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During the 1940 s, much conflict existed between countries. People were injured, murdered, and it was complete chaos. During the span of World War II, government and societal structures were drastically changed, because of this. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, a group of children stranded on a deserted island have similar issues happening between them.
Since they dont have any adults on the island, they are left to start their own government and society. Because they are used to obeying rules and not having to depend on themselves, many problems start to occur between them, and the way they run their society soon leads to the breakdown of morality in their society. In Lord of the Flies, the main characters and their relationship with each other mirror the relationships and characteristics of the countries in WWII and the perceived breakdown of society in todays society. Ralph, the leader of the society on the island, mirrors the role of the United States in WWII. Throughout the story, Ralph has very few friends, and those that he does have are only of convenience. He acts as if he knows better than anyone else does and can trust only himself.
While on the island, Ralph is in between a dispute between Jack and Piggy, but he doesnt care enough to become involved in it, until it directly involves him, forcing him to become involved, and repeating the same actions the U. S. did during the war. Meanwhile, Jack, who is selfish and bitter, can compare to Adolf Hitler. He compares with Hitler because theyre both violent, want power, and are tyrants. Jack doesnt really pick on Piggy because he hates him, it is because he can, like Hitler, he thrived on power and helplessness.
Unlike Piggy, Ralph had power, could defend himself, and wasnt afraid of Jack, so Jack really despised Ralph. Another reason Jack can relate to Hitler is because he only wanted power and didnt care about anyone else, unlike Ralph, who wanted to help the others get rescued from the island. Since Jacks views on how society should be run differed from Ralph's, he went against Ralph, and started to cause chaos between everyone. In the middle of all this controversy, Piggy is a shy and powerless boy, who parallels the state Jewish people were in. In the story, Piggy wears glasses, has asthma, is fat, is very intelligent, and reasonable, which singles him out from the start, just like the Jews dark skin and hair singled them out from the rest of society. All throughout the story, Piggy is picked on by Jack for some reason or the other, and since Piggy is helpless and can barely defend himself, he turns to Ralph for assistance and support.
While all these aspects lead to war, they also lead to the breakdown of morality in their society. When the children first arrive on the island, everyone obeys the rules and respects one another, but after a while, there started to be a lack of respect and increased violence. Once everyone got used to it, no one cared who got hurt, so they did whatever they wanted to, whenever they wanted to. And since there was no adults on the island to control them, a problem involving respect developed. Respect wasnt the only problem in the civilization; violence was also starting to become an issue. With all the controversy between each other, more disputes were occurring.
First, it was only arguments, but since there was no order there, they developed into fights. With everyone fighting, the boys separated into two groups, Jacks group, who want to hunt and survive, and Ralph's group, who want to build a fire and be rescued from the island. With Jacks antagonism toward Ralph and Piggy, war soon broke out. Eventually a few people were killed and none of them even realized the brutality of their actions. Both of these topics mirror the sociopolitical structure of the 1940 s and the way our society would be if morality were to be broken down. The war between Piggy, Ralph, Jack and other characters in the story reflects the way our society was like in WWII.
The violence and lack of respect also mirrors the perceived breakdown of morality in our society.
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Research essay sample on Lack Of Respect Lord Of The Flies
