Lord Of The Flies Argumentative Essay

Fear and intimidation play a significant role in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, just as a coercion and fear played a large role in the lives of the people ruled by the Axis powers in WWII.

The Lord of the Flies is a book about a group of boys that crash onto an island from what appears to be the gunning down of their plane. Taking place in the time of World War Two, it is very likely the plane was gunned down, and these boys on the island are alone with each other, drowning in their own twisted freedom. The main characters of this story are Ralph, a well-fit boy who is the oldest of the bunch, and Piggy, an overweight boy who seems to be the most intelligent of the group. Later we are revealed to Jack, who is leading a choir of boys, and he looks to be an okay person until he has disagreements with Ralph. For the youngest of the children, Ralph wants protection and shelters for them, as well as a fire for smoke to alert nearby passing ships, while Jack wants to hunt for food, which is a needed necessity, it goes against

Let’s be honest; being stranded on an island is a real nightmare. Now, imagine being stranded on an island with a bunch of kids! Though a group of kids may not sound too intimidating, when released from society's constraints and adult supervision, the saying “all’s well that ends well” certainly doesn't apply here. In the heavily famed novel Lord of the Flies written by Nobel Prize of Literature winner William Golding, a group of schoolboys from the age of six to twelve are caught in the midst of the next world war. As they are flying on a plane to escape the dangers on their hometown, they are shot down and crash-land on an island whose population of humans is zero. Once everything gets set in order, the boys begin creating their own society. They even elect a chief and make rules that everyone must follow. Unfortunately, not everything goes as planned, and with hostility rising between the characters as the book progresses, the fragility of human civilization is heavily explored upon in this exhilarating novel.

Over time, many have realized that people have the power to change others, however some believe that people cannot and will not change. One side of this argument is that though people will be the same their whole life, and never change. On the contrary, people have been changed by others over time and throughout history. It is a fact of life that people have the power to change others through their actions, perspectives, and ability to persuade their point of view.

In the story “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, he shows how the boys lost all innocence and civilization. The boys went from having innocent child minds to taking lives of other people, acting savage, and losing all civilization due to problems on the island. The boys had forgotten where they came from and became savage in order to survive; it was the need of survival that caused the loss of innocence among the boys.

The boys don’t put into practice their teachings from church/school on the island, but become savage beasts. This shows us that man is civilized in our society, only because of the fear for higher authority, not because that’s their nature.

There is many examples of differences and similarities of good vs. evil between these boys. At the end of the day these were very young boys put into a horrendous situation that most adults couldn't even handle. Human nature came out in these boys and they just handled it in many different ways but also in many similar ways. I believe their behavior on the island really stemmed from their lives away from the island and their maturity levels for sure. Maybe think about what would be dangerous for you on an island now and if you would succumb to

The conflict between Ralph and Jack shows how lack of civilization can result to savagery. Ralph states, “We need shelters” contrasting to Jack who says, “We need meat” (Golding, p.42). The lack of civilization in Jack shows because he thinks hunting is more important than shelters although he has yet to catch a pig, while on the other hand Ralph thinks it’s more important to build shelter for a sense of home and protection from the rain and the beastie that all the littluns are afraid of. “Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing”(Golding, p. 15). This quote states that Ralph should be in charge because he has the conch, and Jack gets upset since he is not voted chief but then Ralph puts him charge of the choir boys who later on become the hunters. Ralph creates civilization when he is given power to become the chief on the island, and he has the power with or without the conch. Later in the novel when Ralph realizes he doesn’t like being dirty and “disliked perpetually flicking the tangled hair put of his eyes,” it shows that Ralph is used the civilization he had before and wants to return to that civilization (Golding, p.66). Then Jack becomes an example of savagery when he shows up to the fire in chapter 8, “stark naked save for the paint and a belt” (Golding, p.125). Ralph and his followers show the civilized and orderly side of the island, but on the contrary, Jack and his tribe show the savagery of man and barbaric side of the island.

Secondly, the girls on the island would act the same as the boys in the sense of choosing a leader and creating rules. With the boys, there is always a power struggle between Jack and Ralph from the first time they meet. When the time arrives to choose a leader, Jack blurts, "I ought to be chief because, I'm chapter chorister and head boy," (pg.14). This shows that he wants to be a leader no matter what the majority of the boys think, showing him as a dictator. On the contrary, Ralph is voted for by the boys, showing him to lead a democratic way. When Democracy and Dictatorship clash, there becomes a power struggle. This power struggle causes them to do horrible things to each other. For example, when Sam and Eric warn Ralph, "You got to go now, Ralph, for your own good," (pg.189) when they alert him of Jack's intentions to set the forest on fire. This shows that no matter what, whether male or female, with human nature, there will always be a power struggle. In addition, this is also proven by the statement "All power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely," meaning that if Jack was a dictator he would misuse his power

First, the actions of the characters lead to murders by picking leaders. Once the boys were stranded on the island, they decide to pick their chief which leads to jealousy, revenge and murder. This happens because Jack gets jealous of Ralph, who is the chief of the boys. Even when Jack wanted to vote Ralph out of power, later in the novel, no one votes for Jack, “Hands up, whoever wants Ralph not to be chief?”(127). In this quote, Jack asks the boys about voting Ralph out but, no one raises their hands. He becomes jealous, and makes a new tribe of hunters. Secondly, they get carried away with their roles. Jack gets carried away with being lead hunter to the point where he kills a sow with his bare hands. Also when they come to cook the pig, they play a horrible game by pretending like one of the boys is a pig, which proves that Jack gets carried away by treating a human like an animal. This is also very ironic because in the beginning of the novel, Jack says, “After all, we’re not savages” (42) but what he did is a savage thing. This is why

More and more human are murdered everyday for no reason at all. People will often start off good and then will later turn bad because of power or an audience watching. I believe that humans are bad because they are violent and are selfish. William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies shows that humans are bad through being violent. Simon got killed because Jack made everyone else fear the beast that was never there.

There is no one who knows what to do and how to keep order. Without a mentor for them to obey, they must Come of Age alone. Similarly, the boys are desperate for an adult to look up to. They are afraid and need someone to protect them from their fears and to reassure them. Their fear creates more stress on the island.

If there are no orders and rules, how could they survive? Secondly, the boys on the island are acting completely uncivilized. Jack is running wild with his hunting obsession, and is dragging the other boys down with him. They almost harmed Robert while reenacting the killing of the pig! “‘Kill him!

In the article “When Boys Become Vicious” by William Golding he writes,” When people are afraid they discover the violence within them and when they are afraid together they discover that the violence within them can be bottomless.” This phrase means that when we are afraid it brings out the beast in us. So, when the boys were afraid on the island, the beast came out in them all. This part of savagery comes from the fact that they were just a bunch of scared boys deserted on an island with no supervision whatsoever. In the book and movie, the boys didn’t have adult supervision to guide them so how are they supposed to cope on an island and think like adults if they aren’t.

wanted to be leader and thought he was the best for the job. Already he had