Before I even began reading Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, I had already chosen which essay prompt would be of the most interest for me to write. While a few of the other given options were quite tempting, I finally decided on the topic that spoke to me the most, and being that I’m planning a future in law enforcement, I thought this one was perfect! This book is most likely one of the best suited to display the importance of authority, it’s message spoken very clearly to the reader. In this novel, you see the depiction of three different forms of societal living; their government-run home-life, and then of course, the two attempted rules under Ralph and Jack.
When our characters first find themselves on a deserted island, their …show more content…
Where there had once been order and careful planning was now replaced by complete disarray and chaos. Boys that were once working together with the common goal of getting rescued were now substituted for uncivilized savages that followed their leader like a mindless pack. Jack’s character only reinforces the idea of just how important authority and leadership can be. He only thinks for himself; what can he do to make himself better off? With little to no regard for those around him. Jack, unlike Ralph, values no ones opinion but his own, acting more like an unorganized dictator than a true leader. Piggy makes an excellent point when he says, “which is better- to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?” (164). The correct answer is plain and clear, any human being should be able to respond, but Jack, immaturely, feels the need to be in charge and have his, and only his, own way. So he instead chooses to manipulate the rest of the children on the island into believing that he’s the best possible leadership option for them. Because why would they try to make a signal fire when they could use it for cooking meat on instead? When I began reading this book, I was expecting it to be slightly gory and full of comic relief like other similarly placed novels that I’ve read before had been. I was completely wrong. This novel, surprisingly, left me absolutely chilled to the bone and completely uneasy, most of which had to do with the way so many of the children blindly followed Jack’s ego instead of Ralph’s reasoning (121,
When our characters first find themselves on a deserted island, their …show more content…
Where there had once been order and careful planning was now replaced by complete disarray and chaos. Boys that were once working together with the common goal of getting rescued were now substituted for uncivilized savages that followed their leader like a mindless pack. Jack’s character only reinforces the idea of just how important authority and leadership can be. He only thinks for himself; what can he do to make himself better off? With little to no regard for those around him. Jack, unlike Ralph, values no ones opinion but his own, acting more like an unorganized dictator than a true leader. Piggy makes an excellent point when he says, “which is better- to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?” (164). The correct answer is plain and clear, any human being should be able to respond, but Jack, immaturely, feels the need to be in charge and have his, and only his, own way. So he instead chooses to manipulate the rest of the children on the island into believing that he’s the best possible leadership option for them. Because why would they try to make a signal fire when they could use it for cooking meat on instead? When I began reading this book, I was expecting it to be slightly gory and full of comic relief like other similarly placed novels that I’ve read before had been. I was completely wrong. This novel, surprisingly, left me absolutely chilled to the bone and completely uneasy, most of which had to do with the way so many of the children blindly followed Jack’s ego instead of Ralph’s reasoning (121,