Democracy In Lord Of The Flies Analysis

Dictatorship, is it truly evil or can it be more than that? North Korea has been under a strict rule for many years by over three generations of of leaders. Because of the tight rule citizen have been scared to speak in public and are still scared to this day. Stronger, more powerful humans prey on and dehumanize the weak in order to maintain a higher status. Jack did just this when he came into power on the island. North Korea’s government and Jacks rule from the novel, Lord of the Flies, are very similar in the way that they both are dictatorships, and they control their citizens with fear.

Ralph is a character whose actions make him represent democracy. In chapter 2, Ralph establishes a rule that whoever holds the conch may speak at the assembly. “That’s what this shell's called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking”(31). By establishing this rule, Ralph planted the foundation of democracy for the boys. Later in the story, even though Jack draws most of the boys into savagery, Ralph still held onto the belief

"'Which is better - to have laws and agree, or to hunt and kill?'". That is a very good question, one that presents itself in the beginning of this book. A plane crashes on a deserted island, a plane full of schoolboys from Britain. One of them, Ralph, is chosen as the leader later on in the book because he is fair, good looking, and older than most of the boys. These traits are his main qualifications, whether they are those of a good leader or not, we shall discuss his incumbency in this essay.

At the time, Ralph heavily influences the boys and their actions for he resembles “the men with the megaphones” (18). He attempts to create order among the boys with rules, but most of the boys would rather play than follow the rules—for there are no adults to enforce them. With the role of leadership thrust upon him, Ralph has no choice but to stop playing games. His goals are to protect the boys and increase their chances of being rescued; however, the responsibility on Ralph’s shoulders soon begins to weigh him down. As “Ralph [watches the boys], envious and resentful” (75), the obligation to care for everyone on the island is a heavy burden to bear. His role as leader has forced Ralph to forget the joys of being an innocent kid and given him the encumbrance of responsibility, which causes the start of his maturation.

Without government, society degenerates and people lose their capacity for moral behaviour. Survivors in Haiti say that if other countries had not provided aid and restored order, there would be much more violence and everyone would only serve themselves. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the author uses the events on the island to demonstrate that people require government to restrain their impulses. The creation of a democratic government with Ralph as chief allows the inhabitants of the island to make decisions together and take everyone’s viewpoint into consideration. Soon, however, the democracy begins to be disregarded. When Jack creates a dictatorship, he fails to restrain the impulsive behaviour of the boys, which

Ralph is the main protagonist in the story and he is the leader of the children on the island. Since Ralph was voted leader, he has the characteristics of leadership and he brings civilization and order to the story. Unlike the other boys, Jack and Simon, Ralph’s main focus is to get off the island instead of having fun. For example, Ralph tried constructing huts with Simon; meanwhile, the boys are playing and running off having fun. In the beginning of the story, Ralph’s power with the children was secure; however, towards the end, that power is being transferred to Jack. Ralph represents the

For example, following Ralph’s election as chief, he sought to distribute power, “Ralph looked at him [Jack], eager to offer something… ‘Jack’s in charge of the choir. They can be一 what do you want them to be?’” (Golding 23). As Ralph comes to power, he immediately delegates some of the power to his opposing candidate to create a literal democratic structured government on the island. This decision shows that a democratic government in the real world, contains structure and a distribution of power to seek the will of the majority. In addition, Samuel Hynes, in his Several Interpretations of “Lord of the Flies”, comments that, “He tries to establish and preserve an orderly, rational society; he takes as his totem the conch, making it the symbol of rational, orderly discussion,” (Hynes 59). Possessing an “orderly, rational society”, remains one of the key elements in any democratic governing body in the real world. The rational and orderliness allows for equality among voices and presents everyone the opportunity to speak, one of the fundamental qualities of democracy, as seen with the conch. In a like manner, Ralph establishes the freedom of speech in assembly on the island early in his, “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking,” (Golding 53). Wisely, Ralph establishes a system that allows anyone to speak their mind, they only need the conch and everybody else must listen. Although different from a conventional free speech policy, Ralph’s method still works, giving everybody the chance to voice themselves, regardless of whether Ralph or anyone else agrees or disagrees with them. Much like a real democracy, any can voice their opinion, indirectly with large populations, creating the defining principle of successful

The island in William Golding’s novel, Lord Of The Flies, is one of wonder and a great deal of natural resources. However what develops on this oasis is war, bloodshed and cruelty. This could also be said for Earth, as the same traits occur in the global society as well. Therefor, the island symbolises the entire outside world in three key ways, social relationships, war, and politics.

Golding depicts Ralph’s choice of political allegory as a democracy because, he’s responsible, fair, puts priorities first and allows everyone to have a say. Ralph says “ no fire no smoke no rescue” (184) This shows that Ralph logical by letting everyone know the purpose of the fire’s smoke and what will happen if there's no smoke. This shows that Ralph communicates to the other boys as if they're equals. Just like a democracy where the government explains how laws and bills will help and affect the public. When the officer asked ‘“Who’s the boss here?” “I am” said Ralph loudly”’ This example shows that Ralph has taken full responsibility for the group as he’s the only one brave enough to say a word to the officer. This also shows character because the savages were closing down on Ralph. "All this I meant to say. Now I've said it. You voted me for chief. Now you do what I say." (59) This is an example of how Ralph tries to keep peace in the group by softly reminding everyone that he was rightfully voted in as chief and should be respected. In the book, Golding portrays Ralph's Leadership traits, responsibility and fairness as the best type of government even though everyone ended up leaving him and he was alone.

One of the strongest forms of adversity came in the form of a strong and outspoken boy Jack; Jack often overwhelms and disregards things that Ralph, the chief of the boys on the island, has said to be done. Ralph, we can see, struggles to hold his control over the group of boys when Jack refuses to believe the importance of these jobs. Ralph’s biggest struggle against adversity against Jack happens during a time of

People interact together to create a society. And within that society, a political system is formed to regulate and govern. However, when that society corrupts, who is to blame? The leader? Political system? Or the people? William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies believes that the defects of society are caused by the defects of human nature, and the society must depend on ethical maturity of individuals. The novel demonstrates the defects of an individuals’ human nature corrupting society through Ralph’s failed civilization, Samneric’s fear, and Roger’s natural evil.

     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.

The Lord of the Flies tells the story of a group of English schoolboys marooned on a tropical island after their plane is shot down during a war. Though the novel is fictional, its exploration of the idea of human evil is at least partly based on Golding’s experience with the real-life violence and brutality of World War II. Free from the rules and structures of civilization and society, the boys on the island in Lord of the Flies descend into savagery. Golding’s experience in World War II had a profound effect on his view of humanity and the evils of which it was capable. Although Golding’s story is confined to the microcosm of a group of boys, it resounds with implications far beyond the bounds of the small island and explores problems

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

This is where both Ralph and society’s perception of personal responsibility skews wrong. Golding explores broadly the inherent savagery prescient in all of the boys, even Ralph, and yet also assumes the former’s idea of society is the only morally good way to go about human civilization. However, concerning our world at large, morals need to take a backseat to practicality. Clearly, Ralph’s governance wasn’t very good, since it burned out just like his signal fire. He failed