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William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

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An allegory can refer to a character, setting, item or event that has a literal and figurative meaning often having a moral and where people can often draw connections to renowned figures, fables and ideas. Nobel prize winner William Golding’s Lord of the Flies displays various layers to its story by having its prominent characters and objects personify the most central allegory of the book which is his idea of human nature. Lord of the Flies stars many young boys who are stranded on a deserted island where they are off to fend for themselves without any grownups or rules. Taking place in times of war, this story reflects the author’s view on how humans no matter who they are have their deep primitive animalistic desires. And …show more content…

Since the very start of the book with no presence of adults, Ralph is the one who leads the boys into functioning like a democratic well-mannered society. He does so with the conch, as whoever wields it has the right to speak and is used to conduct meetings. Though out the entire book Ralph tries to organize and maintain everyone by stating rules, giving out jobs and living in a civilized manner. These are all signs to show that Ralph is heavily attached to keeping a well-behaved society and maintaining a normal lifestyle even when there are no other boys around. Upon first being introduced Jack Merridew is described as “Inside the cloak he was tall thin and bony” (Golding 16) which is an allusion to the grim reaper, the most well-known personified representation of death. Jack starts out as a good person, respecting and following the rules that Ralph has established despite having desiring survival over civilization. This is shown his care with handling the conch, a symbol for law and order even when he was angry “he laid the conch with great care in the grass at his feet” (140). This was after Jack expressed his negative opinion on Ralph’s leadership and tried performing a mutiny but it still shows that he has reverence for a proper society. Jack however also was greatly unsatisfied with not being in power in the first chapter, and gradually started showing his inhumane animalistic personality. As he proceeds to “plan his new face” (66) with colored charcoal, it is foreshadowing how he is changing into a more violent person. The story also transitions with majority of the boys following Jack instead of Ralph at the end, depicting how inherit animalistic human nature eventually took over them despite having good intentions in the first place. Just as the conch represents civilization and is connected to Ralph, Jack has the knife to show his

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Ralph represents civilization and order, while Jack symbolizes the opposite, savagery and anarchy. This is shown throughout the movie where Ralph always wanted to have fixed rules and jobs for everyone, while on the other hand Jack ruled by force and had only one unspoken rule: that whatever he said was law. They were both appealing as leaders for a variety of reasons, such as their confidence, authoritative disposition, and their seniority. Ralph was appealing because he solved problems, like starting a fire, and when they first reached the island, he was the one who brought them all together with the conch. Jack was appealing because as time went on, Ralph slowly had more difficulty keeping order, causing the boys to lose faith in him as a

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Ralph establishes discipline, and order, and shows affection towards the other boys. Prioritizing the group's welfare, Jack is becoming more and more savage, thinks less of others, and thirsts for

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Golding successfully presents the conch shell as a symbol of power as the boys strive to be rescued. During the exposition of the novel Ralph and Piggy discover the conch and soon begin to understand its role on the island. Ralph shouts, “We can use this to call others. Have a meeting,[...]” (Golding 16). The conch is used to assemble the boys and make things civilized.

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He tries to argue that the conch is not necessary, as people should just say what they believe. This represents Jack’s idea that they don’t need to be civilized and instead should just do what they want. Jack rejecting the conch symbolizes his dismissal of civilization and manners. The conch is also a huge symbol of Ralph and his power. It illustrates Ralph’s role and power as leader, but as the conch loses its worth, Ralph loses control over the boys.

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The conch shell plays a big part in Ralph’s authority and order. His leadership skills, along with the conch by his side, is what made the other kids on the island listen and idolize him. Golding glorifies the power of Ralph and his conch shell in order to represent control, which is important to the ongoing order and regulation of the boys throughout their time on the island. Without the shell, there would be no order among the lives of the boys on the uninhabited island. In addition to Ralph promoting the power of the conch, Jack also agrees and emphasizes that in order to run a society, there must be a strong and rational set of rules that needs to be followed.

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Ralph notices the discord but resolves it by enforcing, “I 'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he 's speaking” (Golding 33). The conch represents the discipline of the boys and their civilization. Since Ralph thought to use the conch as a speaking system, the conch represents his leadership and authority over the boys. It also represents his authority because he is the only boy that does not need the conch to speak.

