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Through my reading of Lord of the Flies, I have concluded that the subject of the novel is adulthood. The focus of this novel is on peoples desire for a more civilized and structured society. In this novel, adulthood does not represent a state of existence, but life that seems to exist as rational and structured. At the beginning of the novel after the reader is introduced to Piggy and Ralph, they discover the beautiful conch, resting in the weeds of the shoreline. Piggy says, We can use it to call the others. Have a meeting.
Theyll come when they hear us. (p. 12), gleaming with pride. This quote illustrates the adult imbedded in him, drawn from the influence of society. Living under the influence of leadership and politics, the suggestion of holding a meeting was instinctive and automatic. Piggy drew upon his lifelong experiences gained from his parents and other adult influences and applied it to a situation. Piggy decided that the situation lacked the order and structure that he was accustomed to. After the boys gathered into a mock assembly by the sounding of the conch, one yelled A chief!
A chief! (p. 18) in desperation for leadership in the midst of an awfully boisterous crowd. Lets have a vote, (p. 18) yelled another. The boys were not accustomed to a society that was ungoverned as it was in the adult word. They wanted to recreate that structure to maintain that sense of order in the group of boys. Ralph won the vote for chief in account of his image. The boys saw that there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out (p. 19) and they sensed a certain hint of adulthood in his manner that they relied on at home.
Under the constant leadership of adults, a child grows acquainted to their temperament and the boys saw this in Ralph. With a convulsion of the mind, Ralph discovered dirt and decay. (p. 82) At home, the boys were raised with and became habituated to proper European mannerisms and dress passed down to them from parent and other adult mentors. To act upon these mannerisms and proper dress became second nature when around adults, though on the island, they had lost that adult influence. Suddenly, Ralph was struck with this new mood of comprehension (p. 82) that he had lost that visible image of being proper that he had been raised with for so long. Some of the others had lost even the most fundamental mannerisms that they would have performed in the midst of adults. Ralph, under the mental shadow of adult influence, reacted to this, adhering to the mannerisms he was taught in his life.
If your taken short you go right along the beach to the rocks (p. 86) he said in a simple manner. Ralph began to see things change negatively and being raised with adults that made the decisions, he felt that following their behaviors would lead to greater success. The three boys stood in the darkness, striving unsuccessfully to convey the majesty of adult life. (p. 101) The order and structure that had been developing since the discovery of the conch had finally fallen apart in the eyes of Ralph, Simon and Piggy. After existing under adult leadership for a lifetime, the boys in their minds came to understand that social order and structure existed only in adulthood. Grown ups know things. They aint afraid of the dark.
Theyd meet and have tea and discuss. Then things ud be all right. (p. 102) This quote from Piggy describes his desire for capable leadership like that of his adult leaders that he knew from home.
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Research essay sample on Order And Structure Adult Influence Ralph
