After World War II, people around the world were skeptical of everything: the government, their leaders, and society as a whole. Many were in a constant state of fear of nuclear annihilation. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, published in 1954, is believed to be a “political and historical allegory, even as a cautionary tale for the leaders of the world” (Henningfeld). The island is what the world would be like after nuclear annihilation, and the demise of the boys is what Golding is warning society about. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, published in 1953, is set in a society that has endured multiple atomic wars. Life is meaningless and death is nonchalant. The characters have no emotions or individual ideas. Bradbury makes his characters this way to warn people to not conform to society and to value life, love, and knowledge. Both Golding and Bradbury wrote their books as warnings to society. In Lord of the Flies and Fahrenheit 451, there is strong symbolism, biblical and historical allusions, and oppressive leaders to show that man is his own greatest enemy.
In Lord of the Flies and Fahrenheit 451, William Golding and Ray Bradbury use strong symbolism to show the faults in man. Lord of the Flies is filled symbolism- the most powerful being fire. Fire
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The oppressive leader in Lord of the Flies is the antagonist, Jack. Jack is not only oppressive, but incredibly authoritarian. When Ralph won the leader position, Jack “ took command of the hunters, the forces of naked power. “We'll have rules!” he cried excitedly. “Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks 'em—” But his desire for many controls did not of course extend to controls he disliked, to those over himself” (Spitz). Jack made sure the hunters did exactly what he said. David Spitz compares in to Hitler or Mussolini. Jack’s thirst for power and devolution is what led him to be the dangerous, oppressive leader he