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Nature Versus Nurture In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

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Recommended: Compare and contrast between Ralph and Jack in Lord of the flies

Eron Escobar Ms. Sandoval English 9/10 3 March 2023 Nature Versus Nurture Like the ocean, a society crashes or flows. William Golding tests to see if a group of boys pound together or fluxes under distinct situations in his publication Lord of the Flies. After their plane crashes onto an unknown island, the boys quickly form an organized society. However, two English schoolboys, Ralph and Jack, share differing views. Additionally, their personalities heavily dissent. Their differences shift the story’s tone from blind euphoria to power-thrilled devouring of one another. As time progresses on the island, the boys delve deeper into vicious behavior and “savagery.” The boys’ circumstances and differing points of view develop into an inevitable …show more content…

In this chapter, a routine schedule starts on the island. The boys obey Ralph’s established regulations – to keep the signal fire alive. However, Jack upholds an unhealthy obsession with trying to prove his power with the death of a pig. His allotted time toward the pig ultimately leads to the boys’ inability to rescue. The boys rationalize the missed opportunity, and Ralph states, “The fire was dead, the ship was gone. Could they not see? Anger instead of decency passed his throat” (Golding 65). Golding writes Jack and Ralph as two different radical extremes–Jack absorbs himself with survival, and Ralph engrosses himself with short-term solutions for rescue. The differences between Jack’s selfish ways and Ralph’s goodwill toward the majority bring an imbalance of advantages, where only Jack reaps the benefits from his achievement of killing the pig. Therefore, the imbalance led to disagreement and misunderstanding between Ralph and Jack, engendering the abandonment of …show more content…

Hence, the boys’ need for worthy ideas for the island exponentially expands. Those who contribute meritable opinions amass power, and much like wealthy entrepreneurs, they obtain the ability to bend the rules at will. This practice of control appears when Jack speaks without having the conch, stating, “Conch! Conch!” shouted Jack. “We don’t need the conch any more. We know who ought to say things” (Lord of the Flies, Golding 93). Their preoccupied attention toward the island caused the boys to fall out of line with what they instituted. Rather than focusing on rule and law, they focus on material possessions and ideas holding importance to them. As a result, their established rules lack strength, and with a weak foundation comes the crumbling of their society. Adding on, they micro-aggress one another due to the varying importance of their opinions. Likewise to the conch, raising one’s hand allows one a voice. When taking away input, it makes someone feel unappreciated and unimportant, as demonstrated by Simon. These microaggressions, undefined rules, and imbalances between parties cause a rift among individuals, guiding up to their eventual

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Ralph states about the conch, “‘I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking’” (Golding 33). In the beginning of the book, the conch symbolizes government and power. Ralph states that the conch will give the right of a person to talk which shows how the conch is keeping order around for the boys like a government.

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The conch symbolizes the authority held within the group, keeping in mind that whoever has possession is responsible for speaking. Likewise, Golding demonstrates how authority only has power when society agrees that it does, “They looked at him with eyes that lacked interest in what they saw...” (44). The boys seem to give Piggy no type of attention when he expresses his thoughts and point of view on how to improve their lifestyle on the island. Despite the fact that Piggy is very smart, the others just notice his weight and insecurities which they often take advantage of.

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David Schwer McCallon-5 ERWC 4 October 2014 Activity #1 Lord of the Flies, written by, William Golding, is a story about a group of schoolboys struggling for survival after a plane crash has left them stranded on an island. As the struggling continues, tempers flare and the group splits on each other. One side has a boy named Jack as their leader, who’s

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This conflict grows when Jack did not keep the fire lit and a ship passed by. Jack wants to hunt and does not give a second thought as to what he is affecting. Conflict and confusion take over as the children fully grasp that the ship and the hope they had is gone. Ralph also states while watching people cave into the fear that Jack has imposed that “The world , that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away. Once there was this and that; and now- and the ship had gone.

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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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The children find themselves between two extremes: the honor they hold for the conch, and the savagery developed from the hunt. On the civilized end of the two extremes, the conch is a symbol of a functioning society. Ralph to further organize their meetings decides, “‘[He’ll] give the conch to the next person to speak,’” stating firmly that, “‘[the member] won’t be interrupted’” (P.33).

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In other words the conch enables them to talk and have a say in what they are doing without anyone objecting him. In Golding's Lord of the Flies, the conch created order among the boys as shown through, “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. ”(Golding 141). At this point in the novel society broke.

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Their lust for excitement drove them to kill an innocent boy. Ralph, felt alone and traumatized by the loss of his friend. He felt isolated when “there was no Piggy to talk sense” (Page 260). Piggy had always been the voice of reason and the only person who stuck with him the entire time they were on the island. The destruction of Ralph and Piggy’s relationship and the murder of Piggy shows the sheer primitiveness of Jack and his

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This demonstrates how crazy Jack and his tribe were that they did disgusting acts with a pig. Also, Jack’s tribe is so messed up in their heads that they try to hunt Ralph, and kill him. Ralph has to hide throughout the forest to survive and cope with his problems of the boys trying to kill him. Jack’s tribe then tries to light up the forest, and a ship sees this and saves Ralph from getting killed, and all the boys from the island. When they get rescued and get off the island, they start crying and realize how messed up the things that they did

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Jack, still irritated over the group’s decision to make Ralph the chief, finds love in hunting. He decides to use red and black clay to camouflage their faces when hunting so it’s harder for the pigs to know they’re there. While by the shoreline, Ralph notices something in the distance, and is excited with joy when he realizes it’s a ship. He tries to get the ship’s attention but it continues to sail by. Ralph and Piggy then notice the signal fire was out, likely being the cause of not getting rescued.

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Ralph stresses the fact that the boys need to keep a fire going so that they can be rescued. Ralph stresses that the fact that the boys need to keep a fire going so that they can be rescued. On page 80, Ralph expresses that the fire is the most important thing on the island and without it, they will never be rescued. He also questions the boys’ priorities about being rescued while talking to Piggy. He says, “ ‘Cant they see?

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Throughout the novel, Jack consistently demonstrates a disregard for rules and a desire for dominance and power. When he leads the boys in hunting and violence, he taps into their savage and primal instincts - including Ralph’s. As Jack proclaims, "The conch doesn't count at this end of the island" (Golding, 150) it becomes evident that he prioritizes dominance and power over order, authority, and the established rules on the island. In the midst of their destructive rivalry, Jack’s failures teach Ralph important lessons. Witnessing Jack’s inability to maintain the signal fire makes Ralph recognize the value of collaboration, communication, and planning for survival.

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but it sounds like they don’t care. “The conch doesn't count at this end of the island” (Golding 150). Here Golding sets a scene where it sounds like the boys are arguing about something. It shows how the boys are starting to rebel against the conch which means they are disagreeing with the law and order they have set on the island. It is to the point they say the conch does not mean anything to them anymore which falls in the category of loss of order.

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