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Mentality In Lord Of The Flies Essay

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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. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding explores the stranded schoolboys initially decide to work together to ensure their survival, but the group soon become entranced by the notion of a beast haunting the island. We soon see the many ramifications that arise from what may have seemed like successful ideas, and we can draw parallels with this in our lives today. In Nineteen …show more content…

In Lord of the Flies, Jack’s tribe accepts, and indeed promotes, the use of torture to punish a boy, Wilfred, while in 1984, torture is also used to silence rebels. In the former, the children are compromised and consumed by the immorality and savageness deep inside them; they don’t have guilty consciences that what they are doing is wrong. Similarly in 1984: the clueless members of the Outer Party don’t have a conscience, especially what is right and wrong is defined by the Party, because of the organised torture in order to brainwash rebels to promote a mob mentality across society. Fear can also be major factor employed by leaders in order to forward their own agenda and make it harder for the people to resist. In Lord of the Flies, it is fear of an imaginary beast, which in fact symbolises the savagery and wildness inside them. However, when the truth about this fear, in the form of Simon, seeks to become known to them, they reject it; they reject the truth and reality, instead feasting on their own desire. In contrary to Winston in 1984 where fear ultimately limits his ability to resist the Party’s wrath. Pain is the factor of him giving in; he has been forced to love due to pain; that is how the dystopian system of 1984

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Stuck on an island with kids and an unknown “beast” what is it? The story of Lord of the Flies occurs during World War 2 on a deserted island after a plane filled with children crashed and where a new beast takes over . What is the beast? The beast in Lord of the Flies is constantly changing from fear to war then to savagery. So what is the meaning of the beast in the Lord of the Flies?

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William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, is a classic novel about a group of schoolboys stuck on an island where fear and savagery consumes them. From the beginning of the book to the last page fear has a prominent role in the novel. Fear in the book manifests itself with many thoughts including what the littluns refer to as the beast, and the fear of not getting home. Fear leads some of the boys to make regrettable decision and it also leads Jack to a position of power. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding fear dominates the island that the boys are stranded on and this fear leads the boys to positions of power and influences some of the boys to make regrettable decisions.

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“We saw-” “-the beast-”. In the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there were a group of English Schoolboys. They roamed around on a deserted island, a war was going on in the near future. There are many possible things a “beast” can be. The definition of a “beast” evolves throughout the story.

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" Lord of the Flies" is a novel about a group of young boys who find themselves alone on a barren island. They build norms and organizational systems, but in the absence of adults to serve as a civilizing impetus, the children inevitably become violent and vicious. Through the emblem of the conch shell, William Golding shows how the loss of order/civilization and law leads to the emergence of barbaric behavior triumphing over society.

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William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, is a novel illustrating a group of school boys whose plane was shot down in the midst of war, struggle with surviving on an uninhabited island trying to recreate the society they once left behind. At the story’s center is the conflict between savagery and civilization; and as time goes on fear begins its reign over the children. Golding attains the greater theme of Lord of the Flies, that the fear of either the known or the unknown is the most destructive and manipulating human emotion. He exhibits this theme through revealing Ralphs initial fears of the unknown, explaining the known from Piggy’s view, and displaying the extent of the fears destruction of man.

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William Golding in the novel Lords of the Flies supports the famous quote of Mark Twain who said that, “Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it”. Lords of the Flies focuses on several English young school boys who were trapped on an isolated island. In the beginning of the novel, the boys are described as civilized human, but with the passage of time the novel changes its focus and illustrates how the sophisticated and well-mannered boys gave up their civilization and became wild and merciless. Jack was one of the main characters in the novel who tried to kill a pig at the beginning of the novel, but failed because of the sense of civility that resided in him.

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In the movie, Lord of the Flies (Castle Rock Productions, 1990), from a psychological perspective, many issues can be identified throughout the movie. The issues that were present in the movie involved the following topics, adolescence, aggression and personality theory. There are only about two adults in the movie, which have small parts other than the pilot. The main focus on the movie was upon the children. The children’s ages varied but, it can be assumed that the children were in their pre teens to teens.

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Fear is a strange thing, it starts out little and innocent, but if it is left uncontrolled it festers. In the book, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, people wonder, “What happened to those innocent, little boys?” and “Who is behind this new-found fear and corruption inside the boys?” It isn’t until the Lord of the Flies is introduced this questioned is answered.

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William Golding, in his book Lord Of The Flies, assesses modern human nature as a dependent force on non-primitive ways of living. In addition, Golding believes that people in society become disordered without a talented athouritive figure; he uses the characters and symbols from a stranded island to demonstrate his ideas. Golding first represents this society by assembling young, immature kids on a stranded island. The kids being young is important. Because they are young they, have no true talented authoritative figure and rely heavily on modern ways of living which aren’t provided for them.

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Being stranded on an island can change you. Studies have shown that it can change you and your mentality. The Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding, in September of 1954. It is about a group of young boys that get stranded on an island with no adults. Throughout the book, the boys’ go insane.

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Human nature refers to the characteristics of mankind. This includes how we think, our feelings, and our actions. Throughout history, we have tried to convince ourselves that the true nature of humans is good but realistically, that’s not true. William Golding uses his novel “Lord of the Flies” to show that humans, no matter the age, can be essentially bad. In the novel, teenage boys get stranded on an island without adults and they try to have a civilized society

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The Truth about Human Nature William Golding author of the award winning novel Lord of The Flies suggests in this novel that deep inside of human nature there is a deep dark evil that has been hidden away by society. Living a day to day life in society humans do not notice this dark side because it is hidden by rules. Just like in Lord of The Flies and other events once that side can be shown a sneak peek then the rest comes out. When the darkness within is released nothing can hold this nature back.

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Lord of the Flies Personalities In Lord of the Flies by William Golding their was several different personality traits throughout the characters. These traits were defined by Sigmund Freud a psychologist who was an influential thinker of the early twentieth century.(Thornton). Jack represents Id in Freud’s personality theory which defines him as the character who acts for the short term and pleasure immediately. Ralph represents Ego which acts as the middle ground between Id and Superego or the realistic trait.

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Humans are complex creatures. Understanding human nature is difficult, but the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding helps to show what true human nature looks like. Humans are inherently evil, but that evil is hidden by societal dictates. Throughout the novel, the human societal mask is stripped away and true human nature can be seen. Society enforces rules and trends that people feel they must follow.

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