Mr. Henderson, a 52-year-old male, was on his way to work during a heavy rainstorm when he lost control of his car and crossed into oncoming traffic where he collided head-on with a small delivery truck. Witnesses accessed the 911 emergency medical response system, and paramedics arrived quickly. The driver of the truck suffered only minor cuts and scrapes, but Mr. Henderson was having difficulty breathing and complaining of severe chest pain. Transport time to the nearest trauma center was less than two minutes, so the emergency personnel elected to “scoop and haul.” A large bruise on his chest indicated that Mr. Henderson had experienced blunt trauma from the impact of the steering wheel after the airbag failed to deploy.…
At this point in the novel, the group of boys has lived on the island for some time, and their society increasingly resembles a political state. Although the issue of power and control is central to the boys’ lives from the moment they elect a leader in the first chapter, the dynamics of the society they form take time to develop. By this chapter, the boys’ community mirrors a political society, with the faceless and frightened littluns resembling the masses of common people and the various older boys filling positions of power and importance with regard to these underlings. Some of the older boys, including Ralph and especially Simon, are kind to the littluns; others, including Roger and Jack, are cruel to them. In short, two conceptions of power emerge on the island, corresponding to the novel’s philosophical poles—civilization and savagery. Simon, Ralph, and Piggy represent the idea that power should be used for the good of the group and the protection of the littluns—a stance representing the instinct toward civilization, order, and morality. Roger and Jack represent the idea that power should enable those who hold it to gratify their own desires and act on their impulses, treating the littluns as servants or objects for their own amusement—a stance representing the instinct toward savagery.…
The only boy on the island that understands the truth about humans, tries to save them from their self-destruction. Throughout the book, Simon represents a Jesus-like figure. He helped Ralph with the shelters, handed ʻlittlunsʼ food and was very perceptive about the true meanings of the world. When the boys believed in the beast, he was the only one who knew the truth, ʻmaybe there is no beast . . . maybe itʼs only usʼ (Golding pg 111). Simonʼs death represents the idea that goodness is weaker than evil. The murder of Simon is the point of no return for civilisation on the island and shows that even decent people like Ralph and Piggy are capable of committing heinous crimes. His death unlike Jesus did not lead them to salvation but lead them to destruction and a deeper inner evil. After Simons death, Jack the leader of his tribe, became merciless and cruel. Jack often used other characters fears to control the people on the island. ʻMy hunters will protect you from the beastʼ (Golding pg 185). Jack is the first of the boys to succumb to his inner evil and become a savage. This is ironic because at the beginning of the novel he says, ʻWeʼve got to have rules and obey them. After all, weʼre not savages. Weʼre English.ʼ (Golding pg 55). He uses the fear and evil within all the characters to force them to follow under his dictatorship. Throughout the book Jack has a crazy obsession with hunting, the more times he kills the less civilised he would become. Jack is the one responsible for sending the boys on the island into this deep dark evil that they cannot seem to escape from. As Jack becomes more evil as the book progresses, Golding makes him the representation of the evil in every man. Lord of the Flies is a deep and meaningful novel, with a pessimistic view on human life. Golding uses the characters for his novel, the setting of the island and the symbolism throughout the book to show the potential for destruction and chaos in the world. The idea that evil is…
Throughout the story there are drastic changes in the behaviors of Jack, Ralph, and Piggy. By going through pressure, starvation, and a want for leadership shows the other side of mankind. The savage impulses and loss of civilization can be shown through the characters of Jack, Ralph, and Piggy. Jack slowly, loses his morals and becomes savage on the island without civilization and laws.…
• As the tribes begin to split, Ralph begins to obsess over ‘popularity’ between him and Jack. He begins to bully Piggy in-order to gain favor from the other boys. Ralph begin to fall into the savage ways as the other boys have, he even went as far as to participate in the murder of Simon.…
Many acts of cruelty take place on the island, as there are no adults to tell them how to behave, so the boys are allowed to get away with anything. In the beginning of the novel, Ralph meets Piggy, Golding explains…
Throughout their time there, the island becomes very chaotic and unclean. For example Ralph (the group leader) becomes angry when the boys do not go to the bathroom in the right area, or when the boys set parts on the island on fire for a signal for help.…
Piggy and Ralph’s goal is to ultimately get off of the island, but Jack opposes that goal. Jack wants to hunt and have fun, both are not going to get the boys rescued. Early in the book, Ralph says,” The best thing we can do is to get ourselves rescued.” (53) and Piggy had the same intentions. All Jack wants to do is hunt, but hunting will not get the group saved and Piggy and Ralph know that. Ralph and Piggy seem to always be together. Meaning that they are physically always together and they think together too. The two boys also seem passionate about what they believe in. Unlike the other older kids, they stick with their first opinions on what to focus their energy on on the island. The other boys leave to go hunting with Jack and Piggy and Ralph stay with their beliefs instead of following the crowd. This means that they believe in what they are doing and that they should stick to what they think is right which shows great leadership because a leader should never follow a crowd.Piggy and Ralph also do not…