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Throughout the novel, Jack consistently demonstrates a disregard for rules and a desire for dominance and power. When he leads the boys in hunting and violence, he taps into their savage and primal instincts - including Ralph’s. As Jack proclaims, "The conch doesn't count at this end of the island" (Golding, 150) it becomes evident that he prioritizes dominance and power over order, authority, and the established rules on the island. In the midst of their destructive rivalry, Jack’s failures teach Ralph important lessons. Witnessing Jack’s inability to maintain the signal fire makes Ralph recognize the value of collaboration, communication, and planning for survival.

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Then Ralph also looks out for the little uns and tries to make the society function properly by making everyone's opinions heard: "give him the conch" (Golding 39). He has a sense of responsibility although he undergoes control of the boys but has little uns and Piggy to support him. Golding uses the conch to symbolize civilization and order be interpreted as a “representation of the ego, which governs the id” (Bloom). So far in the beginning Jack and Ralph have the same idea of maintaining civilization and order to survive. After Ralph and Jack explored the whole island they come together to discuss laws and order to maintain survival, until getting rescued.

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The later shift of leadership to Jack highlights the impetuous decisions humans make to ensure survival. Just before the conch is shattered, the personification of power and authority in “power lay in the brown swell of his forearms: authority sat on his shoulder,” shows the simplicity for Jack to rule revealing his intimidation. On the other hand, Ralph is presented as sensible and rational where his ability to adhere to social morality, “I’ve got to have time to think things out,” demonstrates civility. However, he too becomes enthralled by the experience of hunting and killing due to society’s disappearance. The metaphor, “something flittered there in front of his mind like a bat’s wing.,” signifies the island’s influence on everyone, including Ralph.

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Ralph is on his own without a civilization and while Jack’s tribe is growing with Samneric being forcefully added to the tribe, Ralph is left with only himself. For the first time, Ralph is alone and has no one to help him. He has no way of calling an assembly because of the conch being lost along with Piggy, Ralph seems to lose hope as he as well turns into a savage having to fend for himself. Once Ralph starts being hunted by Jack’s tribe, Ralph is forced to play the role of the prey against the predators. Jack during the hunt does not care if he hurts or kills Ralph all he cares is that they put his head on a stick with two sharpened ends.

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Throughout the book the conch has been the symbol of civilization and Jack has just told Ralph the conch is pointless now. Jack has taken all the rules set and broken them because he realizes that everyone is scared of him and he is in power. All Jack has ever wanted was power and he would stop at nothing to keep the power and title as

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Humans appear to be good-natured, but deep down they might be truly corrupt. There are many good acts that humans may perform, but that doesn’t mean they are an honorable person. The Lord of the Flies William Golding claims that human nature is more evil than good. This is an accurate statement because humans can be cruel and power hungry.

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While many of the boys play and have fun he is worrying about building tents for shelter and keeping the fire burning to produce smoke. Ralph also uses the conch that represents law and order in which the person that holds the conch has the right to speak. His main wish is to be rescued and go home, so he tries to get the boys to work in a civilized way that would

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What make humanity unique is we manipulate our environment, changing nature when nature doesn’t suit us. Historically, these changes have targeted elements we interact with. However, with the advent of genome mapping and editing, humans are now able to change ourselves, or more accurately, edit our genome. Right now, gene editing is being used for gene therapy, to either add, remove, or edit a gene in order to ensure a therapeutic effect in either a person or an embyro. Gene therapy is not ethically immoral and should be allowed, although proper clinical and regulatory constraints must be underdone.

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For example, “[Piggy’s] specs” (60) are used to start the fire, which in itself, is a symbol of hope and returning home. However, Jack is preoccupied by his instant gratification in killing the pig that he forgets to keep the fire going. Ralph and Jack argue, and Jack is tempted to attack; he smacks Piggy’s head, causing the lens of his glasses to break (60). Jack’s id, and his desire to satisfy his anger without foreseeing the consequences, results in the boys decreasing their chances at being rescued. Additionally, after Jack and Ralph develop their respective tribes, Jack is driven by the need to stay “on the right side of [the beast]” (144) as well as prove to his tribe that he holds all the power.

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