Desire For Power In Lord Of The Flies

For thousands of years, men have desired to gain power over others so that they can accomplish their own goals. Thus, it has become human nature to desire power and control. Most often men would try to gain as much power they could possibly have by bending the rules or laws that have been put in place that would restrict them. If the rules and laws that kept the amount of power in balance were suddenly removed, the men would be the first to realize it. Their methods for obtaining more power would exponentially grow more immoral and more aggressive. However, these men that take their desire for power to this extent are the ones who are generally insecure about themselves and feel weak and worthless towards others. In the book Lord of the Flies, …show more content…
Along with his insecurities, the individual tends to be more reckless in his methods of obtaining power because his desire for more power is more intense. More specifically, when the boys start to fear the island. For example, when Ralph and Piggy approach the shore they describe the scenery to be quite sinister; "The ground beneath them was a bank covered with sparse grass, torn everywhere by the upheavals of fallen trees, scattered with decaying coconuts and palm saplings. Behind this was the darkness of the forest proper and the open space of the scar" (Golding 9-10). In other words, the boys get a bad feeling about the island and begin to start fearing it. The decaying coconuts and the darkness of the forest implies the unfortunate events of the future, which scares the littluns. This becomes the starting point for the desire of power as everyone 's level of fear begins to increase. Another example of fear fueling the desire for power is when the littluns mention the beast. Ralph and Jack hold a conversation about the littluns with Simon piping in. Ralph tells Jack that littluns are "frightened" and should build shelters so they could cope with their fears, Jack just shakes his head in disagreement and wants to hunt instead, and Simon says the littluns talk and scream "As If...the beastie or the snake thing, was real"(Golding 52). The boys ' sense of fear continue to build up as the littluns ' fear of the beast become more pronounced. This makes Jack want to hunt because he sees hunting as a source of power to help combat his fear. Furthermore, Jack 's offering to the beast also becomes the driving force of desire of power. As Jack and the rest of the hunters killed a pig, Jack cuts off its head and states that "This head is for the beast. It 's a gift" (Golding 137). At this point, Jack has become very fearful of the beast to have made an offering. His fear not only caused