Lord of the Flies & to Kill a Mockingbird

Standing on your principle: To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies

John Quincy Adams once said “Always stand on your principle, even if you stand alone”.
The two novels To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Lord of the Flies by William Golding, can greatly relate to this quote. The characters that are portrayed in both novels can really relate to one another in terms of the theme in the quote. Also the books themselves share similar themes and moral lessons. Atticus Finch from to kill a mocking bird is a character that plays a father; he is a strong role model and leader. Atticus is a wise man; he learns and teaches moral lessons to his children. Even though the odds are against his favor he still stands by his principle.
Someone who can relate to Atticus Finch is Ralph from Lord of the flies. Ralph is a character in
Lord of the flies that shows a great deal of leadership just like Atticus he stands by his principle and does whatever is right. Scout from to kill a mocking bird, is the daughter of Atticus Finch, she has very many opportunities to stand but her principle but she is rarely heard. But even though she is not really heard she takes initiative as much as possible. Piggy from Lord of the flies can relate to Scout, Piggy has so much potential to do more than he is capable of. Although
Piggy always seems to find a way to get his ideas heard and recognized. Another comparison between the two novels is Miss Maudie and Simon because they are such honest people and that is one of their principles.
Ralph and Atticus Finch both portray their characters as role models and leaders; Ralph in particular is a leader that does everything and stays with his accusations to prove that he is doing the right thing. The lord of the flies takes place on a deserted island after a dramatic plane crash and the only survivors are a bunch of little boys. Their first decision is to vote on a leader, the boys all chose Ralph as their leader. At the beginning of the novel, Ralph was leader, but when his followers decided to abandon him he stayed with his beliefs. He can relate to this quote because Ralph was standing on his principle even though he was alone. His friends chose to become savage beast and hunt, while Ralph stayed pure and civilized he showed that he knew his moral and stands up for what he believes in. Ralph comes across trouble thought when hes friends doubt his ideas and suggestions. When his friends turned his back on him, he still decided to stick to his ideas and his plan to be rescued and in the end it was worth it because they were saved. Another person that could relate to Ralph would be Atticus finch in To Kill a
Mockingbird.
Like Ralph, Atticus is another strong leader and independent leader, but in the novel To kill a mockingbird. Atticus relates to John Quincy Adams quote because Atticus fights for what he believes in, which is exactly what John Quincy Adams is meant by standing by your own principle. Atticus Finch plays a Father in working as a lawyer in the novel, but he lives in a time of discrimination and prejudice. A part of the story is when Atticus is appointed to defend Tom
Robinson; a black man that was accused of raping a white woman. Atticus knows that the jury will be prejudice and that there is a slim chance that Tom Robinson will win the case. Even though he knows this information he still does everything in his power to defend Tom. Atticus says that he has nothing but pity for the jury and that he is disappointed that there society is like this (Lee 213). Atticus is a character that truly does stand by his principle and shows respect and leadership. Ralph and Atticus can relate to each other because they have similar characteristics and stand by their principles. Piggy is a character from Lord of the Flies that is discouraged. Piggy plays a huge role in the novel; he is wise and has the potential and the right to be heard. Piggy in the novel was the reason that the boy had fire, he was picked on and his ideas were ignored because of the way he looked. Piggy was wise he had ideas such as making sundials and hats. Ideas like these could have really helped the boys in being successful in being rescued. Piggy was wise and the boys failed to recognize this. When Ralph was abandoned by the boys that wanted to join Jacks hunting tripe it was only Piggy, Simon, Samneric and a few littleuns. With such little people,
Ralph and Piggy talked and Piggy was hears and finally recognized for his ideas and wisdom.
Piggy has a lot of smart ideas that could be implemented. He can relate to the quote by John
Quincy Adams because he doesn’t give up, even though he is alone, he finds a way to be heard.
Scout Finch and Piggy are character that can relate to each other, and to the quote said by
John Quincy Adams. Scout is a character that plays Atticus’ daughter. Scout is very smart for her age, and has many bright ideas. Although this is true her ideas are not as recognized as they should just because of her age, she is much wiser than she appears to but is not recognized for it.
“We don’t write in the first grade, we print. You won’t learn to write until you’re in the third grade." (Lee 23). This shows that Scout truly does stand by her principles but she is not recognized for it. Scout respects her father very much, but even though this is true she still denies his judgments, if she believes it is the right thing to do. An example if this would be when the
Sarum group visited Atticus Finch and threatened him, Scout, Jem and dill all came to protect him. Even though Atticus told his children to return home they stayed there, this ended up helping Atticus bypass the sarum group after all.
Simon is a character in Lord of the Flies that portrays a mature and wise. Simon is very honest. When Simon is told that there is a “beastie” loose on the island he adventures off on his own. He comes across a hanging parachute and realized that, the parachute was the beastie all along. When Simon knew that there could not be such thing as a beastie, he searched for the truth. Simon shows that he stayed with his principles and was determined to find the truth. He does not keep this new found information to himself or only to Ralphs tribe but he tells both
Ralph and Jacks tribe. He was honest and wants to make life on the island a lot easier for the boys. He was generous enough to tell the tribes, but it was too late because Jacks tribe was so paranoid about the beastie and that he accidentally killed Simon. Although Simon had died trying to help he kept his principles in mind
Simon showed how determined he was to be honest and set his friends straight. The quote by John Quincy Adams can have a lot of themes to express one of those themes that I could tell is honesty. Miss Maudie is a character in To Kill a Mockingbird that plays an honest woman.
When Scout asks Miss Maudie about Arthur Radley and if all the rumors about him are true,
Miss Maudie sets her straight and gives her full and honest opinion about Arthur Radley (Lee
48). This shows that Miss Maudie shows her moral conscience by admitting to Scout her honest opinion. She is also standing by her principle and passing on her wisdom to Scout. She tells
Scout to find the truth and not create rumors and gossip about something that is not for certain.
Miss Maudie shows a great deal of respect to the people around her. She stood by her principle as John Quincy Adams said. The quote represents honesty and Miss Maudie is a good example of honesty.
There are many relations between the two novels and the quote. The quote by John
Quincy Adams “Always stand on your principle, even if you stand alone” has themes that do relate to the themes and character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies.
Atticus Finch and Ralph both show there leader ship and determination, when times are tough they persevere and try their hardest to make things right. This shows how determined they are to stand by their principle. Also Piggy and Scout, there are two completely different characters that play the same role. They both have such great potential to be a more recognized character; even though they seem ignored they both stand by their principles and become recognized. Simon and
Miss Maudie two completely different people yet so similar in the sense that they are honest to one another. Overall there are many comparisons between these two novels and that they both have themes and characters that relate to standing by your principle.
Works Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1954.
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Warner Books Inc, 1960.

Cited: Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1954. Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Warner Books Inc, 1960.