Why do certain people hold power while others don’t? Is it because of their social status? How much money they have? No, it is not materialistic things that make a person powerful, but their personality. In the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of boys crash on an island and have to survive the challenges of nature, and themselves. This book strips down how humans function in a society. It shows us that what really makes an individual powerful is their ability to manipulate, keep a cool head, and to be able to hold authority over others
One of the more important factors that place a person in a position of power is the ability to manipulate others. This can be seen when Jack, one of the older boys on the island, manipulates
…show more content…
When the group worries about the beast coming to kill them, Jack motivates them by saying that “[they] aren’t going to bother about the beast”(133) and that they’re “going to forget about the beast’”(133). But when the group finally hunts down and kills the pig, Jack cuts the head off and shoves it onto a stick, saying that “‘[the] head is for the beast. It’s a gift’”(137). This demonstrates how Jack manipulates the group first by saying that there isn’t a beast, then at the end of the hunt suddenly giving a head to the beast. Jack is using the idea of the beast to get the group to do what he wants. It may be easy to think that being manipulative doesn’t always make a person powerful, that you don’t need to manipulate to be powerful. For example, Ralph being selected chief of the group on their first day on the island. There was no manipulation involved, just “his size… and attractive appearance”(22). However, Ralph was later thrown out of power by Jack, the manipulator. So even though you can be in power without manipulation, it won’t last long. In addition, Jack also manipulates the boys with materialistic things such as food and pain. When Jack invites all of the boys on the island to a feast, he then proposes