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Authority In Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

863 Words4 Pages

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies depicts many different types of authority. Despite the fact that Piggy has the potential to gain authority, only Jack and Ralph have authority over the boys in the novel. Although they both have authority, Jack and Ralph rule as chief in very different ways. Ralph rules through order while Jack rules through fear, and a system of reward and punishment. Golding shows that authority based on desire and fear always triumphs over authority based on order and reason. Golding shows that although Ralph’s leadership starts off strongly, authority based on order will not survive due to man’s savage nature. Like in a democracy, Ralph gets the position of authority when the boys elect him as their leader. As chief, …show more content…

He lures the other boys to his tribe with the promise of fun and meat, both of which the boys desire. Jack gives and withholds meat as a way to control the other boys. He throws a feast for the boys who choose to defect from Ralph's tribe and his tone “conveys a warning, given out of the pride of ownership,” (138) demonstrating that Jack is the owner of the meat, and to get the desired meat, the boys must follow Jack. Jack shows his ability to control with the pig meat when he denies Piggy some meat. Golding also shows that Jack is dependent on this tactic in the beginning, screaming “Take it!...I got you meat!” and “Now you eat-all of you” (68) when Simon gives his share of meat to Piggy. By giving away his meat, Simon is outside of Jack’s influence. However later in the book Jack learns to use torture to force the boys to obey his will. He prods Samneric with a spear saying “What d’you mean by not joining my tribe” (168) and later has Roger torture one of the twins into revealing Ralph’s location. Despite Roger being “a terror” (175) and the one the boys fear the most, Jack still wields the most authority as chief, proving that fear alone cannot be effective. Jack remains in authority, using the boys’ desire for fun and meat and the threat of torture. Ralph loses his authority, and Piggy is unable to gain a position of authority,

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