Lord Of The Flies Democracy Vs Dictatorship
Jessica Duncan
Mrs.Burrows
Honors English 10
9/15/14
The Clash of Two Governments: A Democracy vs. A Dictatorship
“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?" –Piggy (91) In today’s world democracy and dictatorships still square off against one another, for example, the U.S. versus North Korea, Israel vs. Palestine, and Russia vs. Ukraine, just to name a few. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding represents both of these types of governments and leadership styles in the form of two characters: Ralph representing a democracy and Jack representing a dictatorship. The author utilizes many symbols throughout the book to support each. For democracy there is the idyllic setting, the conch, and the fire while in the case of the dictatorship, …show more content…
“We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages” he tells the group (40). With Ralph as the new leader, he sets rules for everyone to follow, giving order to the island. One of the chief symbols of these rules and orderliness is the conch. Before any rules were set, Ralph would blow the conch to signal a “voting time” or a meeting where "every boy would get a chance to…have a vote” (20). The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution grants the right to freedom of speech, which leads to their participation in free elections. Thus, the conch is a symbol for the First Amendment and the polling booth. When a boy has the conch it’s his turn to speak freely, and “vote.” However, when the conch “exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist,” it signaled the end of the island’s democracy, too …show more content…
In Ralph's democracy, it plays a significant part, “the fire is the most important thing” (142). The fire represents many different things. It embodies order and responsibility. The boys have to keep the fire going or they think they will never be rescued. As a result, Ralph sets up a plan on who takes care of the fire on what day. Second, the fire symbolizes hope. If the fire goes out they have absolutely no hope in being rescued; the fire serves as a light at the end of the tunnel
Mrs.Burrows
Honors English 10
9/15/14
The Clash of Two Governments: A Democracy vs. A Dictatorship
“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?" –Piggy (91) In today’s world democracy and dictatorships still square off against one another, for example, the U.S. versus North Korea, Israel vs. Palestine, and Russia vs. Ukraine, just to name a few. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding represents both of these types of governments and leadership styles in the form of two characters: Ralph representing a democracy and Jack representing a dictatorship. The author utilizes many symbols throughout the book to support each. For democracy there is the idyllic setting, the conch, and the fire while in the case of the dictatorship, …show more content…
“We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages” he tells the group (40). With Ralph as the new leader, he sets rules for everyone to follow, giving order to the island. One of the chief symbols of these rules and orderliness is the conch. Before any rules were set, Ralph would blow the conch to signal a “voting time” or a meeting where "every boy would get a chance to…have a vote” (20). The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution grants the right to freedom of speech, which leads to their participation in free elections. Thus, the conch is a symbol for the First Amendment and the polling booth. When a boy has the conch it’s his turn to speak freely, and “vote.” However, when the conch “exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist,” it signaled the end of the island’s democracy, too …show more content…
In Ralph's democracy, it plays a significant part, “the fire is the most important thing” (142). The fire represents many different things. It embodies order and responsibility. The boys have to keep the fire going or they think they will never be rescued. As a result, Ralph sets up a plan on who takes care of the fire on what day. Second, the fire symbolizes hope. If the fire goes out they have absolutely no hope in being rescued; the fire serves as a light at the end of the tunnel