Power Essay - Lord of the Flies and Related Texts

wHow has your understanding of power been shaped by ‘Lord of the Flies’, one Stimulus text and one text of your choosing
Power is a multi-faceted theme that is present in society and is continually being explored through different text types. ‘Lord of the Flies’ by William Golding, ‘Sunday in the Park’ by Bel Kaufman and Nazi Propaganda Poster ‘Long Live Germany’ has all shaped my understanding of power with its inclusion of themes such as totalitarianism and the powerlessness of Intellectual power against physical strength. This had left me to believe that physical strength and absolute control are the stronger forms of power and will act as a more successful way of government.
Intellectual power is often rendered powerless against physical superiority as represented by Jack and his followers. Piggy, a symbol of Intellectual power in the allegoric novel ‘Lord of the Flies,’ is often outspoken when with the rest of the company due to his physically powerless state. Throughout the novel, Piggy’s “specs,” a representation of his intellectual power, are often stolen by Jack whom Piggy admits as a “stronger” person. With Piggy having trouble to safeguard his only valuable source of power, the specs – and therefore the fire, highlights Piggy’s powerlessness against Jack’s more forceful nature. During the assemblies, Piggy’s metaphorical voice, embodied by the conch, is always being smothered by other stronger members of the island who tell him to “shut up”. Unlike Jack who “nobody minded” to speaking “against the rules”, Piggy is only able to reply with polite placid comments such as “they ought to be quiet”; this shows Piggy’s beliefs in fairness, and as a result, his voice is often forcibly overridden by others. With the valuable commodity of fire so easily obtained by Jack and his “tribe,” as well as Piggy’s loss of voice against other authorities, it leads me to believe that physical power is far more superior to the more peaceful intellectual authority represented by Piggy.
The similar theme of Physical superiority against Intellectual power is explored in contemporary short story ‘Sunday in the Park’. Morton, similar to Piggy, is regarded powerful in terms of knowledge, but is unable to save his pride and win his argument against the Man because Morton is physically weak as opposed to his brawn. “It wouldn’t have proved anything” shows Morton’s logical and peaceful thinking in the dialogue between Morton and his wife. In the short story, the narrator depicts The Man as a character similar to Jack; by characterising the man through his behaviour such as “spitting” and flexing “his great arms”, the narrator is able to build an impressive image of a physically powerful and vulgar man. The powerlessness of Morton and his inability to defend his pride compared to the man who ‘won’ the argument due to physical power, again reinforces the idea of physical superiority.
My understanding of power has been expanded to encompass the ideal that a totalitarian approach to leadership is more successful. In ‘Lord of the Flies”, Jack is portrayed as “the most obvious leader” due to his “simple arrogance” and confident nature which is proven in his dialogue where he self-assuredly says “I ought to be chief”. He is often characterized with a “serpentine” quality which suggests a sinful and savage nature while contrasting biblical allusions are employed to describe a “fair” Ralph. Each of the boys characteristics are reflected into the types of control they impose on the rest of the tribe; totalitarian for Jack and a democratic society for Ralph. Jack’s successful ruling of his people is shown when he says “They do what I want” through diction using a commanding tone. Unlike Ralph and his Democratic ideals, Jack has the ability to totally control his tribe of “savages” to execute his commands even if it is immoral.
In the Nazi Propaganda poster ‘Long Live Germany’ and ‘Lord of the Flies’, both texts share similar links to Totalitarian power and leadership. Adolf Hitler, depicted singularly in the foreground with a determined stance holding flag with the swastika suggests that he alone has the power to lead his country to success, which is in many ways similar to Jack’s situation over the “savages”. The sun rays, which also act as visual vectors, illuminate Hitler’s troops to show the copious amount of support he has, thus highlighting his success. Parallel to Golding and ‘Lord of the Flies’, biblical allusions are used in the propaganda poster. The dove and sunlight, often associated with the pure power of God symbolises the wholesome standards that Hitler abide by. Contrasting to Jack’s form of absolute power, the combined visual techniques of the poster give an overall sense of goodness and glory to Hitler’s totalitarian government.
My understanding of power has been shaped by ‘Lord of the Flies’, ‘Sunday in the Park’ and ‘Long Live Germany’. Although absolute power was first presented to me as a selfish and negative form of control through the depiction of Jack in ‘Lord of the Flies’, the poster has allowed me to understand a successful totalitarian government could also include visions of goodness. Issues of intellectual power and physical power explored in the short story and ‘Lord of the Flies’ has led me to believe that intellectual power is often rendered powerless in many situations.