Corruption In Lord Of The Flies
“How are Ralph, Winston and the imperfections in their characters used to contrast the corruption surrounding them?”
One can perceive a character not just by what they do that distinguishes them, but what they do that any normal person would do. “Lord of the Flies” and “1984” both involve corrupt governments, with manipulative figures such as Jack and Big Brother respectively. Ralph and Winston share a natural susceptibility to the attraction of this corruption, and the authors use this weakness to reveal much more about power and the people in the two novels. Each character has faults that tend to be shared by humans in general, and with these the scale of corruption in the environments and the many facets of human nature are slowly revealed. …show more content…
The authors’ use this apparent invulnerability to highlight corruption when they succumb to it. For example, when Ralph joins in the “demented but partly secure society” his reasons for being attracted to the corrupt tribe leave a strong impression on the reader because Ralph, who the reader had thought to be ‘pure’ had fallen to the corruption. This implies the great attraction of the tribe’s corrupt nature, and its ability to convert even those who rejected it. In the case of “1984”, Winston falls to “love” Big Brother, when O’ Brian tortures him to betray Julia. For many chapters their love had been a recurring theme, a powerful bond between them, and for corruption to make Winston turn in his love implies its scale and power. Winston’s feelings about the corruption’s inevitable consummation of a rebel are shown when he says, “You think there’s no other way of saving yourself, and you’re quite ready to save yourself that way.” This tells us that his life was threatened by the corrupt government’s torture, showing again how powerful and undeniable the corruption is in
One can perceive a character not just by what they do that distinguishes them, but what they do that any normal person would do. “Lord of the Flies” and “1984” both involve corrupt governments, with manipulative figures such as Jack and Big Brother respectively. Ralph and Winston share a natural susceptibility to the attraction of this corruption, and the authors use this weakness to reveal much more about power and the people in the two novels. Each character has faults that tend to be shared by humans in general, and with these the scale of corruption in the environments and the many facets of human nature are slowly revealed. …show more content…
The authors’ use this apparent invulnerability to highlight corruption when they succumb to it. For example, when Ralph joins in the “demented but partly secure society” his reasons for being attracted to the corrupt tribe leave a strong impression on the reader because Ralph, who the reader had thought to be ‘pure’ had fallen to the corruption. This implies the great attraction of the tribe’s corrupt nature, and its ability to convert even those who rejected it. In the case of “1984”, Winston falls to “love” Big Brother, when O’ Brian tortures him to betray Julia. For many chapters their love had been a recurring theme, a powerful bond between them, and for corruption to make Winston turn in his love implies its scale and power. Winston’s feelings about the corruption’s inevitable consummation of a rebel are shown when he says, “You think there’s no other way of saving yourself, and you’re quite ready to save yourself that way.” This tells us that his life was threatened by the corrupt government’s torture, showing again how powerful and undeniable the corruption is in