Brief Summary Of Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

A recurring theme among leaders in many societies today is that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” (John Acton, a 1700’s English Catholic historian, politician, and writer). In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, this idea of leadership, power, and corruption is put in the spotlight. Jack, one of the boys on the island, forces his way into the leadership position without actually earning it. It is clear that Jack has become corrupt as he turns into a person who is intimidating, egotistical, and selfish. Ralph, on the other hand, is a quality leader under most conditions as he appeals to the boys’ sophisticated side and has a

Similar to most literary classics, William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies contains allusions to the Christian Bible and character archetypes that convey universal ideas. Golding’s story focuses on a group of British schoolboys who are stranded on an island and ultimately succumb to their innate savage tendencies. Literary analysts often compare components of Lord of the Flies to various aspects in the Christian Bible. For instance, the setting in Lord of the Flies is often linked to the Garden of Eden, and some characters are thought to have religious-inspired names. Critics believe Simon’s name originates from Jesus Christ’s disciple, Peter, whose name was originally Simon. Biblical allusions exist throughout the novel associated with

Throughout the history of humanity, humans have different behaviors that change depending on what situations they are in. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo spent many years exploring human nature and has developed many theories about human behavior. One of Zimbardo’s ideas is about situational factors that states “one’s behavior is assumed to be dependent upon their current circumstances, situation or the environment that they are in.” He concluded the concept of situational factors after his Stanford Prison Experiment, in which he gave authority to regular people and observed any changes. The experiment proved that people’s behavior will change when they are in different situations. Zimbardo also believes that evilness is the exercise of power to harm people in anyway possible, so a five year old who teases others to Adolf Hitler would be classified as perpetrators of evil.

wrote this after publishing Lord of the Flies. It is our world, in the form of a story. The two leaders in the story are Ralph and Jack. Ralph starts off a comfortable leader of the boys, but by the end of the book, Ralph and his companion Piggy are alone facing Jack and the rest of the boys. As the novel progresses and the society on the island starts to change, so does Ralph. He begins thinking he has all the answers, but comes to realize that without Piggy he would have never gotten this far. By the end of the book, Ralph and Jack are complete opposites. Jack is about savagery and fun while Ralph is holding on to society, rules, and civilization. Appearing to be a weak leader due to defection of his followers, Ralph is actually dedicated and insightful, only loosing his followers because he could not compete with one category that attracts nearly everyone in the world: fun.

Many philosophers believe that a correct government can make a strong society. However, these philosophers do not agree on what form of government is the most “correct”. English philosopher John Locke believed that Man is inherently moral and that the purpose for government is to grant the fundamental rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to its people. Another philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, however, held the belief that mankind is naturally evil and that society needs an absolute central authority to contain this evilness and grant its people with the common protection. Hobbes believes that in a state of nature, when there are no rules and everyone is granted equal power, the inherent evil impulses of Man are exposed. One

English novelist and politician Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton, once said, “The pen is mightier than the sword.”. We,as humans, have always had the feeling of fear. No matter how many people say they don’t have that feeling, they have it somewhere within them. This fear has always thrived us to think in a radical way and has pushed us to make some good and bad choices in life. Because of this fear human beings have felt the need to protect themselves as much as possible and they believe that by having the most sizable, vigorous, and lavish weapons, they will be safe and protected from all harm and will keep order within society stable. But what Lytton wants us to realize in his quote is that you really don’t

The story took place during a nuclear war and that the boys’ plane was attacked while they were being evacuated and they crash into an island. It was later found out that there were no adults present in the island but only boys ages six to twelve; this was informed by a boy named Piggy. Ralph, the protagonist, was voted to be chief of the group despite Jack’s, the antagonist, request to be chief himself. To make a compromise, Jack was chosen to be leader of the hunters. As the boys travel around the island to get a better idea of their surroundings, it was decided that they should make a signal fire in case a ship comes by to ensure their rescue. When Ralph, Jack, and another boy named Simon comes back from their journey, a boy mentions a beast being on the loose in the island and this brought fear into the boys. The conflict between Ralph and Jack for leadership starts from both of their priorities being that they build a signal fire to be rescued or that they should hunt for food to survive, respectfully. This was proven when there was a ship passing by and that the signal was burned out because of the neglect to keep the fire going. This was due to Jack and his hunters focusing more on hunter for food, which they are successful, instead of ensuring their chances of being rescued. Their conflict intensifies due to the fear of the beast. This was later proven when the boys mistaken a deceased man on a parachute to be the beast and they all were on a hunt for it. Simon was the only one who found out that there was no actual beast but the beast was in the boys themselves. He tried to tell the rest of the boys but he was killed by them in the process. Tensions are still high between Ralph and Jack to the point that they separate themselves from each other and majority of the boys join Jack’s tribe. Ralph, Piggy,

So far in the story the boys’ lives has developed a rhythm. The boy’s understand they need rules, but they fail to follow them causing fights and misunderstandings. On the beach, Ralph and Piggy see a ship on the horizon, but realize that the signal fire had gone out. Jack was so obsessed with the idea of killing a pig that the group of hunters fail to keep the signal fire going. Ralph and Piggy hurry to the top of the hill but they were unable to rekindle the fire, and the ship does not realize they are on the island.

