Effective Government In Lord Of The Flies

Lord of the Flies Essay Even though having a government that cares and gives what is best for people is the most ideal government, countries from all over the world fail to establish an effective government for people to trust. However without a form of government, people will not be able to survive on their own. William Golding demonstrates in his famous novel Lord of the Flies, how people failed to govern themselves when put into a completely new and unknown environment, and how people change overtime due to an environment with no civilization. In the book, a group of schoolboys crash onto a deserted island and is left to govern itself without any adults. Ralph, the main character in the story, is elected to be chief by the other boys

Jack, the boy who is outvoted by Ralph causes most of the conflicts in the book. The boys try to figure out how to maintain their society by themselves, but due to their failure, the boys transform from being innocent to savages. The two essential components lacking from the boys’ island government are discipline and respect for one another’s property, which political Enlightenment philosophers Cesare Beccaria and John Locke believes are essential for a successful government. Since the boys do not establish these components, they ultimately face death and chaos.

One reason the boys in Lord of the Flies fail to effectively govern themselves is their lack of discipline, which Beccaria argues is a necessary for an effective government; because this governing component is absent from the island, their government results in chaos. Cesare Beccaria believes that laws are made to maintain and protect our society, and suggests that any type of discipline ought to discourage crime (Phil. Bios

Locke believes that the government should protect the natural rights of the people, which are life, liberty, and property, and it is unacceptable to use any kind of force under any circumstances to take away people’s rights and property. Additionally, he believes there should be limitation of the monarch’s power, so a dictator, who has no respect for people’s property, should not be present (Phil. Bios 3). Jack’s decision to take Piggy’s spectacles by force directly contrasts with John Locke’s belief that property must be respected, therefore leading to crime and violence. When the boys first arrive on the island, Ralph proposes that they make a big fire so that if a ship passes by, they will be able to spot the smoke and rescue them. The boys do not have any tools to light a fire on the island so Jack takes Piggy’s glasses without his consent to reflect sunlight and make fire, “‘His specs--use them as burning glasses!’...Jack snatched [Piggy’s] glasses off his face”(Golding 40). By snatching, Jack uses force to take away Piggy’s specs against his will in order to make fire, which goes strongly against John Locke’s idea of respect for property. Piggy dislikes Jack throughout the whole book due to the fact that Jack gave him no respect, and teases him regularly. Not only does Jack take Piggy’s glasses by