lord of the flies Essay

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Lord of the Flies

The book “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding depicts mankind as bad,

because even though goodness still shines through a person deep inside more seem

greedy, and hostile. I believe humankinds greed takes over them and what really matters

goes to the side as they become more jealous of what their neighbor has. I also believe

that power gets to peoples’ heads because no one really wants to be a follower but some

must be in order for the real leaders to show. In “Lord of the Flies”, Jake one of the main

characters’ fights for power against Ralph for power over the group of boys stranded on

the island, Jake also shows his inner “savage” to get boys to follow him other than Ralph

for uses thinking. The last reason I believe why mankind is bad is what it ends up

teaching to the boys who follow Jake.

The first reason why I believe mankind is more bad is because of the way they

portray how the boys on the island act, to how it’s like in our lives today. Although a not

very older boy still fights for power and refuses to be under another. This boy’s name

is Jack and he is not going to let Ralph take control of his group of the boy’s, as he starts

to resent Ralph. Jake finally giving up listening to Ralph makes his own group and tells

the boy’s “Listen, all of you. Me and my hunters, we’re living along the beach by a flat

rock. We hunt and feast and have fun. If you want to join my tribe come and see us.

Perhaps I’ll let you join. Perhaps not.”, (Golding 140). This is the action of Jake, who

cares more about hunting the pig and finding the beast then getting off the island.

Although his emotions might have got the best of him. Golding is trying to show us how

also convincing people can be. Also how they trick others into following what they’re

saying.

The second reason for my belief that mankind is more bad, then good is that Jake,

the boys’ he now controls become savages and beast of their own. “Faces of white and

red and green rushed out howling, so that the littluns fled screaming. . . The three others

stood still, watching Ralph; and he saw that the tallest of them, stark naked save for the

paint and a belt, was Jake.” The actions they take are attacking everyone not to kill but to

scare as they try to make a point, and Jakes perception is that he is now aware that he can

try to take control to make a new tribe. Golding here shows us that Jake is so obsessed

with power he takes in by force.

My last and final reason is that when it comes down to it in the end that greed and

struggle for power will lead to a loss in something or a failure in something. In this case

the control got so far ahead and the fighting got so out of hand that they lost a dear

innocent friend. “The rock struck piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch

exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing,

with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning

over as went. Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the

sea.
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