Summary : ' Leviathan '

Meanwhile, Ralph values the group over himself, and wants everyone to have a say in any decisions made. Jack gets fed up with his lack of power, so he decides to try to become the leader. He asks if anyone wants to come with him, and says, “Hands up?’ said Jack strongly..... ‘How many think –’ His voice trailed off. The hands that held the conch shook. He cleared his throat, and spoke loudly. ‘All right then.’ …. The humiliating tears were running from the corner of each eye. ‘I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you’”(127). Jack acts like a little kid in this scene. This hunger for power demonstrated by Jack has made him corrupt, so much that he will not tolerate being with the others if he can’t be the leader. Jack tries to portray an image of manliness, but it is evident that it is not true when he starts crying. Qualities like this are why Jack is incapable of being the leader. Overall, Ralph is able to handle the power that he is given in a more mature way than Jack.

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

“ ‘And another thing. We can't have everybody talking at once. We'll have to have 'hands up' like at school’ ”(33). Ralph tried to stay civilized like they did outside of the islands, so he made a rule that everyone can speak for themselves and they could discuss about their ideas, but as the time went, Jack started to break the rules what Ralph made. If they didn’t broke the rules, there wouldn’t be fights against each other and everything would have gone alright. At the first few chapters of the book, Ralph tries to hear every one's voice and thoughts like civilized people, and not doing dictatorship. “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking”(33). This quote proves that Ralph really tried to stay the same like before, and for few chapters, he was able to keep peace. Ralph unlike Jack, was a democratic leader who tried to rule fairly by using Conch, which was used communicating with others and anybody could speak if they want to and other boys had to listen to him and don’t interrupt him.

This is shown when the children were voting for chief and Ralph was voted for chief instead of him. “Even the choir applauded, and the freckles on jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification.”(Golding 23). After this occurred, the Jack and Ralph always have tension between them. Because Jack is the opposite of Ralph, they always get into constant arguments about how to lead. When Jack started to gain power, the children's savagery starts to lose control and get out of hand. Afterward, the children started to follow Jack and not follow Ralph’s philosophy instead they followed Jack’s. Jack’s philosophy is, manipulate, control, to achieve your goals. Jack uses this philosophy to trick the children to gain control and

Richard Bensel’s Yankee Leviathan: The Origins of Central State Authority in America, 1857-1877, is a book on the formation of the United States Federal government during the Civil War and the Reconstruction eras. The book deals with the association of the Northern class and the Federal government. It provides a history of the economy during the Civil War and help to reveal why a socialist economy would not further the American economy. Bensel is of the belief that an independent state authority would be a better form of government. He contended the United States Federal government’s growth was as a result of the Civil War during the Reconstruction era. In addition, Bensel believed the Civil War attributed to the Northern Financial class, which ensued from association with bankers in the North. He saw political

Scott Westerfeld wrote Leviathan because of a deep interest in history and science. A previous author of sci-fi novels, he was interested in how incorporating science and technology would affect a historical event such as World War I. The novel takes place during World War I, and focuses on the events occurring throughout Europe at that time. The main theme of Leviathan is how destructive war is. The character sin the book experience loss of friends, family, and loved ones, and have their whole lives changed because of war. Some of the characters are eager for war, or interested in it, while others despise it, and are saddened by the destruction it causes. “Maybe this was how you stayed sane in wartime: a handful of noble deeds amid the chaos.”

Ralph first gains his power by simply holding the shell and calling the other boys to gather. As he holds an assembly of sorts, Jack tries to assert his power, stating that “‘I ought to be chief…because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.’” (Golding 28). Jack, however, fails when someone calls out that they

Constantly, there are people who are in positions of power that society elects, even if some do not agree with the decision, such as Ralph for chief. When on the island, Ralph blows a conch to see who or what is around the area, drawing in the other boys, including Jack. The boys agreed that they needed a chief. “Seems we ought to have a chief to decide things” (Golding 22). The islanders choose Ralph as their leader, infuriating Jack. “Who wants me? Every hand outside the choir except Piggy's hand was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air. Ralph counted. Im chief then.” (Golding 23) This was the moment Ralph was elected, and Jack's pride deteriorated. He felt that he should have been chief instead of Ralph. Jack is accustomed to being obeyed and followed by his choir. He has

Ralph in one of the very first characters we meet in the book. When we meet him he seems like any 12-year old boy would be/act. Ralph is also a kid who is very mature for his age and smart. In this story the narrator shows he is a very mature kid in the beginning of the book by saying "‘Shut up,’" said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch. "‘Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things’” (William 22). Having the author have Ralph say this shows us readers that Ralph is giving the suggestion to the boys that they

In Chapter One, Golding refers to the “toy of voting” during the boys’ election and this means that they’re not taking the election seriously (Golding 22). It’s important to realize that Ralph was elected as chief due to “his size, and

Ralph blew the conch and brought all the boys together and they decided they were going to need a chief, Jack was convinced it should be him, in the novel he states “I ought to be chief, because I’m chapter chorister and head boy I can sing C sharp.” Ralph had no qualities of being chief beside that he blew the conch

     When everyone is more settled down, Ralph suggests that they elect a leader and chief. All the kids elect Ralph as the leader, mainly because he is the one who found the conch and the one who is holding it. We at once see how Jack greatly disapproves of the decision taken by the kids. He

As the book goes on, Ralph takes being chief more and more seriously. In this quote we see how he has become accustomed to using his authority over the other boys to make them listen.. Ralph’s power is entirely based in his role of leadership, and that is illustrated in this quote by how he has to restate that he is chief as a reason for them to obey. However, his confidence is what makes the boys actually listen to his command. This is because of the way the command is written. It’s clear, short, and the way punctuation is used causes the reader to imagine it being said in a confident voice, rather than a nervous or frail one. The quote truly demonstrates how deeply his own authority has become engraved in himself, as it is said that he feels “something deep” within him did the talking for him. This ‘something’ is Ralph’s natural power and authority taking

One of the first political theorists, Aristotle once wrote in his novel Politics, “Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god. ” (Aristotle 4) Dating back to Ancient Greece, the state of nature has been observed and disputed for centuries. It wasn’t until the 1600s, was Aristotle’s theory ever seriously debated. Thomas Hobbes developed his own theory on what is the state of nature in his novel The Leviathan. This writing sparked interest in philosophers as to what human nature truly is, not just what Aristotle had suggested. Just thirty-eight years later, John Locke anonymously published his writings Two Treatises of Government, suggesting a differing outlook on the state of nature to Hobbes. Through a summarization of each philosopher’s depiction of the state of nature and explanations of the strengths and weaknesses of each theory, one will be able to find which argument is the most compelling.

Ralph's "stillness", the stance of a calculative person thinking about following actions, accredited him to have the traits of a leader. In order to become the symbol of democracy, Ralph needed the conch. The conch is quoted as being solely "the most powerful" object as it signified order and equality, giving everyone an equal voice including responsibility in society. Democracy is defined as a society where the people rule. Democracy is prevalent here as the people are given access to create change and are given voice using the conch. Ralph, as the chief and the conch, symbolize the ideals of democracy. During Jack and his choir boys' encounter with Ralph and Piggy, Jack controlled the choir boys with a iron hand; Piggy related his observations: "He [Piggy] was intimidated by this uniform superiority and the offhand authority in Merridew's [Jack's] voice" (21). Piggy was able to illustrate Jack's ability to command the choir boys. Jack's "offhand authority " over the choir boys, who later became the hunters later in the tribe, is a trait of