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Interpretations Of Lord Of The Flies: Government

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Natalie Counts Mrs. Zimmerman English 10 honors 2 March 2016 The Lord of the Flies There are many interpretations of Lord of the Flies. It is a universal story that people all over the world can relate to. Lord of the Flies is an allegory in which each character represents something outside of the literal. The main characters Ralph and Jack are not only young boys, they represent three very different types of government: democracy, anarchy, and totalitarianism, while Piggy represents the ideals of a government. I believe that Piggy doesn’t specifically represent a government. Piggy is the ideal, the whisper, and the dream of what a true democracy should be. “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting,” he says about the …show more content…

Ralph isn’t the ideal of a democracy. He exemplifies the actual government. And just like all governments, the theory behind it is much more radiantly splendid than the actual thing. Ralph tries to keep the order and actually succeeds during the first few days, calling meetings regularly and setting up rules that must be followed at all costs. “So remember. The rocks for a lavatory. Keep the fire going and smoke showing as a signal. Don’t take fire from the mountain. Take your food up there”(Golding 81). Ralph desperately tries to keep the fire going, a beacon of light to the outside world. But as the boys begin to ignore their duties and abuse the freedoms that come with democracy, chaos begins to get the upper hand over …show more content…

From chaos comes the absolute order of a people under a dictator. Jack helps to create this chaos by urging the boys away from their obligations. In the chapter “Painted Faces and Long Hair,” Jack is able to get the boys to let the fire go out to hunt a pig through his use of propaganda, such as having fun, hunting pigs, having feasts, and being able to have their own fort. Jack is able to convince a large majority of the boys to like him over Ralph. Rousseau points out, “As soon as it is possible to disobey with impunity, disobedience is legitimate; and, the strongest being always in the right, the only thing that matters is to act so as to become the strongest”(2). The instant that Jack sees his chance to become a leader over the other boys, he acts as quickly as possible, setting up his own tribe at the other end of the island. In Jack’s tribe, unlike in Ralph’s, he answers to no one, bar himself, while all the boys in turn answer to

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The last significant symbol from the book was Piggy’s glasses. Used throughout the book to both help Piggy see and to light the fire, Piggy’s glasses played a very important role. During the course of Lord of the Flies, it was evident that Piggy was the most rational boy on the island, even though he was often ridiculed by his peers. Piggy saw clearly when others lost sight of themselves. The real downfall of the story began when Piggy’s glasses were stolen from him, when Jack Merridew and his tribe of savages attacked him.

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In the novel Lord of the Flies, it is obvious that the character Jack is the savage compared to all the other boys on the island. Jack is the cause of all the arguments and death that will later occur on the island. Many of the boys on the island are scared of Jack when he acts cruel and selfish. This makes them join his group, so they don't have to worry about getting hurt. During a group meeting Jack says “We shall take fire from the others,” (Golding 161).

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In the book, The Lord of the Flies, the boys’ are unable to establish a successful government that is led by an absolute monarch and incorporates a strong justice system. The novel illustrates a simple scenario that highlights the consequences of an ineffective government. With a society similar to the stranded boys, modern day governments are bound to fall into destruction and death if a sovereign leader and a fair and equal justice system aren’t

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In William Golding’s book Lord of the Flies, one of the characters in the book named Piggy proves himself to be the most civilized person in the book. In the beginning of the book Piggy is only aware of Ralph and himself surviving the car crash which is why he tells Ralph “We got to find the others. We got to do something”(12) The quote indicates Piggy is a civilized person because he is doing the responsible thing by looking for other survivors.

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Jack was never happy that he was not chosen to be leader. After the fire had gone out, Piggy had tried to explain how he shouldn’t have let the fire out and Jack turned violent. “You didn’t ought to have let that fire out. You said you’d keep the smoke going--”. “This from Piggy, and the wails of agreement from some of the hunters, drove Jack to violence.

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The novel Lord Of The Flies was published in 1954 by William Golding. In this novel there are many different characters that help develop the story. Piggy would have been a great leader while Jack would be a horrible leader. Piggy should have been a leader in the novel. Piggy would make a great leader because he is rational.

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I have noticed that when Jack , was in charge the fire went out. I think that this symbolizes how if Jack is their leader, the group of boys’ connection to society would disappear, or, in other words, go out. I also noticed that Jack wants power very badly, and I think

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On the first day on the island, Ralph was elected leader for many reasons. Ralph

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How Absolutely does Absolute Power Corrupt? Stranded, alone, no adults in sight. The boys in Lord of the Flies by William Golding were being evacuated from their school during the war, when their plane crashed on a small, uninhabited island. All adults were lost in the crash, only boys of various ages between twelve and six survived. Someone needs to be in charge, right?

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Fear drives these boys to follow a corrupt leader because they have their own self-interest in mind. When Jack gains power, he promises the boys what they desire. At first no one joins for fear of being an outcast, but the promise of desire, most of the boys being drawn to the meat Jack offers, soon draws the boys to join Jack. Once Jack is in power, he has a feast to show boys who haven't joined him that what they want is with Jack's tribe.

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All these demands can not be up kept and people start to become unhappy. Riots break out in cities across the world, causing chaos, destruction, and lives to be lost. In the Lord of the Flies, this is what happens to kids. But we see this in real life every day with adults, causing violence and rage amongst innocent people.

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Jack Merridew is by far the most powerful individual on the island. He influences the boys to do things by yelling at them throughout the book. Just as it is stated in The Perils of Obedience by Kendra Cherry, “The physical presence of an authority figure dramatically increased compliance,” (Cherry 2). Jack is the main authority figure that has a lot of power of the kids because of his appeal to what they want and to the way he runs things. He runs his tribe like a dictatorship over the rest of the boys, but because they do what they want to do they comply with what he says, even though it is not the right thing.

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In “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, Ralph, Jack, Piggy, as well as the other boys destroyed their society as the Lord of the Flies decayed. They are stranded on a coral island in the World War ІІ era. Ralph is the leader of their group; though, Jack desires the chief position and wishes to create his own tribe in his quest for power. Piggy is an overweight, shortsighted boy with asthma who is bullied by Jack and his followers. He is taking for granted; on the other hand, he possesses the most wisdom out of all the boys.

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Because Jack uses is persuasive and gets the boys to do what he says, He is able to maintain a Dictatorship on the island. Jack is the best leader and he demonstrates his expert persuasion when he holds a feast and says “who’ll come join my tribe and have fun”! (151). The persuasion is that that all the boys on the island cared more about fun rather than rescue, and jack promises to give them what they want. Another reason Jack is so successful in obtaining power from Ralph is that he is able to control the other boys using fear tactics.

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Jack uses the boy’s animalistic need to kill, and shapes it into a fear driven mob. Eventually Jack’s leadership eventually achieves what Ralph and Piggy had attempted to do since the start of the book. Get Rescued. “We saw your smoke. What have you been doing?

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