Strong Leaders In Lord Of The Flies

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In the book the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there are many prevalent themes. One theme the influence of a strong leader be them good or bad, oftentimes causes the followers to bend their morals to conform to their leaders. Another such theme is when the members of a society pursue self-interests to the exclusion of cooperation as a group toward common goals, the society is likely to become fragmented and in conflict. One final theme it that the The rules and laws of society function to contain and suppress the natural human tendency that many people have toward evil. Along with multiple examples in the book, these claims are also supported by real world examples. One of the largest themes in the book Lord of the Flies, is that the influence of a strong leader rather good or bad, oftentimes causes the followers to bend their morals to conform to their leaders. One example of this shown …show more content…

Earlier on in the book, Ralph calls an assembly and lectures the boys. “‘We have lots of assemblies. Everybody enjoys speaking and being together. We decide things. But they don’t get done. We were going to have water brought from the stream and left in those coconut shells under fresh leaves. So it was, for a few days. Now there’s no water. The shells are dry. People drink from the river.’”(Golding, 79) This example shows how the selfish mindsets of the boys prevented any work from being accomplished. A good summation of this theme is in the ideology of libertarianism. Its supporters believe that everyone should only look out for themselves and not care about others. It also states that it is a right for an individual to gain as much power/money/etc. As they are able. These examples support the theme well as well as show how prevalent it is in the