Abuse Of Power In William Golding's The Lord Of The Flies

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies presents a story of a group of boys who become stranded on an island together, and in their struggle to survive; some begin to fight for power. Having power makes them feel in control of their situation; however, this power struggle quickly begins to consume them. Golding uses the power struggle between Ralph and Jack, the two main characters, to illustrate the power struggle between good and evil.

Lord Of the Flies Novel by William Golding is a book about a bunch of boys that survive a plane crash on a deserted island. The older boys, Jack, and Ralph become the main characters of the story. Ralph starts out as the chief with the power of the conch. Into the story he loses his power to Jack. A red haired impulsive boy, leader of the choir boys. A civilized boy that takes further steps away from civility then Ralph.The transformation from civility into savagery turning point is most distinct in two main points. The boys’ action that lead to savagery is when they smeared paint over themselves and when Jack finally took a living animal’s life.

     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.

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.

The book Lord of the Flies by William Golding is about how a group of school boys get traped on A island. When power,fear and violence indulge them. The book shows that power can be controlled but can lost in an instant.

The conch shell was one of the most important symbols in the novel. It was discovered by Piggy, “S’right. It’s a shell! I seen one like that before… It’s ever so valuable–” (Golding 15). The fact that it is so valuable, gave Piggy the idea to keep order between the boys by letting only the one holding the conch, to speak. The real power the conch possesses was made clear when Golding expresses, “But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch” (Golding 22). When the boys took a

"Is it The Human Nature to Abuse Power" The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding is a novel about a group of boys who have just survived a devastating plane wreck. In this novel William Golding focuses on the struggle for power and leadership. The power to control the boys is fought over which shows the true savagery which lies under the civilized boys. During the Stanford Prison Experiment, Dr. Zimbardo explored the behaviors of 70 college males as they participated in an experiment, assuming the role of either a prisoner or prison guard. A few days into the study Dr. Zimbardo discovered that that the prison guards had taken their role in the prison too seriously and started to mock and humiliate the prisoners.

In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, young boys are stranded on an island, isolated with no form of authority to rescue them. Among all the boys is Ralph, an essential character, who demonstrates valid leadership skills, such as creating a better civilization by making huts and a signal fire. But the actions he makes from his emotions, such as participating in the murder of Simon, always results in a negative outcome causing disruption to their civilization. Golding’s message, all human societies ultimately fail, in that the individuals who make up society are flawed,relates to Ralph because their civilization fell into immediate corruption because Ralph-- a static character with strong leadership abilities--exhibited

Lord of the Flies, written in 1954, was a notorious book of its time because of the novel’s thrilling story of a group of children’s loss of innocence and civility in the absence of a figure of authority. William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, wanted to show the world how corrupt one can become without any rules to follow. Golding successfully demonstrates the mutinous ways of a human by creating many different scenarios the children will encounter on the road to savagery when they have lost their sole leader in their life. The author’s theme of the novel was to show the conflict of a human’s tendency to become more savage and rebellious in the absence of civilization. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding conveys how society might become more rebellious with a deficiency of authority by utilizing symbolism, irony, and imagery to make his novel become more complete and uniform throughout itself.

The conch is mentioned several times throughout the story. It is a significant object that represents the free speech and democracy aspect of the society. Initially noticed by Ralph and Piggy, the conch is used for starting the first ever meeting. Constantly evolving, the conch develops from a symbol of order, even Jack respects, to a broken shell. Caring for the conch even though he did not achieve his objective, Jack “laid the conch with great care in the grass at his feet” (Golding 74). Jack may not obey the rules, but he respects them to a certain extent. Later on, Piggy, Ralph, Sam, and Eric confront Jack and the rest of the savages. In the midst of the verbal conflict, Roger decides to pull the lever, and the boulder plows Piggy over. Along with Piggy, the conch flies into a hundred bits. After the brutal death of Piggy, Jack screams, out of unmitigated temerity, “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There [is not] a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone” (Golding 181). Everything Piggy had stood for has vanished along with what the conch represents: respect as well as regard for others. Now that the conch is gone, the last string holding the society together vanishes, unleashing chaos upon the

When William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies and many other books, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983, it surprised an abundance of people; many critics, especially in the United States, did not agree with the Academy’s choice, leading to a large amount of controversy. One of the Nobel judges, Artur Lundkvist, even spoke out against Golding because he did not think Golding met Alfred Nobel’s standards. The 1983 Nobel Literature Prize deserved to go to William Golding because his writing, complex and obscure, met the requirements stated by Alfred Nobel in his will. On October 6th, 1983, the Swedish Academy announced William Golding as the winner of the Nobel Literature Prize, “generat[ing] far more controversy than its annual announcements usually call forth” (Bufkin).

Abandoning the power is totally because of civilization. As we get to the end of the novel, humanity are losing among it people on the Island, “Samneric were savages like the rest; Piggy was dead, and the conch smashed to powder” (186). Jack overthrew everyone because of his power, they all became savage, their humanity left them, they now have the urge to kill, and they do not care if people die. As Piggy died, the power of the conch also goes with him. His death doesn’t affect them. They just care whom to kill. They now follow the order of their leader, thinking the conch as the past memory that helps them to create their personality. As the conch dies power, the replacement corrupted the power. Jack’s creates his own rules and regulations.

“Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!” A quote by Jack’s tribe, clearly sums up how the boys have transitioned into savages. Adolescence can be viewed as a time of innocence and wonder, while others may see it as a time of tribulation and terror. This novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, proves how both of these stances can be true as one gains experiences in their life.

William Golding’s novel the Lord of the Flies shows man’s wild side. Critics claim that the depressing story of boys losing their innocence is attempting to convey that mankind is evil, and underlying evil will always be present. William Golding told a truly marvelous tale of boys, survival and morals. In the beginning of the story, the boys all co-operated and were filled with hope of getting home to England. While time wears on, the boys become less tame; they become savages obsessed with killing.

Power can be used for the greater good, or power can be used to advance personal agenda