Ralph Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

Niccolo Machiavelli once said, “He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.” Knowing how to command is key in today’s society. It provides boundaries and morals. In addition, everyone wants it, and fights for it. Everyone wants power. However, power may be blissful and self-fulfilling, but it is temporary and corrupts one’s judgment. The book Lord of the Flies written by William Golding shows a great example of this. Ralph and Jack are two characters who are chiefs. They show different views of power, and how they express it. Ralph likes the power given to him, but he fights to keep it. Jack instantly fights for power, and as a result, it turns him into a savage. In addition, Roger is not a chief, but he is Jack’s right-hand man.

His power does hinder his judgment in multiple ways, and in the end, Ralph loses his authority. Nevertheless, Ralph does show a sliver of power hunger. Ralph calls the boys from everywhere on the island by blowing the conch. Doing so, the excitement is shown on his face. “His face was dark with the violent pleasure of making this stupendous noise, and his heart was making the stretched shirt shake” (Golding 18). Ralph enjoyed the power the conch held, and his friend, Piggy, realized it. When first put into power, Ralph makes an unfair decision on who gets to explore the island. “He first chooses Jack and Simon to climb the mountain to decide whether the land is an island or not” (Hainke). This is an example of when put into power, a person can make selfish choices. Second, Ralph being in power, causes him to be unconcerned about certain situations. Ralph is so deliberately focused on getting off the island, that he fails to consider the boys’ well-being. For example, Ralph does not care to correct Jack on bullying Piggy. Jack continuously puts Piggy down calling him fat, and disregarding his right to speak while holding the conch. “‘I’ve got the conch-’ Jack turned

However, Jack does not show good leadership in the choir. He is very bossy, and they are more of an army squad than of a choir. When Ralph blows the conch to call everyone on the island, the boys introduce themselves to one another. Afterward, they decide on electing a chief. Jack is the first one to nominate himself. Jack is instantly fighting for the power position. The only people who vote for Jack are the choir boys; the others vote for Ralph. This puts Jack in an embarrassing and frustrating position. “Even the choir applauded, and the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification” (Golding 23). When the election is over, Ralph states that Jack has the choir boys to himself. Therefore, Jack makes them hunters. From then on, Jack is focused on hunting and killing. Moreover, Jack shows himself slowly turning into a savage by hunting throughout the book. At first, he was reluctant with his first killing. “ He raised his arm in the air. There came a pause, a hiatus, the pig continued to scream and the creepers to jerk…” (Golding 31). Although as time progressed, Jack became more confident in hunting, and he made it his priority. In fact, Jack would rather hunt than get off the island. He showed this by allowing the fire on the mountain to go out. Furthermore, Jack would receive a rush of power when hunting. Jack enjoyed having the responsibility of a person’s life in his