The movie, “Lord of the Flies”, portrays how man is naturally good, but can be persuaded in negative ways by someone bad. Jack’s cold, brutish behavior largely impacted all the others. From the beginning of the movie, Jack’s insensitive actions foreshadowed his behavior for the rest of the movie, such as when Simon fainted, and Jack said that he is fine and acted like it didn’t matter. Throughout the film, the other boys on the island were consistently being influenced by Jack’s uncompassionate characteristics. Although Ralph was voted as the captain for the whole group, most of the boys ended up being on Jack’s side and followed his bad habits. Even though Piggy was on Ralph’s side, he was also influenced by Jack. One night, Simon was killed because the boy’s because they thought that he was the beast. When the boy’s all found out, Piggy didn’t believe that what they did was murder, when it really was. In the end of the movie, after Ralph fought with Jack about getting Piggy’s glasses back because they were stolen, one of Jack’s members rolled a boulder and it fell on Piggy, leading to his tragic death.…
The loss of innocence has been portrayed throughout literature, with explicit examples through characters. This theme can be found in many people’s lives. For instance, in William Golding’s, “The Lord of The Flies”, many of the boys strive for survival and rescue throughout the novel, whereas other characters; Jack for instance, develops into a devilish predator and savage. Consequently, his adaptation to the dark evil of the island rubs off on many others and grants him followers. Ralph, being one of the main characters in the novel, also ends up having a change for the worse throughout the course of the story, and in crystal…
Ralph and Simon were a perfect example of innocence lost and the morals that tend to protect and even advance society as a whole. The savage boys, Jack and Roger, are the idea of objectivity and personal gratification that use methods such as fear and violence to control those around them. Human nature gravitates towards primal instincts when removed from the morals imposed by modern society. Only when modern society suddenly appears in the form of the Naval Officer does Ralph understand that he will never be able to revert back to how he was the day he set foot on the…
They are the ones that are presented to be “the good guys”. Similarly, in Dittmann’s article it shows that previously innocent people are turned to violence when introduced to peer pressure. It causes them to act in a way that they normally would not act. Piggy and Ralph are characters in the book, always trying to keep order and make sure that everyone is pitching in and doing what they are supposed to. They are the ones that work the hardest to try and get off the island. When the island splits into two groups, Piggy and Ralph vs. Jack and the hunters, they decide to go try and talk to the other group. At first, they are horrified by the savage ways of this other group, but as the night wears on they “[find] themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. They [are] glad to touch the brown backs of the fence that hemmed in the terror and made it governable” (Golding 2). This “demented but partly secure society” was one that played games about killing a pig. They made chants about killing and blood, and Piggy and Ralph want to be a part of it. They are put in a bad situation, everyone there was a bit scared, the group “hemmed with terror” and Piggy and Ralph were no different. For a moment their fears were not noticed. Golding uses language to describe this “fence” of boys that makes them feel secure. Having everyone around them doing the same thing made the fear not so prevalent. Even when they know that this is not something that they should partake in, it made them feel safe. This depicts that a bad situation can turn people into someone they are not. Similarly, in Dittmann’s article, the Stanford Prison Experiment was explained and investigated in great detail. Many psychologists found that “institutional forces and peer pressure led normal student volunteer guards to disregard the potential harm of their actions on…
Ralph and Jack’s power struggle correlates with the battle between savagery and civility. From the novel’s beginning, Ralph’s main priority is to maintain the fire so the boys can be rescued. He says, “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”(38). Ralph’s leadership and desire to return to society represent civility. However, as the boys continue to be trapped on the island, Jack’s violent tendencies begin to emerge. “He tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up”(51). Without adults and the laws of civilization repressing it, Jack’s savage nature becomes apparent. Jack and Ralph eventually clash over their contradicting ideas of leadership. Ralph shouts “Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?”(180). As the boys’ fears increase, and their hopes of being rescued diminish, they turn to Jack for leadership, and civilization is no longer able to coexist with savagery on the island. The conflict between Ralph and Jack provides a concrete perspective on the overall struggle between civility and savagery.…
There’s conflict. Ralph knows that the main reason for the disorder on the island is Jack, representation of evil in the novel. There is a constant conflict between the two boys. Ralph stands for civilized ideals, while Jack leads a tribe of savages and lapses into primitive rituals. In the midst of the savagery, Ralph holds on to rationality and the hope of rescue. There is only one occasion when Ralph lapses into mild savagery; it occurs when he joins the ritual dance at the feast, the same feast where Simon is killed.…
They try to mirror the life they had before as civilized and educated individuals in an adult-governed world. Unfortunately, due to their naïvety, they can't fully grasp the concept of having to obey the rules to maintain a stable, cooperative company. Aside from Piggy, Simon, and Ralph, many of the boys, especially Jack and Roger, succumb to impulsive temptations, not considering the possible consequences that could follow. Without any adults to rebuke their immoral behaviours, the boys start to lose their connection with their previously sophisticated society. The boys' apparent savagery towards the end of the novel was to be blamed mostly on the natural darkness and inherent evil they all possessed within…