Political Film And Fiction

9 Pages 2156 Words

Henry David Thoreau was a writer and philosopher in the 1800’s. Thoreau believed that people should be careful of setting their goals of excess too high. He believed that people should try and rise above the animalistic impulse they had and pursue a lifestyle that was pure and not materialistic. Thomas Hobbes, a writer in the mid 1600’s on the other hand thought that people were inherently selfish and needed a strong coercive Government in order to keep them in line. Thoreau and Hobbes’ theories are shown in the works of Lord of the Flies, Roger and Me and The Godfather.
In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses little children, deserted on an island to show that humans need a strong central government in order to survive. When that strong central government dissolves the children resort to selfishness and animal instincts to survive. At first the boys are listening to Ralph and chores are getting done. He orders that teams of the children keep an eye on the bonfire and make sure it is always lit. This is their only chance at a rescue in Ralph’s mind. After awhile Jack decides he wants to lead. Jack gains a following because he doesn’t look out for the long-term survival on the island. He is more concerned with having fun and the children end up following him because although he doesn’t seem to be the best leader the children are caught up in the freedom that Jack supplies them.
The children enjoy the primal urge to hunt and soon after they capture a wild boar they want a bigger game. They start to chase after Ralph to kill him but when they follow him onto the beach there is a surprise waiting. The military has shown up to rescue the children. Golding uses children to show how humans have these inherent animal desires in all of us. Once the struggle for power started up on the island the order was lost. Without a strong authority the children resorted to animal instincts and selfishness in order to live their...