Preview

Lord of the flies theme essay

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
889 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Lord of the flies theme essay
A highly effective community is made up of people serving in different roles as a cohesive unit. If everyone has the same role, the community would not be as effective and productive as it is suppose to be. No one is perfect, meaning that everyone has their own strengths and weakness. For example, I am stronger in math, my strength and at times struggle in writing, my weakness. I believe that if we each use our strengths to improve on our weaknesses then, we ultimately make a community stronger as a shole. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses symbolism, conflict and evolution to portray Ralph as an immature young boy who develops into a civilized young man against all odds .

According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, an adult is defined as grown up and mature. There are reasons young boys or girls can not run for president. They are immature and still discovering who they are as a person, nevermind leading others. Children explore different ideas and activities to figure out what they believe and help define who they are over years with adult guidance. In this novel, Ralph and a group of young boys are forced to live and cooperate together as a community. They base their views purely on observation and not experience. Almost immediately they elect a leader by raising hands. “Every hand out side the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air. Ralph counted. ‘I’m chief then.’ The circle of boys broke into applause. Even the choir applauded; and the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification. He started up, then changed his mind and sat down again while the air rang. Ralph looked at him, eager to offer something. (Golding 23)” Ralph was elected the leader for a group of immature boys even though he himself was no different than most of them. Every child questions some of their own decisions or doubts their own abilities as Piggy did when he

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies Essay

    • 1157 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Life and people are full of diversity and courage; however, the unknown can make young vulnerable minds similar and fearful in their reactions. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of once, young civilized English boys’ become fearful of an imagined beast. They fear a beast because of what they have let their imagination produce. Humans fear what is unknown. Piggy, Ralph and Jack are all uncertain as whether a beast really existed, and all showed signs of fear. Simon, on the other hand, knew the beast was all in their heads therefore he had nothing to be afraid of. As Piggy, Ralph and Jack are all sceptical, Simon remains true to his beliefs. These four examples explain the views of each character in the novel.…

    • 1157 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Lord of the Flies tells the story of British schoolboys, who in attempt to be transported away from the ongoing atomic war, is instead stranded on an island after their plane crashed. In their attempt to survive, they of course need a leader. The need for a leader arises a conflict that in turn plays throughout the story in the form of the protagonist, Ralph, and the antagonist, Jack. Ralph, the protagonist, is portrayed by Golding as charismatic by appearance. This is apparent in the first chapter, in the lines “But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive apperance...” (pg. 22). Even though the boys could see that Piggy was the one with the knowledge and Jack with authority, the boys chose Ralph as their 'chief' because of his charismatic appearance. This instantly creates a conflict between Ralph and Jack, which Golding highlights in the first chapter as well; “...the freckles on Jack's face dissapeared under a blush of mortification.” (pg. 23) The conflict will then heighten as the…

    • 1490 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Most people experience losing control at one time or another. This often leads them to feel powerless and unsure. In the first nine paragraphs of chapter 7 of Williams Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the protagonist, Ralph relates these feelings to the readers. Jack gaining power and the boys becoming uncivilized creates feelings of helplessness and fear in Ralph.…

    • 334 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies Essay

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Children are traditionally portrayed as innocent and pure. However, in the novel Lord of the Flies, the boys stranded on the island turn from a group of proper, English school boys to uncivilized savages. Adults place a nonexistent innocence on children; all humans are born with evil tendencies. Throughout the novel, William Golding reveals that not even children are purely innocent. William Golding reveals this through the controllability and power that fear has over humans, the lust for violence that humans are born with and the natural desire for power that humans have.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The same themes often come up in many works, not due to plagiarization, but because these themes are reflective of human nature. The novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, depicts the regression of innocent, little boys into primitive savages when tossed onto an island with no sense of civilization. As each boy slowly transforms into a savage, civilization tears away its facade, revealing the evil that was always there. Eventually, after a couple of deaths, a ship of soldiers find the stranded children in the middle of their hysteria. Themes of the story involves fear, civilization, power, innocence, and more. Lord of the Flies shares many themes with Breaking Bad, The Revenant, and No Country for Old Men.…

    • 1556 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    When life throws scary and dire situations at you, some believe it is a test to see a person's true colors, and how that person reacts under extreme pressure and conflict. In situations like these, leaders are born. In The Lord of the Flies, Ralph becomes a frontrunner as the “chief”, or leader in the story. Ralph struggles to maintain a civil relationship between all the boys, but still remains the more appropriate leader, including his civility, his conflicts, and his purpose.…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This journal will be reflecting on my experiences from the past two years of high school English. There were quite a few parts of the curriculum that interested me and units of study that I enjoyed. Within those two years, I have learnt what learning strategies and what methods of planning have and haven’t worked for me. Based on what I learnt about my abilities in English in grade 9 and 10, I have made goals that I’d like to reach by the end of this semester.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies Essay

