NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Throughout the history of time, there have been many incidents where a government has been overthrown by the people and how these revolutions took time to be pursued. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the same effect takes place with the uprising of the people and dictatorship overthrowing the democracy. When a group of boys, age six to twelve land on an island with no adult supervision, the boys set up a colony with rules and order. Soon conflicts set in with uprisings, evil and murder along the way. When revolutions take place, it takes a while, the government gradually breaks down. This is what happens in Lord of the Flies, Jack who leads the uprising slowing takes charge with key symbolism placed along the way by the author.
Jack leads the revolutionaries against the first chosen leader Ralph. Ralph was elected leader, which showed they had a democracy, then when Jack slowly gets the trust of the people he takes over and overthrows Ralph. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding the stranded boys begin by setting up a democratic society, but soon it begins to fall apart and eventually becomes a place where there s a violence and destruction. At first the boys had a fair system of voting and general will. Majority rules was the rule of thumb. They elect a leader democratically, and by popular vote they start deciding what has to be done.
They have rules for the meetings and they make laws for what is allowed and what is not. The symbolism used is the power of the conch, the conch brought the boys together, and gave anyone that holds it the right to speak. This meant the boys couldn t argue, nor get into fights. Throughout the novel the power of the conch starts to deteriorate. In the beginning everyone was happy, each person had their own job, there was equality.
The conch and Piggy s glasses were intact, symbolizing the society being also together. Representing something tangible with another key aspect of order and democracy, which is intangible. In the beginning of the novel the boys were happy, not knowing evil was going to take over. The destruction of the democracy slowing became evident with many key elements and symbols to show this. The boys used the glasses to start a fire. Fire through history shows one s power, Piggy, by owning these glasses shows how he has power.
One symbol was the hit Jack gave Piggy, this smack in the face broke one of the lenses on his glasses. This represents two things, one the rise of Jack s power and the decrease in Piggy s power. Only one of the lenses broke which shows the start of the decline for Piggy, Ralph, and the unity in the society. Also one day while Jack and the hunters are out looking for food, the rescue fire that the hunters were responsible for went out while a ship was passing near by.
This ignites a feud between Jack and Ralph, which also stirs up hate. Another way of symbolizing the society has gone mad was when the hunters went out to hunting and killed a pig so savagely, they stuck a stick through its rectum, which was very unnecessary. They didn t just kill the pig they made it suffer and did all kinds of nasty things to it. Then they cut off its head and hung it in the woods as a gift to the beast. This is the real element of breakdown for the once, civilized and society with order and unity. Also the hunters started to wear masks of paint to try to hide under their shame and misery.
Through the novel you see many symbols to show the society of order begins to fade and gets taken over by evil and hate. When the boys lose their orderly society there are more symbols that show the power struggle between good and evil. Jack announced he would be the leader of his own tribe. The glasses that represented order on the island, were stolen by Jack and his revolutionary tribe. This showed the END of order and democracy. It also showed how Jack stole the order and education in the boys.
Also the boys start to praise the beast, becoming savages and engaging in spiritual dancing and singing. The ultimate act of savagery, was when they brutally killed Simon, an innocent boy who never hurt anyone. They killed him for no reason, and didn t apologize after. They also stole fire from Ralph and Piggy, as well as excluding them from their tribe.
One way of symbolizing Piggy s death was, when he died he was holding the conch in his hands and when one of Jack s partners pushed a boulder to kill Piggy the boulder smashed the conch into a million pieces. The conch which one-day had instated order and democracy now broke and along with it came the rise of evil, with Jack. The boys after killing Piggy run after Ralph to kill him. They end up burning the whole island right before getting rescued.
This is another symbol the author uses, in the beginning of the novel the boys cause a scare on the island now they end up burning the whole island down. Throughout the novel a steady rise in evil was seen and a steady decrease in order was seen and with that it was evident to see an evil take over. Throughout the history of time, there have been many incidents where a government has been overthrown by the people and these revolutions took time to pursue. At first the boys had a fair system of voting and general will, creating order. The destruction of the democracy slowing became evident with many key elements and symbols to show this. When the boys lose their orderly society there are more symbols that show the power struggle between good and evil.
In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding the stranded boys begin by setting up a democratic society, but soon it begins to fall apart and eventually becomes a place where there s a violence and destruction.
Free research essays on topics related to: democratic society, key elements, struggle between good, orderly society, william golding
Research essay sample on Struggle Between Good William Golding
