Patterns of societal behaviour. Discuss.

I believe that the events and characters in the novel Lord of the Flies are symbolic of historical figures and patterns of societal behaviour. During the Second World War Golding joined the navy and he was involved in some important events in the war which changed his perspective of the world. He was appalled by the inhumanity and evil of Nazism and the Third Reich. He looked for an explanation of this brutality and savagery shown by the Nazis and he came to the realisation that it came from a part of human nature. He saw that any human being had the capabilities of being brutal and inhumane. William Golding's novel, Lord of the flies is one of the most disturbing and celebrated novels of modern times. When a plane crashes on a deserted island, a group of schoolboys find themselves in an unfamiliar situation. They are excited by their new freedom and the absence of adults. Soon however, the boy's sense of order begins to collapse and "man's essential illness" or the savagery of mankind begins to show itself on these vulnerable schoolboys. The island society in

Lord of the Flies is almost a magnified version of society in the modern world. In this essay I will discuss, the relationship between the events that took place in the Lord of the Flies and some real life historical events, as well as the way Golding creates his characters in Lord of the Flies as a representation of historical societal character types. In the following few paragraphs I will be discussing; how Jack's rise as leader in the Lord of the Flies is symbolic to that of the rise of such dictators like Stalin and Hitler, how the central characters in Lord of the Flies are similar to societal character types and how the events in Lord of the Flies are similar to that of real life events.

Whilst it is quite obvious that Golding intends Jack to symbolise the Dictator, Golding also creates some of the other central characters as societal character types. Piggy is an outsider and is often alienated from the rest of the group. This is partly because of his physical characteristics such as his fat body, his asthma (which makes physical activity difficult for him) and his dislike of manual work, but he is also distanced from the group as a result of his common sense and scientific point of view. Piggy's situation can be likened to that of famous scientists in history such as Copernicus and Galileo. Whilst Galileo was perhaps the smartest man of his time, much like Piggy is the smartest on the island, his outrageous views and the way he way he went against the catholic church lead to his alienation from society and eventually to his death via the Inquisition in 1642. This is similar to Piggy in that his views, while he might have been correct, alienated the other children on the island. Like Galileo, Piggy's views lead to his persecution and death. In a more recent context Piggy could be likened to Dick Cheney, the Vice-president of the USA. Cheney is considered the brains behind President Bush, much like the way Piggy was the brains behind Ralph during his leadership. Ralph is very much a normal boy. He has no special characteristics aside from his moral values and sensibility. Ralph is much like any of the decent leaders in society, whilst he is not very intelligent and is supported by a smart character such as Piggy, he comes across as a decent person and someone who will do what is best for the people even if it may not please them. Ralph's situation is very similar to that of Trotsky, as we have already seen, in that he was the original leader but is then overthrown by Jack, much like Trotsky was with Stalin. Ralph is very much like some of the American presidents we have seen such as Clinton in that Clinton was a peacemaker and he did his best to do what was right for the people whether they liked it or not, much like Ralph did on the island. An example of Clinton's strive for peace and order is the way he guided provisional peace in Northern Ireland. In the novel Simon is portrayed as a saint and a lover of mankind and he has a good understanding of the world and the people in it. He is a physically frail and weak character who has trouble communicating his ideas with the other boys. Simon's situation is very similar to that of the lives of prophets or saints. His experience parallels that of the bible story of Jesus Christ being tempted in the wild. Simon uses all his strength to continue, much like Christ, and to try and warn the others of what the beast really is. In the process of warning the boys, Simon is kille

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Approximate Word count = 2326
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)