One night, a battle occurs over the island, and a dead pilot parachutes onto the island. The boys interpret this as a sighting of the beast, and Ralph, Jack, and Roger, Jack’s closest follower, go on an expedition to Castle Rock, a mountain on the island where Jack claims the Beast resides. The three flee back to their camp after seeing the pilot, and, shortly after, Jack leaves the group, determined to form his own group. More and more of the boys sneak off to join Jack’s group, and they soon become savage, offering sacrifices to the Beast, and painting their faces.

Just as a ship is sailing within viewing range of the island, the signal fire goes out and the boys are left stranded, as Ralph goes to investigate the fire. As this was happening Jack had taken the boys off of the fire to go on a hunt, where, the hunt for the pig is described more like a rape scene then anything else. The description of the killing of the pig is intentionally described as that of a rape scene, this serves to show just how savage the boys are already becoming, and as Jack feels accomplished for his kill (he was actually able to kill a living being, signifying his ever-growing savagery) return to the extinguished fire, where they find a furious Ralph. Jack attempts to downplay the whole situation, by stating with great pride that he had gotten meat for everyone, but Ralph was having none of it, bursting out against Jack in rage about the signal fire, and it is revealed even here, that Ralph, who is shown as a good guy, and democratic leader, has a darker side to him. “The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away.”

They return to the group and tell them the news. The group decides that if they want to be rescued they'll have to make a fire on the top of the mountain. Jack suddenly leads the boys to the mountain where they build a ginormous pile of branches and sticks. They use Piggy's glasses to light the fire before they can think things through. The fire quickly spreads, burns, and dies out, leaving a major part of the forest charred. Piggy tries to talk some sense into the group but is shunned and laughed at, making him feel even more disconnected from the group. Jack tries to hunt pigs but is too scared, so he returns to the beach where only Ralph and Simon are unsuccessfully trying to build a shelter. Ralph and Simon have a small squabble about their priorities. The group becomes accustomed to the island and are beginning to understand how to cope with their new lives. Jack is becoming more crazed and is going to further measures to try to capture a pig for meat. He paints his face and makes a spear as well as recruiting other boys to help him. While swimming in the lagoon, Ralph spots a ship on the horizon and looks up at the mountain. The fire is out. Ralph sprints up the mountain to try to signal the ship but to no

“Which is better--to have laws and agree, or to hunt and kill?” (Golding 180). This quote, uttered by Piggy during a last ditch effort to heal severed ties among the boys of the island, is the epitome of the struggle that humans have had to face for perpetuity while attempting to find the ideal system in which to regulate a body of people. British novelist William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, beautifully chronicles the differing governing structures of both democracy and anarchy. Throughout the duration of the story, the beneficial sides, as well as the pitfalls of each authoritative method, are revealed through the various consequences that result from the decisions made. While both the democratic and anarchic governing styles were employed by the misplaced island refugees, the democracy style of management was built around the basis of structure and order while the anarchy approach to regulation lacked any form of organization or discipline. As both forms of government were showcased amid the same congregation of boys, many contrasting ideas and beliefs between the two became immensely distinguishable. Some of the disparities of the systems that are exhibited through the course of the book include varying rationale used in decision making, the contrasting character the leaders of each movement possessed, as well as divergent symbols that represent each methodology.

Lord of the Flies begins with a young boy about twelve, in the middle of a dense jungle, regaining consciousness after a plane crash. The boy wanders around smoking mechanical parts and large twisted pieces of metal. It seems as though he is either the only person there or the only one to survive. As he walks along he comes across another boy, who happens to be quite over weight. He asks our main character and we are first introduced to Ralph. When Ralph returns the question the larger boy says he doesn't care what he calls him as long as it's not the name kids called him at school. When Ralph first asks what the name was the boy refuses. However, with persistence the boy gives in and tells him. The nickname the boy hates so much is, fittingly, “Piggy”. The boys continue searching for others with no luck. The boy, hearing waves begin to walk towards the beach.

I told the boys there are no adults on this island and we have to take care of ourselves. I agreed with Jack that we need hunters to bring us meat, and also new rules have been made. No one can speak without the conch during the meeting. I didn’t like Jack because he came up with the idea of whoever breaks the rules gets punished, there is priorities that need to be cared of and we’re just boys in an island and some of us still kids, evil Jack! Piggy is worried that we’d be stuck here on this island for a long time. One of the younger children spoke up and he claimed that he saw a bestie, I don’t believe on this idea that there is a beast on this island. Now I’m worried about the little kids are scared of the beastie. Finally, we decided a fire should be made on top of the mountain, we gathered wood and stack them on top of each other to make a good fire signal and hope someone would see the smoke. I was really mad because the boys let the fire out of control and burned what surrounded it including a tree. It almost burned the whole island! Thanks to Jack and his choir. No one knew where did the boy who said there is a beastie on this island went because he disappeared after the fire! Maybe he died during the fire? Or the beastie decided to be his

There are many different kinds of people in the world. Some people are better at hiding their true colors than others. Lord of the FLies by William Golding is a story that shows how people can go from being civilized to turing savage. During the story there are many examples of how the boys went from being civilized to savage. Golding uses rocks for symbolism in the progression of the book. How they went from something fun to something that causes harm.