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Power In Lord Of The Flies Essay

808 Words4 Pages

William Golding illustrates the struggle for power in society and the causes of so in the novel The Lord of the Flies. This novel takes place on an island where a group of boys gets stranded with no adults so they are left to fend for themselves. The protagonist Ralph steps up to take control over island rules to maintain peace and order on the island. The boys agree to vote for Ralph with one of the main reasons being he found the conch that symbolizes power in itself. One of the hunters on the island, Jack, does not approve of Ralph and wants to do whatever he wants, so he tries to start his side of the island where he is the tyrant. The power created on the island negatively impacts all the boys and drives them to act in violence and hatred. …show more content…

The boys believe that Ralph should be the leader due to his possession of the conch. The conch represents civilization and democracy on the island. No matter someone’s social profile, if they are holding the conch, they are the person everyone has to listen to. Holding the conch, Piggy says, “I got the conch, you let me speak!” (Golding 42) after losing his temper. Piggy just wants to be listened to. He is sure that he will be respected and listened to because he has the conch in his hand. Even though it took a while, the rest of the boys eventually listened. Ralph even takes some of his ideas into consideration. Without the conch, Piggy would’ve never been heard. This resembles why power is so important to …show more content…

Once Jack has boys in his tribe, he starts to order them around. Unlike Ralph, Jack screams at the boys and forces them to do things they don’t want to and doesn’t let them have a say. He is still opposed to Ralph and decides the only way to have complete control is to take the conch from Ralph. Jack orders the boys to attack Ralph to obtain the conch. But just having the conch isn’t enough. Ralph goes to talk to Sam and Eric to which they tell him, “Listen, Ralph. Never mind what’s sense. That’s gone- The chief and Roger- They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you” (Golding 188). Jack’s power has affected Sam and Eric to become sick and tired of Jack’s ways. They disobey to warn Ralph that Jack wants to kill him to achieve all power. The boys at this point have lost their sanity due to their desperation for order. Power has affected Jack negatively which causes all the boys to also be negatively

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