Desire For Power In Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

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

As a base of human desire and need, power has always been one of the number one desire of mankind since the dawn of time. To place yourself above others, or gain control over your followers or a situation brings safety and comfort to a leader. A well written example of this concept lies within the twisted world created by William Golding in his, “Lord of the Flies”. Throughout the story, Jack seeks power above all else, and stops for nothing in this lustful quest of dominance. We can get a glimpse of Jack’s desires through his iron grip within his choirboys, how he clashes with Ralph, and how Jack’s actions bring about a deeper symbolism underlying within the story.

The word ―power is often used to show dominance over others or display leadership over a group. Does power change people’s actions? To answer this question, a large majority of Lord of the Flies revolves around power and how certain characters rise and fall due to its influence. Throughout the story, William Golding, demonstrates that when an person has power their actions change.

Throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding shows his views of the inherent evil of humans. He shows how humans can be in such a savage state, practically mimicking the way of life of their prehistoric ancestors. He exemplifies this with acts of carnage carried on by the young stranded children. It all started with a slight urge to hunt down a pig and then continued on to murdering another human being. Golding shows his views best at the end of the book with the boys being rescued by a Navy crew, which would go on to war it self.

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.

In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, power is a notable theme that can be found very frequently throughout the novel. In the book, the theme of power is found in the form of items that revolve around the protagonist of the story, Ralph, and the antagonist, Jack (Burns 1). Ralph and Jack use these items in order to establish power in the group of boys for their own reasons (Burns 2). With Ralph, he uses items, which represent order in the story, to establish a democracy on the island, while Jack uses specific items that represent evil to create a monarchy out of Ralph’s democracy (Burns 1). The items used by Ralph and Jack in Golding’s novel will be later explained in the essay on how they represent power, what their meaning is, and their purpose in the story.

Throughout history, humans have relentlessly fought for control over others. This desire for power is well depicted in a novel by William Golding, Lord of the Flies. The story revolves around a group of boys stranded on an island. Two of the main characters, Ralph and Jack, both want to be the leader of the boys, and their struggle for power clearly demonstrates the human desire for control.

Through symbolism, religious allusion, and imagery, William Golding in Lord of the Flies connects striving for power and evil to show that all men have the temptation of wanting to lead of follow power, no matter how evil or what the cost.

In everyday society, leadership is achieved in many ways; through power and dictatorship, and love and compassion. Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding constantly reiterates the differences in leadership that is presented throughout the book. Having two contrasting sides among the boys lead to many arguments that resulted negatively. Through the conch, Golding demonstrates that power and influence can be achieved in different ways.

In general, power contains a broad spectrum of possible outcomes depending on its presence and how the dominance is enforced. Numerous pieces of writing focus on the different concepts of power due to its everlasting significance and multiple possibilities. One of those pieces of writing is Lord of the Flies, a realistic fiction novel written by William Golding. In Golding’s novel, power played a very important role which helped the stranded boys survive and attempt to maintain civilization within the island. A poem entitled, “To A Mouse” composed by Robert Burns also expressed the absence of power through an impotent mouse whose home was accidentally razed by a farmer.

A power struggle is defined as people, in a relationship, fighting about who is in control with both trying to dominate the relationship in one way or another. In the wake of World War I, two leaders rose to power, Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. These two adversaries battled for control over the entire nation of Russia. The influences and characteristics of these two leaders embody that of a need for power and control. This power struggle begins in 1924, after the death of Lenin. The Bolsheviks were in need of someone to fill the role of a leader. Trotsky was seen as the best choice because of his ability to reason and make well informed decisions.

When you were younger, we played a classic game called follow the leader. You always wanted to be the leader because you wanted the power of being the leader. But society has taught us that you have to take turns being the leader, and that not everybody can be the leader. Having power as being the leader can make society go bad.

Power and conflict go hand in hand. These two themes interact with each other, so much so that it is extremely rare to have one without the other. Power is the ability or capacity to act in a particular way or have others do what you would have them do, whereas conflict is the disagreement of two (or more) parties that stand to hold their ground. Power and conflict are easily distinguishable by definition, yet people often confuse one with the other. The easily recognisable relationship between power and conflict is evident in the novels, “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, the song, “Slaughter of Innocence” by Conflict and the book, “Nineteen Eighty-Four” by George Orwell.

Literature doesn’t necessarily have to fit it into the reader’s life, novels like Fahrenheit 451 or 1984 lack major connections to teenage life, but are still taught in school, a book should teach a lesson or give food for thought, this book does. The Lord of the Flies is a novel that has become a mainstay in high school literature for decades, some detractors of this book believe that, since it has nothing to do with high school teens, its main audience, it should be removed from public schools. However, the Lord of the Flies acts as a social experiment, allowing for discussion of the way rules control our interactions in society. In addition to this, the book shouldn’t be removed from school since it also teaches how young people are

Power and Authority shows, how those in charge act when having access to power. Golding's book Lord of The Flies provides and analyzes. A well-off theory of power and authority, in situations of abuse of power; and how it influences one's moral actions.