Power In Lord Of The Flies Corruption Essay

William Gaddis, an American novelist, once stated that “Power doesn't corrupt people, people corrupt power”. In Lord of the Flies, the characters fight over the holder of the conch which gives them leader roles. In the novel, Ralph leads with the sake of law and order while Jack leads with the sake of war and savagery. As the story progresses, Jack’s need for power grows as does his corruption. The power makes him feel stronger, building his self esteem, which ends up causing him to separate and lash out on his peers. Ralph’s power remains subtle but effective as he leads in hopes of getting law and order, not to be the best. In the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Power corrupts Jack into thinking he is something he's not, which

As Ralph leads the group, he leads with intentions of keeping everyone safe and uses others ideas. Oppositely, Jack leads with arrogance as cares about himself and himself only. An example of Jack’s impervious attitude can be seen when he said “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong – we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat - !” (Golding 114). This quote resembles Jack’s lack of sympathy for others as he chooses to disregard the rules that were made to keep everyone safe. A 19th century British historian Lord Acton stated that “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. This quote shows that all power corrupts people but when one has absolute power like Jack, they tend to be corrupted to a more extreme level. In short, There is a chasm between Ralph and Jack as Ralph leads a democracy where he listens to others and wants others to be safe, while Jack leads an autocracy where he has all of the power and doesn’t care about others or their opinions. Jack’s carelessness causes a portion of their people to rebuke him because they disagree with his

In the novel, Ralph is the only elected leader, and throughout the story he works to ensure their safety while they have fun and play. With power, Ralph actually becomes better, and sanctimoniously leads for and with the people. He takes thoughts and ideas from other boys like Piggy and uses them to make them stronger. Ralph never loses hope and remains strong throughout the story. Ralph’s relentlessness can be seen when "Ralph took the conch from his [Piggy's] hands”, and states "This is our island" (Golding 34). This quote resembles Ralph’s passion, leadership and hope as he believes they will make it off this island. Perseverance is important as a leader because it shows that one still has hope. These types of “Leaders achieve success through their talent, insight, adjustability, and wisdom. Perseverance skills are an important feature of success in life” (StrengthScapes). The quote above resembles the skills a good leader must have and relates to Ralph because he is persevering and has wisdom. Ralph's persevering leadership allows the children to keep hope that they will reach safety, and is important in his trust with the