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Peaceful nothingness. Before the boys arrive on the island, it is picturesque, serene, and undisturbed. The boys land on the untouched island in amazement of its beauty. The island was covered in grasses, and trees, with a lagoon that was blue of all shades and shadowy green and purple (p. 10). Uncorrupted, the island was similar to the Garden of Eve until Adam and Eve entered slowly ruining its perfection Ordered civilization.
Ralph orders a civilization out of nothingness, by establishing laws in which everyone on the island has a job to do and a purpose to survive. They function like that of people all over the world, with rules, and duties, and a common goal to simply stay alive. Lack of clarity and instilled fear lead to the collapse of any ordered way of living Savage chaos. Slowly destructive changes start to occur and with the newfound fear, and lack of control, the boys begin to alter their ways of thinking, as they gradually turn into beasts. They turn to Jack, the hunter, who has completely lost his mind, in hopes that he will teach them to protect themselves from the evils of the island. What they do not realize, is that the evils of the island are really only made up of themselves.
Their civilization, or New World, was created out of absolutely nothing, but it was successfully established. However, because there are no adults, or superiors, and because Ralph is unable to effectively control and govern the boys, everything falls apart and as a result, the island burns to ashes. Thomas Hobbes once said, Governments were created, to protect people from their own selfishness. Since the chief purpose of government was to stop society from falling into disorder, an absolute monarchy, or having complete power, was best (World History Textbook, pg. 437).
In fact, Golding s Lord of the Flies proves this point, in that it is easy to establish a world by creating laws; however, the key to the success of a new world is to be able to enforce the laws in hopes of maintaining order. As soon as the boys land on the island, Ralph immediately takes control of the situation. His idea in establishing a democratic government of rules and obligations is a good one. In the beginning, everyone listens to what everyone has to say and their creation of a civilized society comes together quite quickly. From the first meeting, it seems as though everyone wants to make life on the island work, and that they all know right from wrong, good from bad. There are two keys to making and maintaining a newly created world.
First, there must be laws made so that people have guidelines to live by. We ll all have rules! Lots of rules! (p. 33). With cooperation, they have no trouble in establishing laws and a system of government.
The next key in creation and maintenance is for there to be an absolute leader, one who people will listen to. Since there aren t any grownups (p. 33), Ralph understands that one of the boys must take charge in looking after everyone. It is quite obvious that he immediately feels superior, because he announces that whoever has to conch won t be interrupted. Except by me (p. 33). The obvious symbol for any law and order that is on the island, is the conch shell.
Ralph uses this for power to call meetings, and whoever talks into the conch is always heard including Piggy. Ralph s idea of a civilized society is that everyone should have a say in the government. He was kind to almost all of the boys; however, he gave them too many freedoms and liberties, which is when their society began to fall apart. The boys would much rather play and enjoy the island then tend to it, and since there was no stress on following the rules, no one followed any of the laws originally established. Ralph s civilization fell apart because he did not know how to keep people in line or force them to obey any guidelines.
He tried to be a friend as opposed to a political leader, and when things began to go wrong, the boys became afraid, and searched for a leader who had more was powerful and brave, so that he could protect them. Ralph had no trouble in establishing order, but because he was too nice, and too swept away by the idea that they were free from following rules, he immediately lost power over the boys, which is showed by the product of absolute chaos in the end of the novel. Ralph obviously is not a successful political leader because he is incapable of enforcing rules or making people listen to him. When the boys stopped fearing living without adults, they began to fear island beasts. Since Ralph had no strength or power over them, there was no way that he would be able to defeat beasts of any sort.
Then people started getting frightened (p. 82). Therefore, on account of this fear, the boys were very vulnerable and searched for protection as opposed to friendship. Jack s idea of an organized society was much different than Ralph s. Although Jack ruled as an absolute dictator, with enough power to enforce rules and force people to do what he said, he was very unorganized. He established no laws at all, and the boys had absolutely no responsibilities. All the boys did under Jack was hunt.
The only reason that Jack was listened to was because the boys feared that they would be severely punished if they disobeyed him. Jack had the power to regulate the boys, but he did not have the willpower to make any rules to be followed. In order to create a civilized new world, there must rules and a person to enforce the rules. He failed in that he had no goals or objectives for the society to attain, and the boys had no say in how things were governed. John Locke would have disagreed with Jack s way of governing, in that He believed people had the gift of reason.
As reasonable beings, they had the natural ability to govern their own affairs and to look after the welfare of society (World History Textbook, p. 437). Under Jack, the boys go from civilization, to an environment where society no longer exists, causing the boys to become absolute savages. Since Jack is the ruler, and he has no desire for a civilized society, he gradually becomes more violent, as do the rest of the boys, and all the original rules of the island are completely forgotten. The keys to creating a successful new world and maintaining the order of this civilization are to appoint a leader and rules, and make sure that the leader is capable of enforcing the rules. Both Jack and Ralph had different views on ideal societies, just as Hobbes and Locke did. However, both of their societies failed on account of the defects of both boys.
In Ralph s situation, he successfully created a society, yet it was merely based on happiness. Things are breaking up. I don t understand why. We began well; we were happy (p. 82). Ralph lacked the ability to enforce rules once he made them in order to maintain the so-called happiness. No one truly obeyed him because he gave them no reason to.
There were no consequences for breaking the rules he just expected people to follow him in hopes that they would realize it was for the good of the society. As soon as the happiness of the boys became obstructed with fear for the beast, their vulnerability to succumb to a leader who would protect them, was immediate. Jack started off as their source of protection, and as people clung to him, he created his own society from Ralph s failure. However, Jack also failed in creating and maintaining the new world.
He was able to make the boys do anything he asked, but he didn t use his power to benefit him or the society in any way. I said you were hunters. That was your job (p. 150). He ruled as a dictator without any rules, or any desire for anything except for hunting and kill. Jack himself, turns into a savage and brings the other boys down with him, so even though they are united and follow one leader, there is no order to their world, making it absolute chaos.
Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up? (p. 180). Neither. Laws are good but being able to maintain the laws are essential as well. Ralph, the symbol of democracy, and Jack, the symbol of savagery, both fail in creating a successful new world. In order to succeed, there must be the creation of law by Ralph, and the enforcement of law by Jack. Only then will a new world be a successfully created and maintained civilization.
Ralph began with nothing, turned it into something positive, and once corrupted by fear was turned into chaos again. Jack took the chaos and with use of fear ordered it, only to create a society that had absolutely no opinion or communication amongst each other. A multitude of heartless, and thoughtless savages were created, resulting in exactly what the boys started with nothingness.
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Research essay sample on Civilized Society Political Leader
