Democracy In Lord Of The Flies

Decent Essays
The conch represents democracy in Lord of the Flies. Whoever has the conch has the right to speak; it becomes a symbol of authority. Ralph and Piggy represent democracy, while Jack represents dictatorship. Both Democracy and Dictatorship play a role in war. These play a role in World War 2 especially, because of Hitler representing Dictatorship, and the United States representing democracy. Jack uses force and manipulation to get what he wants. The children are hungry on the island, and if they side with him they will get beat and abused, but they will also have food. Food is a significant part of survival on the island. Without food, Jack would most likely have no power. Ralph and Piggy on the other hand care about everyone having a say. This

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    What gives jack power is that he has most of the boys and ralph only has two on his side, and that can be kind of intimidating because they can steal things from ralph and ralph cant do nothing because he can end up killed. Jack is a pretty good manipulator because he made all of the boys who are stuck on the island go on his team because he is saying that he’ll give them food and shelter and ect. and i think that 's why most of them went also because jack called ralph a wimp because he doesn 't wanna hunt and can make everyone turn against each other, but not good enough to be a good leader on the…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jack is a character of extreme leadership and strict authority while Piggy is a character that takes a backseat role and an is an easygoing character. It is likely that those who he learned under taught him to act like a leader much like Hitler in that Jack took power away from the other power on the island. Jack demonstrated his authority of Ralph by making his own rival tribe in hope that it could become more powerful than Ralph’s. Furthermore, Jack uses this power to assert his dominance over other kids on the island, including Piggy. But while most would think Jack would leave Piggy alone because he is not an immediate threat to his rule, Jack abuses Piggy verbally and physically.…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses symbolism to show that power and leadership can either benefit a civilization or destroy them. “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us-” (page 16)…

    • 115 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Being completely unphased by the death of another human being, Jack sees Piggy’s death as he would see the death of a pig or wild animal. This proves how a lack of influence from authority and civilization has caused Jack to lose his moral integrity, showing no sentiment in response to a situation as such. With Jack wanting to eliminate Ralph so that there can be no dispute over who is the true leader, he sends his group of boys on a manhunt for the old chief. Jack rallies up every boy to go after, and kill Ralph, and “[smokes] him out [by setting] the island on fire” (192). Long term isolation from the guidance of civilized society and authority has caused Jack to completely lose his moral integrity.…

    • 1239 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Symbols in lord of the flies Spears, conches, and pig heads. These are all symbols in William Golding’s lord Of the flies. In lord of the flies the conch, spears, and pig head are all signs of power and evil That helps the boys that are stranded on an island kill and betray each other. In lord of the flies, the conch is a source of power and authority trough out the Novel, this is shown in “yet most powerfully there was the conch.…

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jack appears in times of crisis, usually when Ralph cannot mend a situation, such as dealing with the beast on the island, and in times of doubt when Ralph cannot reassure the boys, such as times when boys fear the beast. First, Jack finds the perfect moment to take power. Jack makes Ralph sound like a bad leader when he observes, “‘He’s [Ralph] like Piggy. He says things like Piggy.…

    • 1243 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To survive any survival situation a person will need their wits about them, know how to set up shelter, find food and water, and start a fire to name a few. In Lord of the Flies civilization and savagery are in constant turmoil. The struggle for power which will cause death and uncertainty. Lastly what the conch represents and what it means. The Lord of the Flies is order versus chaos, a power struggle and beacon of meaning within the island of boys.…

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Have you ever thought about what it might be like to get stranded on an island with your friends? Would you be able to take charge or vote for another to leader, get food and water and shelter, and get rescued; or would problems arise and complicate things? Well, getting stranded on an island is exactly what happened in Lord of the Flies by William Golding, but in this book problems arise pretty quickly. There is a constant struggle for power between the two main characters, Ralph and Jack, as well as other problems such as the presence of a supposed beast and no adults around to look after them. Plus, there is a lot of arguing throughout the book even though there is a conch shell that's supposed to help them show who is talking during meetings and such.…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Civilizations contain many aspects that govern the fate of them. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding, using allegory, establishes a microcosm with several aspects that correlate to those of civilization. On a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean, several British schoolboys crash-land. Through the use of the stranded, unchaperoned boys, he shows how the presences of these aspects affect civilization. He brilliantly uses simple objects such as the conch, the glasses, and the fire to illustrate these features of civilization.…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Lord of The Flies by William Golding presents conflicts that arise when society is uncivil. Within this novel, there are many items that have a deeper meaning. One of these important objects is the conch, which symbolizes civilization and order. Through the escalating tension surrounding the conch, Golding demonstrates that civilization cannot be kept in order forever because of individual ideas. After the tragic plane crash that stranded a group of British boys on an island, something as simple as a shell is so appealing to two of these boys, Ralph and Piggy, before they even know what role it will play in their lives on the island.…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lord of the Flies The story Lord of the Flies from William Golding is a lot alike to the events of World War II also, the storyline of Lord of the Flies is comparable to the timeline from World War II. The two main characters that make Lord of the Flies similar to World War II is Jack and Ralph, they both wanted to be leaders. Each person in the book shows resembles to a person or thing that happened in the World War II. The main focus on this essay to show the similarities between this book and World War II.. Lord of Flies is known to be a fiction story of World War II, written a short while the War ended.…

    • 1106 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ralph had made simple requests of all the kids equally that were going to help them get rescued but Jack had different plans. Jack was in control of all of the choir kids and started to affect the minds of the others by tempting them with food. This was easy to do because being on the island and deprived of food, children are naïve and are easily distracted by lures of precious food. The children were frightened by the situation and mentally they turn back to their most simple of functions: food, water, shelter, and sleep. “Jack got everyone meat and went to share with them are earned a lot of respect from the children” (74) which later really helped when he tried to overthrow Ralph and get all the kids to be a part of his tribe.…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jack felt that he was better suited for the role as the chief so he explained to the boys why Ralph was not a successful leader. Jack diminished the power that Ralph had in order to satisfy his craving for control. He used his capabilities, talents, and carefree attitude to obtain power and take the away the control that Ralph had achieved at the beginning of the book. After his speech, Jack seemed like a better fit for the position of chief which caused the many boys in Ralph’s tribe to side with Jack. Jack’s persuasion allowed him to become the chief of a new tribe that he created on the other side of the island away from Ralph’s now impuissant group.…

    • 1305 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “‘Where’s the man with the trumpet?’ ‘There is no man with a trumpet. Only me.’” (Golding 20). This was a question asked by a young boy.…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Conch In the Lord of the Flies, the conch is used to represent a symbol of authority and order on the island. When the boys first land on the island, Ralph spots the conch amongst the weeds but it is Piggy who knows what it is and realizes that is “ever so valuable.” Piggy teaches Ralph how to blow the conch and initially, the loud sound of the conch is used for calling meetings and henceforth is instituted as a symbol of power and authority. ‘Where the conch is, that’s a meeting.…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays