What Does The Rising Sun Flag Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

During WW2 the Japanese nation changed its flag to the Rising Sun Flag which is the original Japanese flag but with red bands expanding from the original red circle. The Rising Sun Flag represented how the Japanese nation was using its power to spread and oppress other countries through imperial aggression which grew their empire throughout Asia. Japan believed that they should be in charge and rule over the world. In William Goldings’s novel Lord of the Flies, a group of boys is stuck on a deserted island, and they have to somehow form a civilization. There are many objects and tools on the island that are used to possess the idea of power in their group. The protagonist, Ralph uses a conch shell to create law and order among the boys, while

Piggy is always oppressed whenever he has the conch making it seem powerless. When Piggy gets mad at the boys for letting the fire go out, the boys result in violence. When Jack hears this he hits Piggy and what happens is: “Jack smacked Piggy's head. Piggy's glasses flew off and tinkled on the rocks.” (71). The boys become violent towards Piggy because the conch’s rules don’t apply to him. This shows how without the conch the boys will become violent because they will act toward each other just like how they act to Piggy. Piggy’s broken glasses make everyone devastated because with one side broken, it is harder to form a fire. Fire represents a power that can be used to show dominance over the boys. It can harm and force people into doing things. The conch can’t do this because it only has a metaphorical meaning and the boys lose interest in that. This new meaning and idea of the glasses show how there is more power in them than the conch. This makes people not care about the conch anymore which first formed them as a group. When the group is having a discussion, “Jack was the first to make himself heard. He had not got the conch and thus spoke against the rules; but no one cared” (87). The conch is only a temporary role of power because if you’re not holding it, you don’t get a right to say. But,

When the conch loses its meaning and purpose, the boys don't need it to show their dominance. When Jack's tribe ambushes Ralph’s tribe to get the glasses so they can have the power on the island Ralph realizes, “They didn’t come for the conch. They came for something else” (168). Ralph’s tribe assumes he is gonna take the conch because in their eyes it represents power. Jack doesn't take the conch because he knows that it doesn't show power anymore because it can’t cause chaos to manipulate people into thinking it has power. Jack can only see power through violence and destruction. Due to the conch having no meaning, Jack seeks Piggy’s glasses which he would use to cause his own belief in power which is destruction. When Jack takes his glasses, “He was chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled piggy's broken glasses” (168). Jack ended up taking Piggy's glasses and he now has all the power on the island in his hands. Now with the power in the wrong person's hands, he uses it uncontrollably which ends up in the destruction of their society and remaining hope on the island. Jack’s tribe wants to eliminate Piggy and Ralph because they’re the ones who are stopping him from ruling over the tribe on the island. One of Ralph's tribe members