Cheques And Balances In Lord Of The Flies

Human Nature and the importance of structure

William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, captures common societal flaws leading back to human nature. The book has been censored, banned, and removed from curriculum due to the violent, racist, and disturbing scenes displaying the points William attempts to get across. The importance of the novel is held together by its relevance to current political structures and the imbalance of power and rights. Aspects like these make it a valuable lesson for readers to learn. Furthermore, the essence of the story captures the value of power being used to create structure while maintaining balance. The novel perpetuates the importance of democracy and the savagery that human instinct ultimately uncovers.

The idea of cheques and balances in a government system dates back to Ancient Roman times, Polybius is known to be the first one to explain the idea of their effects and benefits. Lisa James from the Constitution Unit, summarizes the importance of maintaining stability, “Checks and balances are fundamental elements of constitutional democracy that prevent the unconstrained exercise of power, improve the quality of decision-making and ensure that mechanisms exist for preventing or penalizing unethical behaviour.” When arguing for the benefits and effectiveness of democracy, cheques and balances play a major role in the system. Lord Acton, a well-known politician and writer in the late 1800’s, once said, “Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” ultimately pointing to the balanced characteristics of democracy and the known flaws of dictatorship. In Golding's novel, Jack's absolute power did indeed lead to the literal corruption among the boys. This also shows how the initial vote for Ralph may have been majority, but again, a single person mustn’t hold absolute power even with an organized