Lord of the Flies written by William Golding puts a twist on another novel called Coral Island. Stranded on a dessert island, a group of boys has to learn how to survive. Ralph, a fair-haired boy, and Piggy, a fat boy, are the first boys the reader meets on the island. Piggy tells Ralph of their plane crash and inadvertently informs the reader of the boys' situation. Piggy and Ralph learn of other boys on the island by blowing through a conch shell Ralph found. The reader then meets Jack and his choir, Sam, Eric, Roger, and other children on the island. In order to get off the island the boys have to face different tests and tragedies. Golding shows the true human nature through the boys on the island. Lord of the Flies is eye opening and changes my thoughts on the basic human's nature. Golding reveals that all humans want or need power through leadership, civilization, and knowledge of the unknown.
English: Senator Ralph H. Cameron of Arizona (c. 1...
Ralph Henry Cameron
Your New Best FriendsI never acknowledged the different powers people have and their need to have that power. Golding's novel showed me two examples of power through his characters. Jack's character is one example of a demanding and aggressive power. Jack wants to be chief from the beginning of the novel, but Ralph becomes the chief. When Ralph sees Jack's mortification, Ralph then put him in charge of the choir. "The suffusion drained from Jack's face," Golding explains, after Ralph returned the choir over to Jack. Jack's aggression came out through hunting, killing, and the children's fears of Jack. "He tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up," Golding explains about Jack's obsession for hunting. Jack's influence on the boys shows through his tone. "His tone conveyed a warning, given out of...
Critical Analysis
Yours is a good essay on William Golding's widely read novel. You seem to have hit nicely on the major theme in Lord of the Flies. In his novel, Golding seems to be saying that man's nature is essentially dark and that the civilized front most people put on is merely a facade. He seems to feel that without laws and the ability to enforce them, society would deteriorate into anarchy. It's a disturbing thought but he may have been right. Your report was well expressed and thought out Well done!
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