Lord Of The Flies Research Paper
Lord of the Flies Group Theme Essay You can be the mighty snake slithering along its own path to hunt for food or you can be in a pack of wolfs hunting with your brothers and sisters. This is the great battle between working as an individual or as a community. In William Golding’s book Lord of the Flies he expresses this battle of Individual vs. Community through his three major characters Piggy, Jack, and Ralph. Piggy is a boy who is always concerned about himself and his well being, Jack is a boy who only cares for himself and views hunting above all else, and Ralph who is a boy who thinks about the good of the group of boys and does his best for their well being. Piggy is a corpulent boy with glasses and gets picked on by the other boys on the island and is ignored. Piggy always getting picked on and getting his glasses ripped off his face causes him to think as an individual. Piggy is a wise boy and wants his voice to be heard by the other boys on the island so he uses the conch throughout the book so they would listen to him no matter what. “I got the conch, I got the conch,
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ain’t I Ralph?” (Golding 45) Piggy’s biggest wish on the island is to be accepted by the other boys “Piggy was so full of delight and expanding liberty in Jack’s departure, so full of pride in his contribution to the good of society, that he helped to fetch wood.” (Golding 129) Piggy was so happy that Jack had left that he ignored the fact that Ralph was struggling and that the situation is worse than it seems. Piggy wanted to be accepted by the other boys and nothing else; however Jack did not allow that because Jack did not care for Piggy or anyone else other than himself.
Jack is a boy who becomes obsessed with his own ideas and his thoughts.
From the very beginning of the book Lord of the Flies Jack wants power and control over the other boys on the island. “I ought to be chief-because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.” (Golding 22) This shows the pride within Jack and how views himself higher than the other boys. Also when Jack lets the fire go out to kill a pig for meat that the group really didn't need and the boys missed a ship because of this. “that was a ship. Out there. You said you'd keep the fire going and you let it out! - We needed meat.” (Golding 70) It is at this moment that the reader and the group of boys realize that Jack thinks as an individual and only cares for his wants and not the needs of the group. Unlike Jack who only cares for himself, Ralph does his best to look after and care for the boys of the
group. Ralph is the boy who is trying his best to do the right thing and to be the adult of the group by taking charge and guiding the other boys to rescue. “There’s another thing. We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire.” (Golding 38) Here Ralph shows his great leadership skills in how he is thinking as a community and not just himself by coming up with the idea to make a fire and get rescued off the island. “Except the hunters. Well, the littluns are – They’re hopeless. The older ones aren’t much better. D’you see? All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing.” (Golding 50) In this scene we see that Ralph is slaving away to make shelters for all of the boys with the help of Simon but everyone else is off doing their own things as individuals. Ralph continued to make shelters even though he had little help because he knew that the group of boys would need shelters. Ralph is really the only boy on the island that doesn’t think of only himself like the other boys. In William Golding’s book Lord of the Flies he expresses this battle of Individual vs. Community through his three major characters Piggy, Jack, and Ralph. Piggy who acts as an individual because he only wants to be liked by the other boys forgets that there are other struggles other than his, Jack who acts as an individual because he only hunts for his thirst of blood doesn’t care for the other boys, and Ralph who acts as a community because he thinks of the other boys. In the book Lord of the Flies the boys need Ralph to survive because he takes care of them and their needs but once Jack brakes off and convinces the other boys to join him the community that the boys once had is torn apart and they are turned into savages as individuals. William Golding wanted to show that acting as a community will always be better than acting as an individual through his book Lord of the Flies.
ain’t I Ralph?” (Golding 45) Piggy’s biggest wish on the island is to be accepted by the other boys “Piggy was so full of delight and expanding liberty in Jack’s departure, so full of pride in his contribution to the good of society, that he helped to fetch wood.” (Golding 129) Piggy was so happy that Jack had left that he ignored the fact that Ralph was struggling and that the situation is worse than it seems. Piggy wanted to be accepted by the other boys and nothing else; however Jack did not allow that because Jack did not care for Piggy or anyone else other than himself.
Jack is a boy who becomes obsessed with his own ideas and his thoughts.
From the very beginning of the book Lord of the Flies Jack wants power and control over the other boys on the island. “I ought to be chief-because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.” (Golding 22) This shows the pride within Jack and how views himself higher than the other boys. Also when Jack lets the fire go out to kill a pig for meat that the group really didn't need and the boys missed a ship because of this. “that was a ship. Out there. You said you'd keep the fire going and you let it out! - We needed meat.” (Golding 70) It is at this moment that the reader and the group of boys realize that Jack thinks as an individual and only cares for his wants and not the needs of the group. Unlike Jack who only cares for himself, Ralph does his best to look after and care for the boys of the
group. Ralph is the boy who is trying his best to do the right thing and to be the adult of the group by taking charge and guiding the other boys to rescue. “There’s another thing. We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire.” (Golding 38) Here Ralph shows his great leadership skills in how he is thinking as a community and not just himself by coming up with the idea to make a fire and get rescued off the island. “Except the hunters. Well, the littluns are – They’re hopeless. The older ones aren’t much better. D’you see? All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing.” (Golding 50) In this scene we see that Ralph is slaving away to make shelters for all of the boys with the help of Simon but everyone else is off doing their own things as individuals. Ralph continued to make shelters even though he had little help because he knew that the group of boys would need shelters. Ralph is really the only boy on the island that doesn’t think of only himself like the other boys. In William Golding’s book Lord of the Flies he expresses this battle of Individual vs. Community through his three major characters Piggy, Jack, and Ralph. Piggy who acts as an individual because he only wants to be liked by the other boys forgets that there are other struggles other than his, Jack who acts as an individual because he only hunts for his thirst of blood doesn’t care for the other boys, and Ralph who acts as a community because he thinks of the other boys. In the book Lord of the Flies the boys need Ralph to survive because he takes care of them and their needs but once Jack brakes off and convinces the other boys to join him the community that the boys once had is torn apart and they are turned into savages as individuals. William Golding wanted to show that acting as a community will always be better than acting as an individual through his book Lord of the Flies.