Lord of the Flies Book Report Essay

Lord of the Flies is a book by William Golding and was written during WWII. His choice to join the navy changed the way he viewed the world. A group of students were being evacuated from an airplane that is in a lonesome island. Once the group is settled in, they elect a boy of the name Ralph to be leader. A dispute is started on how their will be rules and who governs who. Problems have risen and the group is torn apart. Lord of the Flies theme is that being hungry for power is natural in humans and examples are given when the band chooses a leader, decision making of the boys, and uncivilized acts among themselves. The theme in Lord of The Flies is seen throughout the novel. For example, they voted on a leader to help have order and act in an organized manner. Jack was a nominee who ran against Ralph. JAck really wants to be the leader, but of course Ralph ends up being the popular vote. â€Å"We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best at everything. ‘† (Golding 40). Golding states that the group must be organized, they are not animals. They know that without order, everything they are could collapse and be their downfall. Plus they call themselves the best at everything so they could have some faith of getting by. â€Å"They obeyed the summons of the conch, partly because Ralph blew it, and he was big enough to be a link with the adult world of authority†¦. † (Golding 50). Here it shows the Ralph had what it takes to be a leader, everyone listens and takes his orders without question. Towards the end of chapter four, a character by the name of Piggy wines about some rude hunters, Jack hits the poor character breaking the glasses they were wearing. In the story, being power hungry is a pretty common thing and many examples are portrayed such as the group being split, so there is not one main leader. These islanders act in such a way now that they have obtained power. There will be groups. Jack doesn’t like the idea of Ralph being a leader, but is satisfied with his numbers in his own group. â€Å"The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away. † (Golding 82). It says that they everything they know about society is going downhill, they have started their own world. Everyone wanted power, no one liked the idea of being a follower. â€Å"‘Shut up,’ said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch. ‘Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things. ’† Which very blatantly shows how much Ralph thinks he has total authority over all the boys. â€Å"I ought to be chief,† said Jack with simple arrogance, â€Å"because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp. † (Golding 229-231). As of reading it is clear that Jack’s thirst for power was most utterly real and has been going on from the beginning of the book. He saw himself as the big-shot. Evidence is given that Jack might want to be the antagonist of this novel, Lord of the Flies. All Jack really wants is to show he is the true leader nothing much, yeah he wants order, but all in the wrong ways. Finally, is the uncivilized way the boys have acted among the groups that have done more damage than good. They all go through this face to behave well and have order with each other trying there best to ignore all the negative and chaos of a bad government. Biggest bust of the novel was when Piggy got demolished by a giant boulder that had flattened him. Who was to blame? Jack as everyone pointed fingers to him along with a so called Roger. Roger was a savage man, who knew that such evil could be brought out from a human being. â€Å"As he did so, he heard Jack’s voice from the top. ‘Heave! Heave! Heave! † (Golding 193). Jack was most likely behind this diabolical plan that murdered the poor innocent Piggy. The great rock that had killed Piggy had bounded into this thicket and bounced there, right in the center, making a smashed space a few feet in extent each way. †(Golding 192). It is obvious that these two men were the evil masterminds behind the death of Piggy. In the beginning of the book, the group came across a pig while hunting and without a doubt kill the poor creature. Jack’s true side came out, this was the part where he would become the bad guy in the story, stabbing the pig had been enough p roof to show he is a killer. In Lord of the Flies, a group who had been left on an island due to their plane coming on a crashing course evacuating their homes because of treacherous war, are now left to make there own decisions creating new order around them. While waiting for help to arrive, all sorts of issues are created with the main problem being leadership. Lord of the Flies theme is that being hungry for power is natural in humans and examples are given when the band chooses a leader, decision making of the boys, and uncivilized acts among themselves.