Lord of the Flies Essay
Lance Conrad once said “There is an undercurrent of savagery in the human psyche. Anyone who forgets this and doesn’t guard against it, risks being swept away by it.” William Golding understood this concept and brought his knowledge about it, when he wrote a book called Lord of the Flies. This book is about a group of British boys who are stranded on a remote island. The island tests their actions and views on social order. Over time this book shows a major transformation in each of the boys, being civilized to becoming savage because of their lack of social order. Ralph and Jack are two important characters in this novel. Both represent two different leaders, one civilized and one savage but throughout the book you …show more content…
At the beginning of the novel Ralph is a good leader. This is shown when he says, “if we have a signal going they’ll come and take us off … we ought to have more rules.” (Golding 42). This quote is demonstrating Ralph’s ability as a leader and how he has the right idea on what a leader should say. What he is focusing on is being rescued and having a good society on the island. He is putting in an effort to maintain order on the island as well as trying to keep it civilized. Soon the boys grow tired of Ralph and that causes him to start to lose his control over them. Ralph begins to complain: “I was chief; and you were going to do what I said. You talk, but you can’t even build huts- then you go off hunting and let out the fire. (74). This shows how quickly things are changing on the island. Ralph is beginning to show that he is not the best leader. All he is doing is complaining about what the boys are doing wrong but he does not see what is getting done right. The fact that he told Jack and his choir they could be hunters proves he does not know what he is doing. He is lacking the ability of leadership because he can not maintain the …show more content…
The boys all want rules and so does Jack. Initially Jack wants order on the island and it is shown when Jack says, “we’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages … so we’ve got to do the right things.” (42). This quote shows that Jack wants to have rules and wants to keep the boys civilized. But it is also revealing Jack’s intention later on because he is agreeing with Ralph that they should have rules so he can be involved in the leadership which slightly shows what he is trying to gain. It is ironic that he says “we’re not savages” because he transitions into one. So it is foreshadowing and giving the readers a hint on his change later on. Jack realizes he has more power than he thought and he shows this when he responds to Ralph by saying: “The rules” Shouted Ralph, “you’re breaking the rules!” “Who cares?” … “Because the rules are the only thing we got!” But Jack was shouting against him. “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong-we hunt!” (99). Jack clearly does not care for the rules anymore. All he wants to do is hunt which is becoming an obsession. He finally stands up to Ralph and begins to try to take power he has wanted since the very beginning. This shows that he is slowly changing into what he said he was not at the beginning. But near the end of the novel Jack is now a complete savage. Right after Piggy was killed Jack
Lance Conrad once said “There is an undercurrent of savagery in the human psyche. Anyone who forgets this and doesn’t guard against it, risks being swept away by it.” William Golding understood this concept and brought his knowledge about it, when he wrote a book called Lord of the Flies. This book is about a group of British boys who are stranded on a remote island. The island tests their actions and views on social order. Over time this book shows a major transformation in each of the boys, being civilized to becoming savage because of their lack of social order. Ralph and Jack are two important characters in this novel. Both represent two different leaders, one civilized and one savage but throughout the book you …show more content…
At the beginning of the novel Ralph is a good leader. This is shown when he says, “if we have a signal going they’ll come and take us off … we ought to have more rules.” (Golding 42). This quote is demonstrating Ralph’s ability as a leader and how he has the right idea on what a leader should say. What he is focusing on is being rescued and having a good society on the island. He is putting in an effort to maintain order on the island as well as trying to keep it civilized. Soon the boys grow tired of Ralph and that causes him to start to lose his control over them. Ralph begins to complain: “I was chief; and you were going to do what I said. You talk, but you can’t even build huts- then you go off hunting and let out the fire. (74). This shows how quickly things are changing on the island. Ralph is beginning to show that he is not the best leader. All he is doing is complaining about what the boys are doing wrong but he does not see what is getting done right. The fact that he told Jack and his choir they could be hunters proves he does not know what he is doing. He is lacking the ability of leadership because he can not maintain the …show more content…
The boys all want rules and so does Jack. Initially Jack wants order on the island and it is shown when Jack says, “we’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages … so we’ve got to do the right things.” (42). This quote shows that Jack wants to have rules and wants to keep the boys civilized. But it is also revealing Jack’s intention later on because he is agreeing with Ralph that they should have rules so he can be involved in the leadership which slightly shows what he is trying to gain. It is ironic that he says “we’re not savages” because he transitions into one. So it is foreshadowing and giving the readers a hint on his change later on. Jack realizes he has more power than he thought and he shows this when he responds to Ralph by saying: “The rules” Shouted Ralph, “you’re breaking the rules!” “Who cares?” … “Because the rules are the only thing we got!” But Jack was shouting against him. “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong-we hunt!” (99). Jack clearly does not care for the rules anymore. All he wants to do is hunt which is becoming an obsession. He finally stands up to Ralph and begins to try to take power he has wanted since the very beginning. This shows that he is slowly changing into what he said he was not at the beginning. But near the end of the novel Jack is now a complete savage. Right after Piggy was killed Jack