Lord Of The Flies

3 Pages 692 Words

“Lord of the Flies”
This novel starts out with a plane crash carrying boys from a boarding school who were returning home during a war. The plane crashed on an island. Two of the characters in the novel, named Ralph and Piggy, are introduced as they meet in the lagoon on the island. Piggy finds a conch shell while he was walking on the beach and shows Ralph how to make a noise with it. Ralph uses the conch to seek other possible survivors from the plane crash—as he blew on the conch other boys came to him. Ralph decided to have a meeting to set down rules that they would live by, during their stay on the island. They decided to vote and Ralph was declared the ruler over them and Jack, who came with the other boys, was voted chief of the hunting group for provision of food. This reflected their priorities, Jack hunting, while Ralph tried to maintain some resemblance of civilization on the island.
Their society reflects ours by showing different types of power that is used today. Democratic power is shown when choices and decisions are shared among the boys on the island. For instance, the conch represented power to whoever held it. Ralph portrays the role of government in any modern society. While he wants to satisfy the wishes of the public, he must also realize that certain rules of behavior must be followed in order to prevent chaos. Unfortunately chaos defeats order. The barbaric quality that arises in Jack throughout the novel is really a rebellion against society and what it stands for. He grew tired of taking orders from Ralph and of his participation in the democratic system that they made. Elements of civilization disappear on the island, due to the boys reverting to a more primitive part of their nature, by turning into savages and chaos replaces democracy. I believe the author is showing us the need for government to exist in society due to chaos that could come about without rules and regulations.
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