In Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows the progression of absolute power, and how ambition can take over one's mind. Stranded on an island after their plane crashed, the boys create their own democracy with one absolute ruler, just like many other governments throughout history. The boys voted Ralph as their ruler, but Jack slowly starts to take some of Ralph’s power, and eventually usurps him as their chief. Lord of the Flies suggests that absolute power is corrupt, and that humans are overly ambitious in wanting to take power from the person who has the most of it. Just like any large group of people, the boys decide that they “ought to have a chief to decide things” (Golding 22). Although Jack was the most natural leader and Piggy was probably the smartest of the group, the boys voted Ralph as their chief. Jack’s jealousy is evident after Ralph is chosen as chief when he “disappeared under a blush of mortification” (Golding 23). In the first days and weeks on the …show more content…
Near the end of their time on the island, Piggy, Sam, and Eric are the only ones left with Ralph, and Jack, who appears as “a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear” (Golding 168). Jack starts to get violent, and what was fun when they first got to the island become attempts to kill. At this point, Jack has fully taken over, and the only thing left for him to do is kill Ralph. Lord of the Flies exemplifies how when one person has all of the power, there is always somebody else that wants it more than that person. Ralph is not against Jack, nor does he want to fight with him for the chief position, but ambition and violence overtakes Jack, and he turns into a dangerous savage. The shift in power in Lord of the Flies is comparable to many other usurps in history, and is one of many examples of how Lord of the Flies is about more than just a group of young boys stranded on an
The boys could have easily chosen Jack instead of Ralph, especially given the fact that Jack had previous experience as a leader; he is first seen surrounded by a group of faithful followers, his choir group, that continue to obey him on the island. Even Piggy, who showed support towards Ralph from the beginning, is intimidated by Jack's authoritative demeanor. However, Jack is missing that key characteristic that made Ralph so appealing: the symbol of power and strength. Any sense of leadership that Jack held was overshadowed by the image of Ralph standing confidently with the conch shell in hand. Ultimately, the young boys identified Ralph as their leader based on the power they believed he symbolized.
The only person who had some insight into Ralph’s disposition was Piggy because he had spent time with him prior to the meeting. This shows leadership is not limited to those who fit the role. Leadership is solely decided on a person’s persona. Furthermore, the stranded boys chose Ralph because according to the author, “there was a stillness” about him “that marked him out,” they noticed and took a liking to his “size and attractive appearance” (Golding 22). No one questioned Sorine 2 the decision to choose Ralph as chief, they relied on the way he seemed.
After being stranded on an island with no sign of rescue or grownups, the schoolboys need some form of government or leader to rule them all. The first day they discover they are not alone, the boys elect Ralph, one of the older boys, to lead them. He believes they need authority, in place of the grownups. Otherwise, chaos will break out, as it does later on. Golding’s Lord of the Flies serves as a perfect illustration of Hobbes’s philosophy on the brutish, selfish nature of man and, therefore, the need for a strong government.
People are overly ambitious in wanting to take power from the person who has the most of it. In the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding a group of boys, none who are older than 13, are deserted on an island after their plane crashes. The boys make a sort of government and elect a leader, they create rules and have fun. This was in the beginning though over time the boys start to become more savage and brutal they start to lose their once civilized nature and end up killing some of the other boys. In the Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, power corrupts people by limiting others without power, searching for more power, and losing yourself for power.
In the novel The Lord of The Flies by William Golding there are two characters. Both 12 years old, Ralph the son of a naval officer and Jack a redhead with freckles and the head of the choir. Both with leadership characteristics but one siding with reason and the other with Power. First, after the boys landed on the island and found each other, Both boys had a craving for power so they nominated themselves to be leader, Jack saying “I ought to be chief”, “because I'm chapter chorister and head boy”.
How Absolutely does Absolute Power Corrupt? Stranded, alone, no adults in sight. The boys in Lord of the Flies by William Golding were being evacuated from their school during the war, when their plane crashed on a small, uninhabited island. All adults were lost in the crash, only boys of various ages between twelve and six survived. Someone needs to be in charge, right?
Jack’s unwillingness to abide by Ralph’s rules creates chaos and strips morality from the group. This leads to death and a dark realization that war can only result in mutual loss. Jack resents Ralph’s power and the rules while also disregarding what is asked of him, creating tension between themselves. Jack constantly tries to turn the others against Ralph and undermine his opinion. When Jack does not do what is asked of him, it sparks conflict as shown in this quote:
In a communist country you have the one leader who is in control of multiple other sub leaders, or taskmasters, who control the whole country Simon says in the book Lord of the flies, “...maybe there is a beast. ... What I mean is, maybe it's only us.”(89) He has started to realize that the people's own thoughts are the monster they have been fearing. William golding may have been referencing man's lust for power. Jack is the first to show this lust and as the book goes on he seeks to set himself up as a ruler over everybody else.
“Power is dangerous. It attracts the worst and corrupts the best.” When the young boys first gathered after the crash, they were civil, mostly well behaved boys until the need for power took advantage of them. Two crucial symbols from the novel are the sow’s head and the conch shell. Each of these symbols represent power however, their powers have different meanings.
After the boys catch their first glimpse at what they imagined was the beast, Jack calls his own assembly to address the issue. As Jack leads his own meeting instead of Ralph, he immediately exerts this new authority in an attempt to overthrow Ralph as chief, exclaiming, “He’s like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn 't a proper chief,” (Golding 92).
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 desire for power is one of the strongest human drives. In Lord of The Flies by William Golding there is a constant struggle for power between the main characters, Ralph, Jack, and Piggy. Ralph has power because he was voted chief and uses his power in an ugly way. Jack is struggling to get out of Ralph's power and gain his own power. The boys’ struggle for power is an ugly struggle and the author uses this to demonstrate the ugly struggle for power that is human nature.
This makes Jack leave the pack and create his own group of hunters who will be lead by him. Throughout the story Ralph and Jack have many encounters which make more of Ralph's supporters join Jack and the savages. Eventually all Ralph has is Piggy because Jack had gotten food and was a more powerful leader in general. During one of the last encounters with Jack, the savages kill Piggy and start to hunt for Ralph after he runs
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Golding attempts to compare and contrast two opposite strategies of control. Golding portrays that while Ralph and Piggy’s government may have been a morally sound solution, the boys chaos is too strong to be controlled by a democracy. It must be controlled by a feared dictator. While the idea of democracy, represented by the conch, is a pure concept and can provide an equal opportunity for all of the boys on the island, the animalistic need for power and chaos that controls the boys can only be reined in by a powerful dictatorship. Democracy on the island could have provided an equal opportunity for all the boys on the island.
Imagine being stranded on an inhabited island with a bunch of other kids and no adults. It could seem fun at first. But that feeling won’t last long, at least not in the case of Lord of the Flies. In an attempt to avoid the inevitable, the kids apoint a leader, trying to restore society’s rules and avoid chaos. In Lord of the Flies, the boys democratically institute a ‘chief’.