ipl-logo

Totalitarian Government In Lord Of The Flies

902 Words4 Pages

The Lord of the Flies is a story about a group of boys that become deserted on an island during World War II. Many countries in World War II had different forms governments. Germany and Japan had a dictatorship, Russia embraced Communism, Italy had totalitarian and fascism, and the United States had a democracy. Initially, the kids decided to have a democracy with rules; “Lots of Rules!” (Golding 33), according to Jack, and elect Ralph as chief to make sure the island was run smoothly without adults. It didn’t work out as a democracy, so different governments evolved on the island. Some of the forms of governments shown in Lord of the Flies are totalitarian, republic, and anarchy. After Ralph and Jack have an argument about Jack’s hunters in Chapter 8 that led Jack to say “I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you.” (Golding 127) and create his own totalitarian government with some of his choir kids, known as the savages. A Totalitarian Government is a government where they don’t like people that have different opinions and the government usually has dictatorial tendencies over the aspects of life (Dictionary.com). One of Jack’s leadership styles is totalitarian related. Jack’s totalitarian style first shows on Page 22 in this quote “‘A chief! A chief!’ ‘I ought to be chief,” said Jack with simple arrogance ‘because I’m chapter chorister …show more content…

Piggy and the Choir) and wants to keep the power he has with the choir and be the chief of the island. A republic was created when Ralph and Jack hold a vote for chief and when they both created rules for the island. Another government style Jack has is Anarchy, because he uses propaganda (i.e. fear) to make the boys follow his order and because Anarchy is shown the most by kids who are desperate to survive on the island. Some of the forms of governments shown in Lord of the Flies are totalitarian, republic, and

Show More
Related
76 Words | 1 Pages

In the book, The Lord of the Flies, the boys’ are unable to establish a successful government that is led by an absolute monarch and incorporates a strong justice system. The novel illustrates a simple scenario that highlights the consequences of an ineffective government. With a society similar to the stranded boys, modern day governments are bound to fall into destruction and death if a sovereign leader and a fair and equal justice system aren’t

Read More
301 Words | 2 Pages

When the boys are first on the island, they elect Ralph as leader even though Jack repeatedly states he should be in charge. “I ought to be chief,” said Jack with simple arrogance, “because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing a C sharp.” (page 22) Jack is self absorbed from the beginning and becomes upset when Ralph is elected leader.

Read More
1511 Words | 7 Pages

How Absolutely does Absolute Power Corrupt? Stranded, alone, no adults in sight. The boys in Lord of the Flies by William Golding were being evacuated from their school during the war, when their plane crashed on a small, uninhabited island. All adults were lost in the crash, only boys of various ages between twelve and six survived. Someone needs to be in charge, right?

Read More
607 Words | 3 Pages

When the first meeting took place and the leader was being decided Jack stood up and stated, “I ought to be chief, “because I’m chapter chorister and head boy” (22). Although, he wasn’t elected to become chief he demonstrates “simple arrogance” (22) enough to position himself as commanding person. Thomas Hobbes illustrated a human frightening enough to control over everyone else and Jack is an intimidating human being capable of controlling people. Hobbes’s type of leadership is exactly how Jack

Read More
1088 Words | 5 Pages

Democratic power can be used to control a society, as well as establish a closeness as civilians. To lose sight of this can mean the corruption of a civilization caused by the lack of order. One’s choice of independence in order to better the chances of their survival requires complete dedication and willingness to risk. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Ralph loses his democratic power due to his failure to ensure survival and protect the boys as a leader. Ralph’s failure to lead the group is due to his initial and chronic independence and inability to compete with Jack’s followers, accounted for mainly by fear.

Read More
555 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding there is an authoritarian character named Jack. Thomas Hobbes, a philosopher, would make the conclusion that Jack will eventually rule the group in a monarchy type government. Even though he attempts to be diplomatic, Jack always resorts to using fear to gain his power, embodying the philosophies of Thomas Hobbes. Jack always shows his power over the other kids by being angry and calling them names. “Shut up” said Jack.

Read More
870 Words | 4 Pages

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a novel that revolves around the concept of civilization versus savagery. The boys argue about points that eventually split the boys amongst themselves. These disputes come up multiple times over the course of the novel. One of which being the fight over the leader of the boys. Some believed the leader should be Jack while others believed it should be Ralph.

Read More
1469 Words | 6 Pages

The oppressive leader in Lord of the Flies is the antagonist, Jack. Jack is not only oppressive, but incredibly authoritarian. When Ralph won the leader position, Jack “ took command of the hunters, the forces of naked power. “We'll have rules!” he cried excitedly.

Read More
835 Words | 4 Pages

“Power is dangerous. It attracts the worst and corrupts the best.” When the young boys first gathered after the crash, they were civil, mostly well behaved boys until the need for power took advantage of them. Two crucial symbols from the novel are the sow’s head and the conch shell. Each of these symbols represent power however, their powers have different meanings.

Read More
1187 Words | 5 Pages

The Lord Of The Flies by William Golding takes us to an abandoned island, where there is a fight for leadership among boys. Jack and Ralph were friends but when civilization is tested. Jack turns to savagery. Ralph struggles to survive and bring back order and civilization.

Read More
681 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph and Jack compete to have the title of chief, this illustrates Golding's message that in society dictatorship can be more successful than democracy. Characters in this novel resemble people in WWII. Jack is a symbol of dictatorship and Ralph is a symbol of democracy. Though in the beginning of the novel Ralph had control, Jacks dictatorship caused him to take total control. Between the two boys Jack is the more successful leader.

Read More
496 Words | 2 Pages

Near the end of their time on the island, Piggy, Sam, and Eric are the only ones left with Ralph, and Jack, who appears as “a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear” (Golding 168). Jack starts to get violent, and what was fun when they first got to the island become attempts to kill. At this point, Jack has fully taken over, and the only thing left for him to do is kill Ralph. Lord of the Flies exemplifies how when one person has all of the power, there is always somebody else that wants it more than that person. Ralph is not against Jack, nor does he want to fight with him for the chief position, but ambition and violence overtakes Jack, and he turns into a dangerous savage.

Read More
773 Words | 4 Pages

The first difference between Ralph and Jack is that they have different ways of organizing things on the island. Ralph wants to lead everyone to work together to get off the island in a civilized order. Jack also wants to lead everyone but not in the same, properly ordered way as Ralph. When they first meet on the island, everyone who was stranded on the island wanted to be organized into some type of governing body so that they were ordered.

Read More
286 Words | 2 Pages

In the Lord of the Flies, we learn that everyone has a savage inside of us and While the Lord of the Flies was originally an allegory to World War 2, it also relates to today’s current events around the world. It relates to the American system of government in the ways of elections, the general runnings of the country, and the effects of the military and law enforcement on life. In the Lord of the Flies, There are two “candidates” that could possibly become the leader. This is extremely similar to the American election system because Jack and ralph represent the two political parties.

Read More
660 Words | 3 Pages

(2, 192). Jack on the other hand, is forced to become savage by his hidden colonising behaviour. The desire of leadership and the feeling of having superior qualities also makes him violent. “I ought to be a chief;

Read More

More about Totalitarian Government In Lord Of The Flies

Related Topics

Open Document