Democracy And Totalitarian Government In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

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

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.

Francis B. Sayre once stated, “Unless man has the wit and the grit to build his civilization on something better than material power, it is surely idle to talk of plans for a stable peace.” People control society because people set the rules and inform others what is right and what is wrong in which the rest follow through their actions. On the other hand, one may believe society controls the people because they view society as the one who is in charge and supposes that society advises people what to do and how to do it. People assemble the choices of what is justifiable in society, therefore controlling how society is perceived., In Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, a society is controlled by a select few: allowing the boys to develop their own society through their rules and decisions, and entitling their society to transform into savagery

On the verge of revolution, main character, Piggy in William Goldberg’s Lord of the Flies states, “Maybe there is a beast… maybe it is us” (Lord of the Flies). In Lord of the Flies a dozen English school children crash onto an island in the pacific. Having plenty of food and wood for shelter, the children set up a system of government similar to a direct democracy (Nienstedt, Lecture). William Goldberg was familiar with the ideas of: Locke’s revolution, Rousseau’s equality, and Montesquieu’s separation of power.

and thought-provoking ideas to the readers, which allows them to reflect on the merit of their own society. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the collapse of society is due to many factors. Firstly, the lack of teamwork plays a significant factor that contributes to the failure of society on the island, as it leads to the loss of cooperation and participation. Next, the society on the island fails because of the lack of law and order, which causes the characters to lose their morality and sense of justice. Finally, the failure of society can largely be attributed to the ineffective action taken; the group makes rash decisions and plans

more of what is going on. He says, ‘If only they could get a message

“Democracy... while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide,” said John Adams, the first Vice President and second President of the United States of America, at the beginning of the modern world’s greatest democratic nation. According to Adams, democracy never possessed a long term future, and the boys on a tropical island in William Golding’s classic novel, Lord of the Flies, make a great example of a crumbling democracy. A democratic government works with the people to serve their best interests and requires participation from it members to function properly. Meanwhile, totalitarian

It may have taken millions of years for humans to evolve enough to create the sprawling civilizations known today, but it only takes a few months for a group of civil, educated boys to regress back into savagery. In his novel Lord of the Flies, author William Golding depicts a group of young British boys getting stranded on a deserted island sans adults. The boys must look out for themselves, forming a basic governing system and trying to survive. But the challenge soon proves too much to handle, and order deteriorates. William Golding conveys the universal theme of civilization vs. savagery in his novel Lord of the Flies using the literary elements of plot, setting, and characterization.

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” Abraham Lincoln. Once you give a man power, it all goes downhill from there. In The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there is one group of boys on an island. The boys elect one chief, Ralph, but another bigun thinks he’s a better chief. So the other boy, Jack, leaves and forms a new tribe with most of the boys. After a little bit of time, the groups begin to fight resulting in a couple of tragic deaths. Why would people follow a corrupt leader like Jack? They follow them because they feel like the new leader can help them better than the old one; they think that the leader or ruler can provide for them and it doesn’t matter who that leader is, they will follow them because there’s no one else to follow.

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” Abraham Lincoln. Once you give a man power, it all goes downhill from there. In The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there is one group of boys on an island. The boys elect one chief, Ralph, but another bigun thinks he’s a better chief. So the other boy, Jack, leaves and forms a new tribe with most of the boys. After a little bit of time, the groups start to fight resulting in a couple of deaths. Why would people follow a corrupt leader like Jack? They follow them because they feel like the new leader can help them better than the old one, they think that the leader can provide for them and it doesn’t matter who that leader is, they will follow them because there’s no one else to follow.

Over time there have been many leaders of countries, groups and societies that are believed to be the “best” or what someone could only dream of. However what if a perfect leader doesn’t exist? In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies Ralph’s sense of leadership declines throughout the novel. So what if he doesn’t actually possess the skills the boys had hoped he for.

     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.

What would the world look like if there was no laws? How would people change? How would the world change? In today’s society, laws are required to keep and maintain the order and functioning of people. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Golding creates a world without laws. Throughout the novel , Golding demonstrates that laws are necessary to keep humans from reverting to their primitive instincts. This is shown through the symbol of the conch, Ralph’s change after the conch is broken, and Jack refusing to accept the laws created by the group.

Humans kill, whether it be animals, insects or people. The justice system is used to try and fix what others have done and in this way they are punished. They are punished in a functioning society with rules and laws, but when all that is stripped away, we are left with mass destruction and humans that kill. The novel Lord of the Flies, published in 1954 and written by Nobel Prize winning author, William Golding, portrays the violence and eradication of a functioning society through young boys stranded on an island. Golding uses the symbol fire and forgetfulness of the need for it to develop the theme of the loss of society and creation of uncivilized destruction.

Civilization plays a major role in shaping lives. It controls an individual’s behavior, manners, and way of living. It plays an especially important role in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, which is about a group of British boys who are stranded on a deserted island without any adult supervision. Immediately after landing on the island, the boys develop basic rules to keep order and elect one amongst themselves, Ralph, as chief.. The boys are then faced with challenges, inciting a deep fear of a beast inhabiting the island. This contributes to the breakdown of their society. Slowly, the youths lose their roots of a civilized society and by the end of the novel, most of the boys do not recognize themselves. Throughout the story, many boys develop negative changes, demonstrating the profound effects a lack of society can have on a people.