Lord of the Flies - William Golding

Essay Title

Golding’s belief that everyone is nurtured to become good or bad is shown largely in Lord of the Flies. William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies in 1954 to show the flaws in human nature that make up society. A group of British boys is stranded on an island after a plane crash and they elect Ralph as their leader. As time goes on, Jack, a former choir leader, breaks off from Ralph’s group and forms his own. Jack’s group paints their faces and kill two boys and almost a third. By the end of the book, they are indistinguishable from savages. The transformation of Jack from a choir boy to a savage highlights his influence on a group at the beginning of the book and during Simon’s death which proves the point that everyone becomes more vulnerable and subject to influence when they are part of a group.

The way Jack uses mob mentality to influence the boys is not evident at the beginning of the book, but is clearly shown during Simon’s death. At the beginning of the book, Ralph is elected chief. Jack objects, but is unable to get support. Jack shouts “But you’ve talked and talked!(Golding 81). Ralph replies, “I’ve got the conch”(81). Jack is unable to gather support and ends up being shut down. Ralph says he has the conch and everyone else must listen. During a similar situation later in the book, Jack is not shut down. Simon walks toward the group and the group of boys freak. They start continuing a chant Jack started: “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”(152). Jack starts the chant and uses the fear of the beast to force the boys to continue the chant and kill the beast, even though he is not sure it is the beast. Because there is a strange shape coming out of the forest, it could potentially be the beast. Jack uses this to his advantage and starts the chant. Everyone wants to fit in and joins in on the killing and the chant.

Jack splits into groups