In the novel Lord of the Flies written by William Golding, mob mentality is the main factor in the loss of civilization amongst the boys’. Mob Mentality is when people become followers and do what they ordinarily would not do if they were by themselves, instead of in a group. Which happened in this case; Jack felt embarrassed when Ralph scolded him for not catching a pig yet. Jack decided to prove Ralph wrong, which led to the hunters becoming obsessed with killing one. When they did, the hunters started chanting “Kill the pig.
"At once the crowd surged after [him], ...screamed, struck, bit, tore," (Golding 169) these words demonstrate a repercussion of mob mentality. This phenomenon refers to the behaviours that one exhibits when in a group situation or mindset. Besides literature, it can be seen in everyday such as the riots in Vancouver or the short-lived popular trends. But how does this occur in the first place? Well, the existence of mob mentality in the modern world and in Golding's Lord of the Flies both suggest that the situation occurs because people are influenced by by their peers, the environment, and by their emotions.
Only a child would do something of that nature, run around like a pig and play around with the hunters. Don't forget that some the hunters take it extremely seriously when someone acts like a pig, the boys might kill someone for real, like they were about to do to Robert. The boys have forgotten that they are on a remote island and are in need of as many helping hands as they can get. I also read that…”High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever.” and …”
“ At last the immediacy of the kill subsided. The boys drew back, and Jack stood up… giggled and flicked them while the boys laughed at his reeking palms (120).” The boys do not mourn and think about what they have just done to the sow, they “laugh and giggle” and Jacks flicks the meat on his hands at the other boys. Games in this novel slowly builds the theme of savagery because every kill the boys make it makes them become more of a savage. The boys start off playing at the lagoon, to hunting pigs, then using one of their own to act like a pig, and finally they end up hunting one of their own like a pig.
This specific quote was said after they successfully hunted the pig. It conveys the children’s aggressiveness and great bloodlust. Adding to that, despite the fact that there were simple rules, the boys still broke them. “Bollocks to the rules! We're strong - we hunt!
The characters in William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, illustrate a loss of morality that comes with the growth of tribalism. The book in question, Lord of the Flies, is about a group of boys who are the only survivors of a plane-crash on an uninhabited island, and how they survive on their own. The growth of tribalism was evident in the increasing separation between the boys and the eventual formation of two conflicting groups, and the loss of morality was illustrated by the boys’ lack of respect for human life. Instead of progressing through Kohlberg’s stages of moral development, we see the boys regress through the stages. The spark that created intense tribalism occurred at the start of the novel when Ralph was voted chief over
Participation in mob mentality has many causes. As illustrated in Golding’s Lord Of The Flies, characters became violent when in a large group: “...and the complementary circles went round and round as though repetition would achieve safety itself. There was a throb and stamp of a single organism.” (152). This accurately parallels an interview “Explaining the Mob Mentality,” in which a psychology professor explains the larger the group, the more vehement it would become.
Should the boys’ savage and immoral behavior be blamed on the situation/environment or on the biological factors? I think that the boys’ savage and immoral behavior should be blamed on biological factors. Your decisions and behavior reflects your brain and your biological factors. In the novel, “Lord of the Flies”, by William Golding, he writes about characters who are lost on an island after their plane crashed.
The issue of mob mentality happens frequently as people depend too much on one another and easily get influenced by what the majority of the people think and decide. The internal or hidden pressure among the group is another factor that leads to why people follow the majority. As everyone started to change when “All at once the crowd swayed towards the island and were gone-following Jack. Even the tiny kids went and did their best among the leaves and broken branches” (Golding 38). Once Jack had become a stubborn dictator, one by one people started to follow him.
Mob mentality occurs in The Lord of the Flies, especially when order is given to a group of people. “All at once the crowd swayed towards the island and were gone-following Jack. Even the tiny kids went and did their best among the leaves and broken branches” (Golding 38). This passage is showing leadership. The reader are also showing how Jack is the leader and everyone follows him and his orders.
Lord of the Flies is a passage into the very existence of humanity. The very last part of the book is full of rage and violence. The violence could be blamed on the lack of vital nutrients the boys where facing but more likely the motives of Jack and his party is related to the emotional impact of their stay on the island. The impact of the island and lack of adults lent to the overall outcome of their stay. Starting out the group of boys were scattered around the island and in tiny huddles of boys.
A study of pack mentality: the human potential for evil Joshua Poon 10BD In today’s world we rarely stop to think about how often us humans clump together to form a group, to do things together, to share responsibility and to have a sense of belonging. It is simply human nature to come together, but the consequences of this pack mentality are often overlooked and neglected.
Nowadays bullying has become the major and common problem for children and can awfully affect their lives in many different ways such as depression and suicide. William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, takes place in the 1950’s in England, where Golding used to be a school teacher and face many types of problems among children. According to his novel, bullying is a particular problem for Piggy who cannot fit in a community because of his initial appearance. Even though Lord of the Flies has many purposes and it is not focused on just one target, Golding explains bullying and its impacts on Piggy very smoothly beside the main idea of the story. He shows how bullying causes Piggy to lose his self-confidence, breaking his glasses and became dependent and intimidated.
In the book Lord of the Flies, William Golding expresses his idea that a “society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable.” I agree with Golding’s idea of human nature. Most societies where the individuals play a large role are the ones that are the most successful. America is one example of using Federal Democracy as an official government.
A community can only thrive when there is a hierarchy to impose rules. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a plane with a group of boys crashes on an uncharted island. The children are stranded without any adult supervision. The group attempts to form an organized society to stay alive and sane. As the novel progresses, they collectively struggle to keep order and they become savages.
