Fear In Lord Of The Flies Essay
No one really knows the cause of war. Is it human nature? Why would people fight against their own? People are just trying to survive together, yet there is no peace. Society takes war for granted and does not understand the causes for it. Lord of the Flies helps spell out the main causes or ideas for war in our society, from the perspective of young children. The story of the boys on the island help the reader understand how fear affects every aspect of the boy’s actions. Fear is one of the main causes for war and humanity has no way of obliterating this emotion because of the human nature to defend beliefs and survive. Fear attributes to all components of war. Fear leads to other emotions, which can change the demeanor of people
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to turn them against each other. The gaining of power can change a person to cause war in their society. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph earns power in the democratic way; a vote. Jack, on the other hand, demands power in the autocratic sense. This can be seen when Jack tells Ralph, “And you shut up! Who are you anyways? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing-. Just giving orders that don’t make sense (Golding 91). Jack does not understand why the boys are looking up to Ralph, but the boys are doing this because of a unanimous decisions. Jack is used to having all the power, so not having it makes him uneasy. Throughout the novel, there is a constant struggle of power between the two boys. The boys are both fearful of their new environment, each other, and survival. A real world example of this would be during World War II. Hitler took power when his country was in distress. This surge of power went to his head and took a very bad turn. Once Jack discovers his new found passion, his little innocent mind goes down a dark path, similar to Hitler. Jack has learned that he enjoys hunting and killing. This is one of the first signs of a twisted mind in the novel. The boys chant, “Kill the pig. Cut their throat. Spill their blood.”, when hunting (Golding 69). This mentality of killing and having power twists the minds of the young boys to eventually kill their own. Another factor to the cause of war is self-sacrifice. While self-sacrifice can help some causes, it can also be a cause of war because of such a strong belief for something. In the beginning of the book Ralph is quickly voted to be chief of the boys on the island. Jack is also quickly noted to be in control of his choir boys. In the quote, “the choir boys belong to you, of course” (Golding 23). Ralph seems to understand the causes of fighting for control over these boys. He in turn gives up control ,of the choir boys, to his counterpart to try to keep the peace. This sacrifice, made by Ralph, was good in the sense of keeping peace, but in the end Jack had more boys under him to create war with Ralph. Again Ralph gives up his leadership to Jack to try to stabilize the island when they boys were hunting for the beast, “Jack. The beast might be on the other side. You can lead again. You’ve been” (Golding 108). This passion for wanting to keep the peace is what gets Ralph in trouble. Possibly, if Ralph had always taken control, the boys wouldn't have been in such a war. Self sacrifice can manifest itself in many ways. In society today, there are suicide bombers who sacrifice their lives to kill innocent people. This is a cause of war today that reflects on the contribution of sacrifice. The boys on the island do not go to that extreme, but sacrifice was an effect of the wars between Ralph and Jack. It is a common human attribute to want to belong somewhere; whether in a clique or a belief, people naturally fall into some sort of category.
This characteristic of people can be a cause of war because fear can kick in to push someone to force themselves into a group. People just want to belong and this is very prevalent in Lord of the Flies. Immediately in the novel, the boys are divided in two; team Jack and team Ralph. The choirboys and other hunters are part of team Jack and the others are team Ralph. This division causes major problems between the beliefs of priorities of the boys and their survival on the island. Even though Jack is part of a group it seems throughout the book that he has identity issues. When he discovers that he can paint his face it is like he changed identities; “the mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (Golding 64). Another example is, “the chief was sitting there, naked to the waist, his face blocked out in white and red” (Golding 160). At this moment it was not only Jack that had changed identities, but also the chorus boys. It turned from Jack and the choir to the chief and his tribe. This ideology of changing identities is a main cause for war and is also the natural nature to
survive. While fear causes war in many ways, there is an argument against this opinion. It has been studied that fear has positive effects on people. The article, “The Psychology of War” explains how war is a good thing for the human mind. “war brings a sense of unity, in the face of a collective threat. It binds people together”, this quote states the opposition to the cause of war being fear (Taylor, Steve PhD). While fear can pull people apart it can also bring people together because of a common goal; to stay alive and to survive. In Lord of the Flies there are also parts that help support this argument. Power is a predominant theme in the novel; normally with a negative connotation, but Ralph sometimes shows the opposite feeling. Ralph says, “I’m chief. I’ll go. Don’t argue” (104). Ralph takes ownership of his leadership, takes on the responsibility, and understands that people are depending on him. These effects of power help form the good qualities in a person. In today’s society war can be seen in daily life. Whether between two girls or two countries, war is common. It will never be proven why war is caused, but it can be stated that fear is a main cause. In a world where war is accepted and practiced on the daily, is a world where war will never go away. Humanity wants to have peace, yet this “want” causes wars in itself. Nothing will end war in this world. Unless it is possible for every single human to have the same beliefs and ideologies, war and fights will stay in the lives of society forever.
