What Is The Theme Of Abuse Of Power In Lord Of The Flies

Evil: A noun meaning profound immorality, wickedness, and depravity. Everyone has a little bit of evil in them, but it’s up to that person if they want to show it or not. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of boys show the evil within themselves while being stranded on an island. Because of the situation that has been thrust upon them, they soon discover the true evil they are capable of. In the book, the boys show evil through their lust for power, the behavior that the boys express, and their murderous actions.

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.

Humans savagely turn against each other when they feel it would better them. One could say that there is no hope for humankind and that evil is an inborn trait of people, and in the novel, these two things go hand in hand together. In the Lord of the Flies, it portrays these ideas very well because it shows and explains how British school boys turn to savages because of the island.The boys’ shift to savagery was not gradual and this change in tone allowed many to come to a realization.

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

The Lord of the Flies is a gruesome story about young boys stranded on an island, who underwent a transformation from polite British choir boys to savage hooligans. One of the main difficulties the boys face during their adventures upon the island, is their method of government, they either follow the path of Ralph, the democratic leader whose main focus is to escape the despairing island; or Jack a power-hungry monarchical leader who won't ever take no for an answer. The two boys are constantly bickering and arguing over who deserves the leader-position. We all understand Ralph wants to be leader so that he can ensure that the boys will return back home, but in Jack's case, it is a constant mystery to us about why he

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.

Lord of the Flies is a chilling work about human savagery and the flow of power. Golding uses symbolism, characterization, and description to illustrate the occurrences and the underlying themes in the novel. The work has an ominous but irresistible tone that Golding lays out through his description of the island. Golding makes the island seem sinister and irresistible by writing,” The shore was fledged with palm trees. These stood or leaned or reclined against the light and their green feathers were a hundred feet up in the air . . . Behind this was the darkness of the forest proper and the open space of the scar.” (Golding 4-5) His description of the palms being feathered gives an enticing pull to the beach, but the darkness of the

MLA Research Paper Savagery, Power And Fear And how it’s ties in with Lord Of The Flies

"Is it The Human Nature to Abuse Power" The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding is a novel about a group of boys who have just survived a devastating plane wreck. In this novel William Golding focuses on the struggle for power and leadership. The power to control the boys is fought over which shows the true savagery which lies under the civilized boys. During the Stanford Prison Experiment, Dr. Zimbardo explored the behaviors of 70 college males as they participated in an experiment, assuming the role of either a prisoner or prison guard. A few days into the study Dr. Zimbardo discovered that that the prison guards had taken their role in the prison too seriously and started to mock and humiliate the prisoners.

Can you ever imagine your worst enemy with total power? In the book “Lord of the Flies” written by William Golding, two characters argue back and forth over power, until they finally split up. Jack and Ralph were the two tyrants of the island; Ralph gave to many orders without showing any sign of gratitude which made the members of his tribe feel like slaves. Furthermore, his own actions resulted in a rebellion, that switched most of the power to Jack, his new enemy. Once Jack had power it sure created fear among Ralph’s small tribe. We can conclude, power creates fear.

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.

The theme of leadership is uncovered by the symbol of the conch. As the connection grows between the protagonist and the conch, outer forces break the bond in attempt to take the position as leader. Ralph along with other boys in Lord of the Flies by William Golding are trapped on an island due to the crash of their airplane. With no adults on the island to discipline the boys, one must step up and take on this role. The discovery of the conch encourages Ralph to become chief, Ralph has the ability to use the conch to enforce his rules, but the unfortunate shattering of the conch breaks Ralphs hold on to leadership.

The Lord Of The Flies, written by William Golding, is a political allegory where the island illustrates the world while Jack and Ralph both symbolize conflicting ideologies, totalitarianism and democracy because Ralph and Jack, in a power struggle, fight for control over the island, trying to spread their respective ideologies, just as it occurred during the inception of the book. Stranded on the island, the boys, haggard and bedraggled, chose Ralph as their chief. During the voting process, Ralph and his conch, the device use to talk in the tribe, are described: "There was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most importantly, yet most powerful, was the conch" (22). The quote,

World War II caused an amount of destruction and harm that no human being had ever seen before, many were disgusted and outraged by the results of this war. It was a very memorable event; one that authors tend to write about a lot, even to this day. One author in particular, WIlliam Golding, uses his world famous piece of literature Lord of the Flies as a political allegory to World War 2. In his classic novel, he shows little boys who are flown out to avoid the danger of being bombed and become trapped on an island. While they are trapped, the boys develop separate ways of leading each other which leads to conflict and violence, similar to the governments in which were clashing with each other during World War 2 at the time. Through the differences of these boys, Golding shows to us how they relate to the major leaders of World War 2 (Hitler, Franklin Roosevelt, and Neville Chamberlain), and how democracy is the best way to govern people.