Power And Authority In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

In William Golding's novel Lord of The Flies a key element is power and authority and how it connects to fear. Two very important characters that are prime examples of this are Jack and Ralph. Throughout the book they battle for authority, first Ralph’s reign, then Jack’s rise to power, and how they both affected the boys differently.

Ralph is the original figure of authority on the island. At the beginning of the novel, Ralph is the one who, with Piggy’s help, finds and blows the conch. This act was the reason he was chosen as leader during their vote. Ralph, seeing as he brought them all together, was the wise choice to help them get home. The only person who was not happy with the idea is Jack, who wants the power for himself. So, in an

While Ralph’s main goal is to be rescued, Jack’s is to have fun and hunt, or at least in the beginning. After Jack’s first kill he becomes a little more bloodthirsty. And Ralph knows it, he mentions in the meeting that night that they are drifting apart, “breaking up” and that he doesn’t understand why. Jack becomes angry and leaves the meeting early causing everyone to follow suit. And Ralph no longer wishes to call them back. Samneric are tending the fire that night and see “the beast,” all the biguns went out after it for a hunt, while Piggy stayed back with the littluns. They all ran back scared by the sight of the parachuter and call a meeting as soon as they return. Jack at this meeting tries to get the other boys to change leadership and make him chief but none, other than the choir boys, wish it. He then becomes fed up with Ralph, and his rules, and proclaims that he is leaving the tribe so he can start his own, so any who wish to hunt and have fun without rules could come with him. Once within his own tribe, Jack kills a pig and invite all the other boys to join him at a feast. This is the night when Simon is killed. The next morning the only people left in Ralph’s tribe are Ralph, Piggy, SamnEric, as well as, some littluns. Jack gained authority using his power and fear. He told of the boys that he would provide food for them as well as protect them from the beast because it is not truly dead because it only disguised itself

The day Piggy died he was crushed by a rock while he held the conch in his arms. The shell was described as being white and fragile, as was the state of Ralph’s power over the group. Ralphs group was down to only him because SamnEric were also captured by Jack's tribe. When Jack came to power he used fear to control the other boys and to keep them from siding with Ralph. He was willing to burn down the whole island so that he could have Ralph killed, because Ralph was the only person who opposed him. Even though Jack was a true savage and was bloodthirsty the boys still did what he wanted them to, because it was that, or die. It was mentioned that when Ralph was in power the boys would only work for a short period of time before they would stop working and go have fun. Whereas, when Jack was in power they did what he wished no matter what it was, because fear is a stronger controlling factor than respect. But, at the end of the novel when they chase Ralph out onto the beach they run into a naval officer. When he asks who is their leader Ralph identifies himself as such, and Jack doesn’t fight