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In The novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding in 1954 a group of British boys is on a plane that crashes onto an island. As the boys attempt to fend for themselves, distinct personalities emerge. Piggy, who is bullied and teased, is a symbol of maturity. Meanwhile, Ralph is elected chief when they first arrive on the island, but he loses his leader ship to Jack. He is a symbol of optimism. Jack is evil and is a symbol of savagery.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding tells a story of a vast group of English schoolboys who become stranded on an island due to a plane crash. They learn of each other's existence when Ralph blows a conch shell and holds the first meeting. Along with Ralph, there is a group of choir boys, younger boys who they call "littluns", and a boy named Piggy. The boys vote for Ralph as "chief." The choir boys already have a leader, Jack. Jack feels that he has more qualified skills than Ralph does and that he should be the leader. The boys stick to their choice because Ralph brought them all together. As the reader continues to read the novel, he or she can see that Golding uses the two main characters, Ralph and Jack, to contrast the different leadership qualities that they both possess. The best leader of the boys in Lord of the Flies is Ralph because he shows great leadership qualities, such as being civilized and courageous throughout the novel.…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the book, Ralph stands for democracy, ‘we’ll have to have hands up like at school’ In William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies Ralph though not the stronger person, demonstrates a better understanding of people than Jack which gives him better leadership qualities. Ralph displays these useful human qualities as a leader by working towards the betterment of the boys' society. He knows the boys need stability and order if they are to survive on the island. He creates rules and a simple form of government to achieve this order. Jack does not treat the boys with dignity as Ralph does. Ralph understands that the boys, particularly Piggy, have to be given respect and must be treated as equals. This makes Ralph a better leader as he is able to acknowledge that he was not superior to any of the other boys. Ralph's wisdom and ability to look to the future also make him a superior leader. Ralph has the sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. He insists on keeping the fire burning as a distress signal. Ralph's leadership provides peace and order to the island while Jack's leadership makes chaos.…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Lord of the flies essay

    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages

    « The silence of the forest was more oppressive than the heat, and at this hour of the day there was not even the whine of insects. Only when Jack himself roused a gaudy bird from a primitive nest of sticks was the silence shattered and echoes set ringing by a harsh cry that seemed to come out of the abyss of ages. Jack himself shrank at this cry with a hiss of indrawn breath, and for a minute became less a hunter than a furtive thing, ape-like among the tangle of trees. Then the trail, the frustration, claimed him again and he searched the ground avidly. By the trunk of a vast tree that grew pale flowers on its grey bark he checked, closed his eyes, and once more drew in the warm air; and this time his breath came short, there was even a passing pallor in his face, and then the surge of blood again. He passed like a shadow under the darkness of the tree and crouched, looking down at the trodden ground at his feet. »…

    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Piggy's Leadership

    • 1665 Words
    • 7 Pages

    An effective leader is a crucial piece to a society’s success because they will help the society reach it’s fullest potential, Without one, the society will become violent and unstable jeopardizing all lives within it. In the book Lord Of the Flies, a group of young boys deserted on an island together, so they resolve to building a society and electing a leader to help themselves function correctly. A majority of the boys choose Ralph as their leader, but he is not an appropriate leader. While in command, he manages to lose a full human being, and then stay in denial about the loss. Afterwards, he sees Jack and Piggy in a conflict, and instead of terminating it, he favors Jack. In one situation, he seems entertained by Piggy's humiliation.…

    • 1665 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of English boys are trapped on an island without any adults which may seem like paradise. In the book a group of boys who have never met before, have been stranded on an island after their plane crashes. They try to find others and try to choose a leader which results in a group of savage hunters to be formed. Eventually their days on the island make them forget civilized behavior and when the confusion leads to a manhunt, the reader can see that the boys show the concealed side of savagery. Though there is fear in the boys about the island and what lies beyond it, the fear spreads through everyone and it takes charge of the boys’ lives and their fear destroys them, making them evil and someone entirely different. The novel shows that people are fierce at heart and sooner or later they are going to go back to the nature of evil that exists in humans. The boys from The Lord of the Flies are not set to act in an evil way, but the impulsive evil within them cause them to act in such a way.…

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ralph, the hero of the story, symbolizes the civilized and orderly aspects of society. He proposes they form a democracy when electing a leader .Back home in England, he must be accustomed to a democratic government so on the island he tries to recreate that and gets elected chief. Ralph models his ideas on what he’s seen others do. He borrows from his school experiences when pleading with the boys: “Another thing. We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school… We’ll have rules”. Ralph is also shown as a sympathetic and caring person, as when he compassionately apologizes when Piggy is “hurt and crushed”. Ultimately, Ralph is a good leader because “he asks the group how to govern itself. He sets up a democracy in which the boys share leadership and everyone is able to voice his opinion” . Ralph acts more as a president than an absolute monarch; he takes into account what the others think and uses that to form a just society, demonstrating that he is the more civilized out of the other boys.…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ralph uses more of a democratic method. He allows others to contribute ideas. In the beginning of the novel when the boys first discuss who should become the leader, Ralph brings forth the idea of voting, “'Let's have a vote,' 'Yes!' 'Vote for chief!'” (22), showing that Ralph is fair and willing to agree with others. Ralph gave the other boys the opportunity to decide who their leader would be. In doing so, Ralph would be seen as the better leader of the two boys since as he is willing to contribute to the entire group as a whole and is not just considering himself. Furthermore, the best of Ralph’s democratic leadership is shown when the boys are faced with deciding whether to create a fire or hunt for the pig. Ralph, being more logical than Jack, thinks ahead to the future and how the fire could possibly be seen from afar and save their lives. In this passage, “The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don’t keep a fire going? Is fire too much for us to make?” (80), Ralph stresses the idea about how the fire could save their lives and get them off of the wretched island. He knows the fire is their hope to ever returning home. For this reason, Ralph would be the more effective leader over Jack because he cares not only for himself, but for the other boys on the island.…

    • 752 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics