Lord of the Files Is an Allegory to Modern Society

Lord of the files is an allegory to modern society

An allegory is the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truth or generalizations about human existence (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/allegory.. N.p. Web. 7 Dec 2012). Authors use allegory to show the world and how we know it through there literature. The story itself doesn’t have to good but the allegory is behind it that keeps the reader interested in the story or novel. Most authors of allegory use this form of extended metaphor and overly symbolic writing to teach a moral lesson or principle. It also can be in many different ways social, religions, or political reason, and the character in the stories can use both in the literal meaning and symbolic meaning. In the story of lord of the files the allegory of modern society and how man acts when there’s no order or control.
The central concern of Lord of the Flies is the conflict between two competing impulses that exist within all human beings: the instinct to live by rules, act peacefully, follow moral commands, and value the good of the group against the instinct to gratify one’s immediate desires, act violently to obtain supremacy over others, and enforce one’s will. This conflict might be expressed in a number of ways: civilization vs. savagery, order vs. chaos, reason vs. impulse, law vs. anarchy, or the broader heading of good vs. evil. Throughout the novel, Golding associates the instinct of civilization with good and the instinct of savagery with evil.. (http://ww.sparknotes.com/lit/files.html)
Since the boys where free from adult society imposed on them, the boys marooned on the island struggle with the conflicting human instinct civilization and order and the instinct to descend into savagery, violence and chaos. The boys first tried to form a government to have some order and control on the island. Ralph was first elected leader of the group. Jack who dislike Ralph the monument he was elected leader. He displease with all polices that Ralph set and the idea of being saved off the island. To gain control of the group he uses the fear of the best the boys encounter during their trip to the mountains. Jack uses the fear of the beast to gain control saying that Ralph is a coward and doesn’t desired to be leader. He tries to encouraged the group to kick Ralph out the group the boys was scared of the situation and did not agreed with Ralph. Jack went in his own and slowly some boys left the group and joined Jack. The reason why the boys wanted meat witch Jack knew how to get since he was a good hunter an give the boys want they want. With the internal conflict between the boys with Ralph and Jack separated the group into two. This started a civil war between Ralph and Jack. A civil war is a war between two regions in the same country ("http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/civil war.” N.p.. Web. 16 Dec 2012.).

The United States represented the preference for a capitalist form of government, while the Soviet Union represented the Communist Bloc. The whole of Europe and Asia got divided, with every nation either willingly accepting or being forced into an alliance with any one side. The end of the Second World War also ushered in an era of decolonization and subsequent, liberation of many enslaved nations. These newly liberated countries battled with bankrupt economies and territorial divisions that led to an exodus of refugees. Taking advantage of the situation, the Communist and Capitalist nations began to influence the people and empower them with financial aid.

The monetary aid and alliances strengthened and fueled the rivalry between the two superpowers. A number of domestic and international military coalitions, political propaganda, armament race, espionage and technological development of the destructive kind characterized the Cold War. This space and nuclear arms race resulted in proxy wars between the pawns used by the US and USSR. Ironically, the liberated countries now became part of a bipolar world, forced to align themselves with either one of the superpower blocs. It took grit and courage for nations like Yugoslavia and India to rally a Non-Aligned Movement.

The rivalry between the two power blocs was suppressed and while the US capitalized on alliances in Western Europe and the Middle East, the Soviet Union encouraged revolutionary movements in Eastern Europe, the Asian Subcontinent and Latin America. Given below is a brief timeline that summarizes the significant events and incidences that occurred around the world in the Cold war era.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/summary-of-the-cold-war.html
There are many instances of political allegory in the story. Different characters and symbols throughout the story represent many diverse political systems, techniques and devices. The examples presented will be related to instances during the Cold War, which is when the time in which the novel was published. Fear used by leaders to gain political power. Leaders say that they will protect their citizens from whatever danger they fear. Jack uses the boy’s fear of the Beast in order to gain power over Ralph, saying that he will protect the boys from the Beast. The conch Ralph use to call the boys gather can be a sign of political power. When the conch is smashed it shows how easily order can be destroyed in a society, because no boy can speak unless he was holding the conch. So when it was smashed power of the group was up for grabs