“In a 2005 survey about gay bullying statistics, teens reported that the number two reason they are bullied is because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender expression”, according to bullyingstatistics.org. It has also been shown that those who are bullied themselves often go on to bully others because it is all they know, or that bullying covers up their own shames. The character Jack Merridew in Lord of the Flies is not evil like many would argue, but rather is ashamed of the fact that he is gay and closeted. This is supported by the hunter’s casting off of religion and government, Jack’s inability to hunt unless in front of other boys, and the beast as a symbol. The first reason Jack is secretly gay is his casting off of government and religion. Not all gay people do this obviously, but when he gets to the island he casts off those that wronged him for his sexuality. “‘Take off your togs.’” (Golding 23). This is a metaphor for casting off his religion, and to many, becoming nihilistic. It is not nihilism, though, but rather an act of renouncing the religion that always treated him poorly for his sexuality. “...the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” (Golding 181) The shattering of the conch comes out of the idea that the conch represents order which Jack wants to disrupt. His reason is that in England at the time, being gay was illegal and being homosexual could lead to execution. This means that Jack would hate the
In Lord of the Flies by John Steinback a group of young boys are stranded on an island. To survive the boys decided to vote who should be their leader, Ralph or Jack. Piggy is a smart, fat boy who is not respected by the boys. Ralph is the face of leadership but not the best for the job compared to Piggy. Piggy is the brains behind Ralph who gives the essential idea to further progress the island.
“When you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice–you may know that your society is doomed”(Rand). This was stated by Russian-American novelist Ayn Rand; the extract relates to the novel William Golding wrote called Lord of the Flies. Golding wrote about a group of schoolboys trapped on an island from a plane crash. The boys had to figure out how to survive without grownups. Trying to survive was difficult because they had to have common sense and order. They lose those traits throughout the book which resulted in selfishness and corrupt behaviors.
We’ve all had a bully who wanted to have control over us and have power over us whenever he wanted or whenever he had the chance. In William Golding's The Lord of the Flies, Jack is the main bully who wants power and control over everyone. The need for power brings out the most evil parts of us that would make us do anything. The need for power is what Jack wants in The Lord of the Flies. It made him feel powerful and able to do whatever he wanted.
What went wrong in the Lord of the Flies? Some may say Jack and some may say Roger, but what are the real reasons for the downfall of the boys? They are, the loss of hope, the loss of order, and the passing of time.
In the novel Lord of the Flies, Jack Merridew has a thirst for control and power. Joseph McCarthy had a similar ambition during the Cold War. He had a series of unsuccessful careers until he was elected to the Wisconsin Senate seat. There, he had an interesting first term. He soon discovered the possibility of exploiting the fear in Americans to become a dominant figure in politics. Merridew took an almost identical route. In the novel, he was not elected the be the plane crashed boys’ leader. He soon discovered that he could take advantage of the fear in the boys regarding the beast. Joseph McCarthy and Jack Merridew sustained their power as leaders by amplifying fear in people thought their communities to create a mob mentality.
William Golding can be clearly seen as a writer who knows what he is doing. From vivid description down to the most scrutinous detail to his plethoric of symbolism seen throughout the novel, it is clear that he is an experienced writer. From his other books like The Inheritors and The Scorpion God it can still be seen that one of his earlier books, Lord of the Flies, is truly one of his greatest masterpieces. That book would also be the topic of this essay, and from the very beginning was obviously a piece of literature that has aged well despite its year of publish. From the stranding on the island to the undertone of war seen throughout it grips the reader and never lets go.
Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding. It is about british schoolboys who are stranded on an island after their plane is shot down. They are on the island with no adult supervision. Their group is civilized but turns to savagery. In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses the characters of Ralph, Jack, and Roger to symbolize that there are violence, evil, savagery, and good that exist in every society.
