Groupthink In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

Groupthink is the influence of a decision upon a group. Throughout the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding Portrays the idea of “groupthink” in the story. Groupthink can be seen as a bad or a good example. In this novel, it is used as a bad example because of how the kids on the island assemble their decisions. It is clear that groupthink negatively affects the children in this book and it is seen through the conch used as the voice of assembly, the kids on the island thinking the beast is real, and the traditional dance the kids do on the island.
The primary way groupthink negatively affects the children on the island is seen through the conch’s symbolism. In chapter one, Piggy says, “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us.” (Golding 16) As soon as the conch is picked up from the water, it is shown as a representative for the voice of an assembly. The conch is presumed to be used in a positive approach of groupthink, but some kids took advantage of it like Jack, Maurice, and Roger. It was a mystical symbol for order and leadership. Jack used this symbol in a negative way. He wanted to be the chief of the group and he separated the group. Jack tried to overthrow Ralph and became successful and this happened because Jack took advantage of the conch.

It started out with the littluns being scared of the beast and the fear spread to the biguns. Piggy says, “He says he saw the beastie, the snake thing, and it will come back tonight?” (Golding 36) This all began because of a littlun thinking there is a beast on the island. This thought of a beast on the island ran through all the children’s mind. This an example of groupthink because one kid convinced others that there is a beast on the island. The fear of the beast affected Simon’s death because the kids thought he was the beast and that resulted in his