Jack Merridew Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton). Many people let power control and take over them. The idea of having a lot of power can cause problems for people and societies. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, he shows how power took over young boys on an island when there was nobody to help them. It shows that even though they were young, they were driven and wanted control over society and boys. This led to complications on the island. The want for power often corrupts people’s morals. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows how power corrupts people's powers through the character Jack. Jack Merridew, the boy in Lord of the Flies, lets his desire for power begin to change him as a person and his morals.

Jack said in the book, “I ought to be chief.”(Golding 22). He was upset when he wasn't chosen to be the chief. Ralph let him still be the leader of the choir and now they were Jack’s hunters. As time went on Jack became obsessed with this idea of power and control over all of the boys on the island, not just the hunters. He let this obsession change him and he started to show violent behavior. He tried to challenge Ralph for the chief position and ended up going off on his own with some of the hunters. These hunters started to turn into savages and let the idea of power corrupt them. They ended up killing multiple people during their time on the island. The corruption of power and the need for power ended up altering the boy's sense of self and changing their ideas and how they acted, turning them into savages. Many different examples of how power has changed people over time have been shown and researched in history. A documentary about The Stanford Prison Experiment, which was conducted by a psychologist named Zimbardo, shows how power can begin to corrupt anybody over

Prison guard “John Wayne,” said that “he made the decision to be as intimidating as cold as cruel as possible.” (00:17:30-00:17:35). The prison guard took on this unnecessary role of a mean and cruel person to the prisoners. He let the power that he was given take control of his actions. He started to be violent and mean to the prisoners and treated them unfairly, even though it was a fake experiment. The guards in this story, not just John Wayne, did not feel guilty for the way that they were treating the prisoners. Nobody ever tried to stop what was happening. The guards did not own up to their actions until after the experiment had ended, but even some never fully apologized for how poorly they treated the prisoners. The idea of power and having power makes people act out and not act like themselves. People’s morals and principles can be changed due to the need for power and control. Power can be displayed in many different examples throughout history. Power often helps determine who holds the most influence over people in different places around the world. It is visible in things like governments in different countries. For example, North Korea has been in a dictatorship since