What Is The Power In Lord Of The Flies

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.

Another idea that Golding introduces to the audience is that power corrupts all with the symbol of the conch. When the conch was first acquired, it the boys agreed that the leader would use it to call the boys to meetings. Eventually there is a power struggle between Ralph and Jack about the conch. This is the first example of the power starting to corrupt the boys. Eventually they become so corrupt by the conch and the idea of power that they split into two groups of boys and live and on two separate parts of the island. The power struggle is over but there is complete chaos after “the conch exploded into a thousand pieces and ceased to exist.” (Golding 181) They start trying to kill off the other groups so that their group could have complete

By the second half of the book, the laws and conformity that were already eroding away had been dealt a major blow with the beast being introduced again but in another form. Ralphs control had finally slipped from the group when the dead pilot had been mistaken for the beast. Laws and rules become more and more useless as fear takes control of the boys and they start siding with Jack, fear becomes what drives the boys instead of their own will to do other things they revert back to primal instincts to think that they need to survive. Piggy remarks at their meeting, “What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?” (Golding) Piggy tries to bring an understanding to the group but it utterly fails. The group is divided into two, the hunters and the people who still believe in civilization.

Power is shown throughout the world in many people. Power is the energy within a person that allows them to control, influence, and lead people or something. Power goes back a far in history. It ranges from monarch leaders to leaders of today.This is shown in the Lord Of The Flies throught it’s characters and their actions. The Lord of the Flies illustrates power mostly through Piggy, Jack, and Ralph. The Lord Of The Flies, also shows the rise and fall of power in these key character. The novel also shows teens that there is good and positive ways to gain power. There can also be the lesson that power can be easily taken away.The novel brings in both sides of the hard truth of power like how it can be bad if misused or good if used correctly for the right things. This can mainly be shown by Jack and Ralph.

After all, what influence does power have on people? It is clear that power varies by definition, but should it have any effect when experienced? Several researchers suggest that power is defined as a relevant approach to obtain some future apparent benefit. According to Polity, “In the state of nature as Hobbes describes it, where trust is nonexistent, one is forced to act as if one's gain were always another's loss” (Read, 1991). In other words, one’s gain must come at a different person’s expense. Following that, power is said to relate to conflict. In the book Lord of the Flies, William Golding illustrated how Jack’s gain of power came at Ralph’s expense. In the beginning, Ralphs was in charge of the group of the boys, but Jack eventually took over and lead to a great conflict between the two.

"People doesn't corrupt people, people corrupt power. (William Gaddis)" The novel, Lord in the Flies, by William Goldings, the poem, "To a Mouse", by Robert Burns and the social contracts theory of philosophers, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau have the theme of "power" in common. The power used in these writings is used both in righteous purpose and unrighteous purpose. However, Power should be used in optimum ways since the power in violence can cause human destruction.

When people are afraid they tend to turn to a higher, stronger, leader. William Golding wrote a novel called The Lord of the Flies. In the middle of a war, a group of schoolboys crash land on an island, there are two leaders. One leader wants more power than the other, which he eventually gets using, fear, manipulation,deception, and violence.

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a classical work of art. Golding shows the true struggle between society and human nature. However, one of the most important themes in this text is the struggle for power. It is in human nature that every human longs for power. Jack Merridew, a small choir boy, longed for power throughout the entire novel. Jack always wanted to be all-powerful. The reader can see that Jack lusts for power because Jack has his own “tribe,” whines when he does not become leader, and splits off from the group to become a leader.

Power can have a strong impact on the ego, and with it an entire personality can change for the worse. William Golding’s dystopian story, Lord of the Flies, describes the life changing journey of the young boys evacuated from an atomic world war. After being stranded on a utopian island in the middle of the Pacific, the plane full of boys must determine how to survive while keeping order. Without their more experienced parents leadership, they must understand power. Jack has been impacted by power as a result of the island situation.

Abandoning the power is totally because of civilization. As we get to the end of the novel, humanity are losing among it people on the Island, “Samneric were savages like the rest; Piggy was dead, and the conch smashed to powder” (186). Jack overthrew everyone because of his power, they all became savage, their humanity left them, they now have the urge to kill, and they do not care if people die. As Piggy died, the power of the conch also goes with him. His death doesn’t affect them. They just care whom to kill. They now follow the order of their leader, thinking the conch as the past memory that helps them to create their personality. As the conch dies power, the replacement corrupted the power. Jack’s creates his own rules and regulations.

Certain people act differently when they have so much power because they never know what to do with it. In Lord Of The Flies by William Golding there is many ways of showing that people abuse power. In the novel Ralph is the leader and he was picked by all the boys that are in the island with him. Jack was one of the boys who turned wild and wasn’t fair with any of the boys and he wanted to become leader and take over and turned all the boys to kill. People shouldn’t have so much power or citizens shouldn’t feel afraid of those who have that type of power. People abuse power because it makes them think they can do so many things if they take over and win all that power. When someone has all that power they abuse it by being in control and just being a leader and they would want more and more power.

The definition the quality of being fierce or cruel: or (chiefly in historical or literary contexts) the condition of being primitive or uncivilized. In the book the boys represent both definitions.  “Ralph wept for the end of innocence,the darkness of man’s heart,and the fall through the air of the true,wise friend called Piggy…” Ralph finally recognizes the evil that men do . He now understands why simon was lost for words at the assembly in Chapter Five. Rodger is evil he made a mistake that Ralph is now thinking about. Simon, was excited to tell others of the discovery, he finds Jack's tribe in the island's interior during a ritual dance and, mistaken for the beast, is killed by ….. Read the book and you will find out. “Which is better--

While choosing what I thought was the most significant line I had trouble picking between a couple of sentences, but this one I thought was the most significant. This line has a theme of power that has been ongoing in the book. I see the naval officer representing civilization and how when he ask who is the boss jack backs down. This shows how Jack's not willing to own up to the destruction that he caused on the island but when he walks up then changes his mind also shows that he does not want to leave the power and the new life he has created. In a way when Ralph says he is in charge I see that as him taking up for the destruction. I also see it as the power shifting all back to Ralph and it shows him as the only civilized boy on the island.

The Lord of the Flies is a novel describing a group of kids being forced into a situation where they must govern themselves without adult assistance. The children rise to distinct positions within their created system until its eventual collapse. Through the pressure of an unfamiliar setting and intricate symbolism, Golding uncovers Jack's unwavering desire for power, even at the stake of their society and morals.

In the book, “Lord of the Flies” By William Golding, power and fear are displayed because there have been fighting over power and control and leadership. The two people who are constantly bickering about who gets to be chief, are Jack and Ralph. Their dispute is because of the conch. With the conch being a major distraction because it makes the boys on the island go crazy and wild, it is also a powerful tool. Since it's a powerful tool, it makes you be a witness to both sides of Ralph and Jack’s perspective and ideas on being the leader on their deserted island without any adults in their presence.