is a symbol of dictatorship and Ralph is a symbol of democracy. Though in the beginning of the novel Ralph had control, Jacks dictatorship caused him to take total control. Between the two boys Jack is the more successful leader.
Throughout Lord of The Flies, written by William Golding, a group of young boys who crash land on the island start off as innocent and peaceful people, some even Catholics. But as everyone's inner demons arose, all hope for civilization was lost and the boys descended into chaos. With this chaos came their loss of morals, values, and laws. Examples of these were when Jack disobeyed Ralph's rules, when Simon was brutally stabbed to death by Jack's group and how the story portrays Jack as starting from a Catholic choir boy to turning into the "devil" of the island. Starting with the loss of laws, at first Ralph was elected leader because he was seen as the most fit and strongest compared to everyone else.
Jenna Ball Mrs. Nienstedt Civics 9 9 February 2018 Lord of the Flies Essay Franklin D. Roosevelt once stated, “The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a president and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country” (Brainy Quotes). The concept of authority being ruled by its followers, giving it power is highly depicted in the film Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Stranded on an island, a party of boys go back and forth between two rulers, each wanting power over the other. Roosevelt 's statement of how giving power to authority is a necessity is demonstrated throughout the film.
The boys immaturely begin to lose focus on being rescued and resort to more primal instincts as they plunge into a totalitarian regime entirely based on killing and fear of authority. Under these conditions, Jack, the antagonist and Ralph’s nemesis, reigns supreme until a Navy ship rescues them. In multiple sources critics generally analyze Ralph as symbolic of a democratic leader with Piggy, a weak yet intellectual boy, as his advisor. Additionally, analysts characterize Jack as a symbol of a totalitarian dictator and Roger, a ruthless boy without a conscience, as his henchman.
Ralph putting his foot down and being stricter, “because [he’s] chief,” just causes them to disagree with him more. Because Ralph’s attempt at forming a democracy fails, he tries to be more controlling, but this just further causes the boys to disobey him and forget about the goals that are the most important for them all. Because Ralph is not able to successfully establish a direct democracy or convince the boys to be interested in the common good, as Rousseau believes is necessary for a functional society, the result is that Jack seizes power to form his own tribe of savagery, the boys fall into corruption, and the general will is completely lost. Thomas Hobbes’ view on human nature is more pessimistic, arguing that humans are intrinsically evil and should allow strong governments to keep them from descending into violence (Robison), a view that seems to mirror Goulding’s. Because the boys eventually stop accepting Ralph as their leader, the power-hungry Jack takes over and the island falls into a state of chaos.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an allegory for human society in the way that it tells us that in a survival situation, it is difficult for humans to get past their savage and anarchic instincts. Without order, madness will ensue. The boys strongly believe that rules are their only attempt at order. "We 've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we 're not savages".(42)They strive for rules, for example, the conch. "
Before something can be destroyed, it must be created. William Golding presents the uninhabited island that the boys crash land on as a blank canvas from which a society can be made by the boys themselves. After the boys congregate due to the protagonist Ralph blowing a conch shell, it is established that there are no adults present on the island (p.26). Ralph suggests that they appoint a chief (p.28) and Roger suggests they accomplish this through the democratic process of voting (p.28). Both of these suggestions are an attempt by the boys to recreate the structures of a society that they are most familiar with.