What Is The Authoritarianism In Lord Of The Flies

Leslie Siewert
Ms. Myers
English 20-1
May 8, 2023
The Authoritarianism of Perturbation
In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, the boys stranded on the desert island show how powerful the fear of the unknown can be over people. Almost all the boys' decisions are based on fear, although the boys are not certain what they are afraid of they still form their lives around this terror. The boys try to rationalize their worry, placing it on nonexistent creatures, and yet it does not serve any purpose to help them. They all experience the anxiety, yet they attempt to handle their collective unease individually. The way fear is handled, whether toughed out and hidden or shown and dealt with, can have either positive or negative impacts on people

The boys in Golding’s novel show the reader how important it is to be open and honest and ask for help when needed, not trying to manage an uncontrollable fear by one's self. The boys' initial terror of being on the island, although well hidden behind their excitement that they did not notice right away, was the fear of the unknown. Jack sums it up the best when he says “Where’s the man with the trumpet?”(Golding, Pg 16), demonstrating the boys' dependence on adults and their collective fear of the unknown, being without constant guidance. The boys play around all day as means of coping with their panic, telling themselves that the island is a good place to be. This shows the nature of people, if they cannot understand something they will try to distract themselves or form it into something they can

The thought, ‘Will I be next?’ forces the boys to assume they must be accountable to Jack. When Jack comes out as a provider to the boys, they now know they will be held accountable to him, moreover, all who oppose him will be eliminated. There was an idea that peace could be maintained, but this book shows man's power-hungry nature, it is not enough to just have half and share the rest. Jack is a totalitarian dictator and he thinks his power is not sufficient, he wants it all. Historical examples of dictators similar to Jack have instilled a great amount of fright in people and for good reason. The unease is partially fear of the unknown, no one is aware of what will happen next, but it is also the terror of the nature of humans and themselves. People are unpredictable, it is hard to tell who will support extremist ideas, and the path to joining a gang mentality is so much easier than trying to stand for what is right by oneself. We are shown this in how so many of the boys that were once loyal to Ralph switch almost instantly with no second thoughts into Jack’s tribe. Simon is the first to realize what they were actually fearful of the whole time “What I mean is . . . maybe it’s only us.”(Pg. 96). At the time Simon speaks this, the boys all call him insane because they have no proof that they will turn so savage. The thought man has that places him above other people in his mind is a dangerous