Comparing Lord Of The Flies And The 5th Wave

For my compare and contrast essay I chose two books that I enjoyed. The books I chose to read were: Lord of the Flies and The 5th Wave. Lord of the Flies is a Classical, Young-adult, Fiction novel. The author is William Golding. This book is based on a plane crashing onto an unknown island carrying young boys ages six through twelve. It was described by the main character, Ralph, that the plane had been shot down by a fighter-jet that had mistaken their plane for one of the enemies they were at war with (8). The boys quickly realized that there seemed to be no adults on the island with them and began taking advantage of this. As a group they decided that is a necessity that they build a camp, collect plenty of food and water, and collect firewood to help them maximize their chances of survival. As a result, the boys came to a decision of creating a government. In this government, there was a chief
and then everyone else had their responsibilities that they had to take care of each day. Although the boys had a plan as to how they were going to be able to survive and, nonetheless, getting rescued, weird things began to happen and it seemed as though it became a game of every man for themselves. Alliances were formed where one group was trying to kill the other group and no one trusted anyone. The 5th Wave is Young-adult, Science Fiction novel. It is written by Rick Yancey. In The 5th Wave, aliens bring chaos to the world in five different waves. Cassie Sullivan, the main character, has to find a way to live on her own after her parents and brother are taken and never seen again. She lives her teenage life scavenging through old, abandoned stores and houses that are no longer inhabited by humans. Cassie searches and searches for where her family went but does not have any clue where to look. She finds many people throughout the story in which she could team up with but does not know if she can trust them, taking into consideration the aliens disguise themselves as real humans and then when you are least expecting it, kills you. She does eventually find a group of ten or so teens her age that she knows she can trust. She acts as a leader in the story and strives to figure out a way for her and her “friends” to survive. As mysterious things begin to happen in this story, Cassie loses all she loves and all her friends except one, Evan Walker. She does not know whether she can trust him or not, but he does end up doing things that save her life. In the falling action it becomes a questions of whom to trust and whom not to trust. I chose these two books because they display a similar theme and moral.
In my personal opinion, these two stories have a theme of Individualism vs. Community. In Lord of the Flies, the theme of Individualism vs. Community plays a huge roll. One of the main concerns in the novel is the fear of one child being more powerful than another. In the community, the characters feel as though they are not treated equally whenever the chief gets a little too big for his britches. The boys begin to revolt against the leader and conflict arises. Individuals put a halt to their responsibilities and others begin suffering the consequences. In The 5th Wave is similar to this because as the aliens begin to attack the community, major stores begin to shut down and people begin not having what they need to survive. In all reality, if we do not work as a community, we do not get the things we need and want. If everyone had to fend for themsleves, some may not get the same amount or the necessary amount for their life. As a result in both of these stories, it is every man for
themselves. These stories are different only in a couple of ways. Other than the obvious difference with the invading aliens in The 5th Wave and being stranded on an island in Lord of the Flies, there are not many differences. The only notable difference is the main characters and the way they live their lives.
In The 5th Wave, Cassie Sullivan is a sixteen year old girl who has survived the alien apocalypse. She is very secluded and does not like to show out in front of other people. She is kind-hearted and does not want to do anyone harm. When it comes to her younger brother Sammy, she is always super protective. She is a very helpful person and will lend a hand whenever she feels as though it is needed. Cassie changes as the story progresses, she trust no one, she begins to hesitate whenever it comes to helping someone because she does not know who they actually are and devotes her life to finding her little brother Sammy, who was abducted by the aliens. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph Merridew is a twelve year old boy who is elected as the leader of the islands “government”. He is an outgoing and charismatic young boy who likes things to be done his way. As things begin to happen throughout the story, Ralph becomes jealous as he receives competition by another character who wants to become the leader. He becomes very rude and ags on a lot of drama. People lose a lot of respect for Ralph and overthrow him as their leader. These characters are similar because they both have the qualities of being a leader. Even though they make mistakes, people look up to them.