The Symbolism of Power in “Lord of the Flies”

Russian dictatorship is a topic that is fitting when discussing power comes from fear. Stalin was an infamous dictator who used his power to create fear in the eyes of the Russian citizens. This is similar to William Golding’s the Lord of the Flies, he demonstrates that those in power will take advantage of people’s fear. In the book, Jack and Ralph both are in a struggle for power and both struggle to remain in power as they attack each other at any moment.

At various points throughout the story, Jack uses the boys’ fear of the beast to overthrow Ralph and the conch. When talking to the little ones jack would scare them, “(Jack) expect the beast disguised himself. We’d better keep on the right side of him, anyhow. You can’t tell what he might do. (142-143) This quote represented William golding’s idea of fear being the most effective way of control, with Jack using fear to get his tribe to do what he wishes. The book portrayed how terrifying the impact fear can have on people and how far it can manipulate them. Throughout the book, the idea of the beast developed into fear which resulted in the crippling of the conch, the link to society and sanity and the barrier that was stopping them from turning into savages. Right after the plane crash, Ralph and Jack get on exceptionally well. Jack changes throughout this novel. At first, he states, (Jack) agree with Ralph we’ve got to have rules and obey them, (25) This shows us that at the beginning of the novel, just like Ralph, he wants to uphold a civilized society.

Jack is one factor in why fear is going around the little ones and is the reason why he is starting to gain more power. Jack uses the fear of the little ones to gain power and be able to take advantage of them. Another thing that gave power to Jack which gave him his power was the beast, which embodies the power of the boys’ fears. All the boys can be frightened. They are scared of something that does not even exist. When finally converts this fright into a creature, the boys call it the beast. Especially the littluns are afraid, and jack uses this fear to make his dictatorial power system stronger. Jack uses the existence to make the other boys willing followers of his commands. Fear is the source of Jack’s power. After that, most of the boys join Jack’s new-found tribe to find safety, which he promises. Jack thinks that he can win over even more hearts of the boys by hunting the beast down (Golding 91). He can convince the boys that there is no beast, he never tells anyone about his fright. That is why Ralph always has to go first when the littluns think that the beast might be near (Golding 104). Simon is the only one to know the truth about the beast. The beast, only dreamt about by littluns, has always been in their minds, but never before their eyes.

Although the boys mistake Simon for the beast, while he was running towards them, they never saw the beast. Ralph tried to keep a sense of stability and eliminate the sense of fear while jack took all of their fears and gave himself the power to rule over all. Jack was able to misuse his power. It caused the majority of the boys to commit acts of violence and immorality. The boy’s mind and feeling were manipulated as the power was becoming unbalanced. Jack and Ralph were both in a tangle with who gets to be the leader and fought against each other’s ideas. This also affected the boys as they don’t know who to trust because they’re afraid that the beast would get them. Their fears were rooted in beasts throughout the novel. This led the boys offering a gift to this beast, killing Simon as they thought that he was the beast and losing their independence and having Jack take over.

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