William Golding’s child lunatics competing for power and control in the book Lord of the Flies are not as strange as they seem if the book’s publishing date is taken into account. 1954 was nine years after the end of World War Two, a war in which the Western democracies triumphed over the fascist countries of Germany, Italy, and Japan. Golding must have had the recent war in mind when he penned Lord of the Flies . Many of the book’s events and characters correspond to events and people in World War Two and the Holocaust. The three things that stand out most are Jack’s seizure of power, the death of Simon, and the character of Roger.
The ideal ways Jack planned to seized power were similar to Hitler’s, for example both leaders promised …show more content…
Bands of Nazis attacked Jewish homes and businesses, looting, beating, and killing people. Jack and his band of followers did a similar thing when they attacked Jack’s own scapegoat, “the beast”. “A thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainty. The shrill screaming that rose before the beast was like a pain. The beast stumbled into the horseshoe. ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’ (pg 152)” “The beast” turned out to be Simon, who was killed that night. Jack didn’t care. He was in control of the boys who mortally wounded “the beast.” on his orders just the way Hitler ordered others to do his dirty work. More boys would follow him now since he was the one to rid them of the thing of their nightmares. And if they didn’t follow Jack, they would have to deal with Roger.
At the beginning of the book Roger was described as a quiet boy who kept to himself. By the end, Roger was the chief executioner of Jack’s tribe. The Nazi leader Roger could be compared to is Heinrich Himmler, the chief of the SS. Both Roger and Himmler liked killing and torturing, many times in brutal ways. “The yelling ceased and Samneric lay looking up in quiet terror. Roger advanced upon them as one wielding a nameless authority. (pg 182)” As Himmler did to those who resisted the Nazis, Roger torture Samneric shortly after
The ideal ways Jack planned to seized power were similar to Hitler’s, for example both leaders promised …show more content…
Bands of Nazis attacked Jewish homes and businesses, looting, beating, and killing people. Jack and his band of followers did a similar thing when they attacked Jack’s own scapegoat, “the beast”. “A thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainty. The shrill screaming that rose before the beast was like a pain. The beast stumbled into the horseshoe. ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’ (pg 152)” “The beast” turned out to be Simon, who was killed that night. Jack didn’t care. He was in control of the boys who mortally wounded “the beast.” on his orders just the way Hitler ordered others to do his dirty work. More boys would follow him now since he was the one to rid them of the thing of their nightmares. And if they didn’t follow Jack, they would have to deal with Roger.
At the beginning of the book Roger was described as a quiet boy who kept to himself. By the end, Roger was the chief executioner of Jack’s tribe. The Nazi leader Roger could be compared to is Heinrich Himmler, the chief of the SS. Both Roger and Himmler liked killing and torturing, many times in brutal ways. “The yelling ceased and Samneric lay looking up in quiet terror. Roger advanced upon them as one wielding a nameless authority. (pg 182)” As Himmler did to those who resisted the Nazis, Roger torture Samneric shortly after