Chapter 2 Lord Of The Flies Power Essay

Not all people need to use their power to their advantage. William Golding’s book, Lord of the flies, follows the story before World War ll of a group of young British boys who appear on a deserted island after a plane crash. As they start to lose sight of civilization, the boys begin to use their power and deception to turn against each other and become savages. As the days go on, Golding's work reveals how one abuses their power as they gain power over a group of individuals and misguide them in search for the return of civilization.

In chapter 2 of Lord of the flies, Jack realizes that Piggy’s glasses can be used to set a fire signal and takes his glasses without permission. Although Piggy explicitly told Jack that he could not use

Ralph is angry at Jack for hunting, and Jack begins to take more power over Ralph and the tribe. Jack begins to show his authority and tells Jack that food and or meat is more important than the shelter: “Jack stood up as he said this, the bloodied knife in his hand. The two boys faced each other. There was the brilliant world of hunting, tactics, fierce exhilaration, skill; and there was the world of longing and baffled commonsense” (Golding 54). In this scene, Jack proves that he is trying to prove his superiority over Ralph and taking it to his advantage. Ralph is the elected leader of the group, but Jack is jealous of that and needs to show his power over Ralph. Jack proves that he is abusing his power and is in search of civilization. Jack believes that hunting for food will get them closer to civilization than building a

Jack decides to lead his own meeting instead of Ralph, and immediately uses his new authority in an attempt to overthrow Ralph as the chief, exclaiming, “He’s like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn't a proper chief.” (Golding 98). Jack’s influence among the boys is gradually growing, and calling his own meeting grants him with more immediate power than he has ever had before. Jack instantly abuses this power by criticizing Ralph and challenging his authority. Jack here is also making fun of Piggy, saying that he has no power and is weak, therefore so does Ralph. Jack is beginning to show more power than Ralph, showing the boys who the true leader of the group is. Jack's decisions are based on the return to civilization. Jack thinks by “capturing the beast”, they will be closer to seeing civilization once