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The American Dream In Lord Of The Flies

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The American dream is a shifting concept, not always clear, almost never constant. It has meant many things over the years of this country’s existence: wealth, power, hard work, happiness. But no matter what it seems to be, the American dream has always been about the underdog. Dating back to our unlikely success in the revolutionary war, Americans have always integrated that pride of improbable success into our culture, but few have ever stopped to ask whether or not the underdog is always the one we should be supporting. Golding gives a prime example of this when he shows the fear Ralph has of the tribe that threatens him in the later chapters, all culminating in a man hunt. Some might think, “Afraid of them? Ha! They’re just boys with sticks,” …show more content…

The text states “‘All right. Who wants Jack for chief?’ With dreary obedience the choir raised their hands. ‘Who wants me [Ralph]. Every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air” (Golding 23). Starting early on in the novel, Jack is declared as second to Ralph, who is the true leader of the boys. Jack makes several attempts throughout the novel to gain more power, such as taking control of the hunters. However, he remains just below Ralph’s threshold of power the entire time. Even when he makes his final stand against Ralph and petitions to take over as chief, the boys say nothing, quietly refusing to leave Ralph’s “tribe” and join Jack. Golding writes, “He [Jack] laid the conch with great care in the grass at his feet. The humiliating tears were running from a corner of each eye. ‘I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you’”(Golding 127). However, once he does manage to get some of the boys over to his side, where they do not have to fret about keeping the fire going and are free from their fears of the beast, they come flocking like flies to a pig’s head on a stick. Readers may have counted him out to begin with, but when Jack manages to get his way, he should not be

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