Humans develop in societies with rules, order and government, but humans are not perfect, they have many deficiencies so do the societies they live in. When a group of schoolboys land on a tropical island, Ralph takes on the role of leader by bringing all of the boys together and organizing them. He first explains “There aren’t any grownups. We shall have to look after ourselves.”(p.33), this brings up the question if the boys will have prosperity or will they succumb to the evil on the island. At first the young boys start being successful and civilized, but chaos soon overruns them and evil starts to lurk over the island.The fictional story of the group of British schoolboys stranded on an island and the decisions they make, relates back
Stranded on an island, a group of boys have the choice to be civil or savage. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, British schoolboys are marooned on an island. They voted Ralph to be the leader in an effort to remake the culture that they had left behind, accompanied by the intelligent Piggy as counselor. But Jack wants to be the leader too, and he individually lures all of the boys away from civility to the brutal survivalism of hunters. The conch symbolizes power, respect, and social order. Within the Lord of the Flies, Golding provides a brief look at the savagery that controls even the most civilized human beings. William Golding mirrors our modern day society by
Children all fear the dark because of what it may contain as darkness the the manifestation of the unknown. Many people fear the unknown rather than embrace it because fearing the unknown provides them with a sense of control regardless of whether or not it is an illusion. This is shown in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, with Jack who uses the concept of the Beast to gain support from the littluns and eventually rises to power within the group of boys.
In Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel about a young group of boys who become stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Throughout this novel it grew many different themes, most related to evil that exist in all human beings and the dark side of human nature. In Lord of the Flies, Golding shows Jack’s gradual transformation from being civilized, well mannered to being a savage and a ruthless beast. From the time the boys land on the island, the first signs of Jacks aggressiveness and evil appears along with Piggy’s mockery, occurs. Jack becomes out of control while trying to be leader and killing the beast. He wanted to show his people he was a hero. Adolf Hitler knew his strengths and wanted to strive at them and be a leader, similar to what jack was trying to accomplish. Hitler wanted to have control and be most in charge.
The novel, The Lord of the Flies, by Golding illustrates that evil exists in human nature. Society’s rule is what prevents humans from acting on that evil. In the book, the boys and Jack’s behavior dramatically changes and evil comes out in them due to the absence of adults and punishments. Moreover, they continue to lose their civilized identity by acting cruel and ruthless towards weak individuals. The vision Simon experiences clearly demonstrates that the boys identity have become a beast.
The theme of tolerance can broaden our views and ideas by allowing us to personally relate to the key issues that surround it.
What would happen if a group of British school boys were dropped on a deserted island where they have to choose ultimately faced choosingbetween good and evil? In Lord of the Flies, which was written by William Golding, the that exact situation happened. However, the good and evil would be the choice of being civil or savage. All the boys had a sense of civility when they came from England, but with the help of the character Jack, their civilities get forgotten. In the Lord of the Flies, the thirst for power is shown through Jack who corrupts the boys to savagery. The result of the boys’ cruel actions lead to the deaths of Simon and Piggy and the destruction
“We all have a social mask, right? We put it on, we go out, put our best foot forward, our best image. But behind that social mask is a personal truth, what we really, really believe about who we are and what we 're capable of” (Phil McGraw) one once said. In Lord of the Flies the characters wear a social mask that opposes their true feelings. Written by William Golding, the story revolves around a group of boys who become stranded on an island and must depend on themselves to survive. They elect a chief, a boy named Ralph. However, as the story progresses, the group become influenced by Jack, an arrogant choir chapter boy. Intriguingly, although they desire to be with Jack and join his tribe, the boys remain with Ralph for most of the story. The rhetorical triangle, which analyzes a speaker or writer based on three ideas- ethos, pathos, and logos-, helps many to better understand the children’s actions and mentality; ethos focuses on the credibility and ethics of the speaker while pathos concerns how the speaker appeals to the emotions of the audience and logos is about the speaker’s use of evidence to appeal to the audience’s sense of reason. The boys stay with Ralph because of Ralph’s use of ethos but prefer to be with Jack because of Jack’s use of pathos and ethos which shows Golding’s message- humans were masks.