to turn them against each other. The gaining of power can change a person to cause war in their society. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph earns power in the democratic way; a vote. Jack, on the other hand, demands power in the autocratic sense. This can be seen when Jack tells Ralph, “And you shut up! Who are you anyways? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing-. Just giving orders that don’t make sense (Golding 91). Jack does not understand why the boys are looking up to Ralph, but the boys are doing this because of a unanimous decisions. Jack is used to having all the power, so not having it makes him uneasy. Throughout the novel, there is a constant struggle of power between the two boys. The boys are both fearful of their new environment, each other, and survival. A real world example of this would be during World War II. Hitler took power when his country was in distress. This surge of power went to his head and took a very bad turn. Once Jack discovers his new found passion, his little innocent mind goes down a dark path, similar to Hitler. Jack has learned that he enjoys hunting and killing. This is one of the first signs of a twisted mind in the novel. The boys chant, “Kill the pig. Cut their throat. Spill their blood.”, when hunting (Golding 69). This mentality of killing and having power twists the minds of the young boys to eventually kill their own. Another factor to the cause of war is self-sacrifice. While self-sacrifice can help some causes, it can also be a cause of war because of such a strong belief for something. In the beginning of the book Ralph is quickly voted to be chief of the boys on the island. Jack is also quickly noted to be in control of his choir boys. In the quote, “the choir boys belong to you, of course” (Golding 23). Ralph seems to understand the causes of fighting for control over these boys. He in turn gives up control ,of the choir boys, to his counterpart to try to keep the peace. This sacrifice, made by Ralph, was good in the sense of keeping peace, but in the end Jack had more boys under him to create war with Ralph. Again Ralph gives up his leadership to Jack to try to stabilize the island when they boys were hunting for the beast, “Jack. The beast might be on the other side. You can lead again. You’ve been” (Golding 108). This passion for wanting to keep the peace is what gets Ralph in trouble. Possibly, if Ralph had always taken control, the boys wouldn't have been in such a war. Self sacrifice can manifest itself in many ways. In society today, there are suicide bombers who sacrifice their lives to kill innocent people. This is a cause of war today that reflects on the contribution of sacrifice. The boys on the island do not go to that extreme, but sacrifice was an effect of the wars between Ralph and Jack. It is a common human attribute to want to belong somewhere; whether in a clique or a belief, people naturally fall into some sort of category.
This characteristic of people can be a cause of war because fear can kick in to push someone to force themselves into a group. People just want to belong and this is very prevalent in Lord of the Flies. Immediately in the novel, the boys are divided in two; team Jack and team Ralph. The choirboys and other hunters are part of team Jack and the others are team Ralph. This division causes major problems between the beliefs of priorities of the boys and their survival on the island. Even though Jack is part of a group it seems throughout the book that he has identity issues. When he discovers that he can paint his face it is like he changed identities; “the mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (Golding 64). Another example is, “the chief was sitting there, naked to the waist, his face blocked out in white and red” (Golding 160). At this moment it was not only Jack that had changed identities, but also the chorus boys. It turned from Jack and the choir to the chief and his tribe. This ideology of changing identities is a main cause for war and is also the natural nature to
survive. While fear causes war in many ways, there is an argument against this opinion. It has been studied that fear has positive effects on people. The article, “The Psychology of War” explains how war is a good thing for the human mind. “war brings a sense of unity, in the face of a collective threat. It binds people together”, this quote states the opposition to the cause of war being fear (Taylor, Steve PhD). While fear can pull people apart it can also bring people together because of a common goal; to stay alive and to survive. In Lord of the Flies there are also parts that help support this argument. Power is a predominant theme in the novel; normally with a negative connotation, but Ralph sometimes shows the opposite feeling. Ralph says, “I’m chief. I’ll go. Don’t argue” (104). Ralph takes ownership of his leadership, takes on the responsibility, and understands that people are depending on him. These effects of power help form the good qualities in a person. In today’s society war can be seen in daily life. Whether between two girls or two countries, war is common. It will never be proven why war is caused, but it can be stated that fear is a main cause. In a world where war is accepted and practiced on the daily, is a world where war will never go away. Humanity wants to have peace, yet this “want” causes wars in itself. Nothing will end war in this world. Unless it is possible for every single human to have the same beliefs and ideologies, war and fights will stay in the lives of society forever.