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Ralph and Jack in Lord Of The Flies Essay

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The Clash of Two Minds

The book Lord of the Flies by William Golding is, on its most basic terms, a story about the struggle for power between two boys. In one hand, there is Ralph, who represents the civilized person in all of us, whose goal is to escape the island and be rescued. On the other hand, we have Jack, who represents the savage part of all of us, whose main goal is to have food and to make a life on the island. The boys represent the extreme ends of the spectrum but can be related to each other through their desire for control.

A difference between Ralph and Jack can be found in their goals. Ralphs goals consist of maintaining an orderly and civilized society with rules so as to be rescued by his father in the future. Jacks goals are a bit more short term. Jack intends to create a tribal society where everyone hunts for food, participates in chants, and glorifies Jack as their all powerful and unstoppable leader. Already Jack is showing signs of savagery and de-evolution. Most of the children side with Jack due to the fact that humans as a species prefer short term benefits over long term achievements.

The methods used by Ralph and Jack also represent the basic idea of their goals. Ralph tries to create a system where everyone has a job and everyone is responsible for something. He uses the conch as a symbol of authority in which anyone who holds the conch may be allowed to speak without interruption. He also constantly refers to his being voted chief even when everyone has abandoned him. Jack, however, demands respect, lies, makes excuses, and orders people around to stay in power. Jacks basic plan for staying in power is to make himself an idol to be loved adored and respected by all of his followers. Jack uses the fear of the beastie as a weapon and claims that he is not afraid when in reality he is just as terrified as anyone else.

The final results of Ralph and Jacks plans fall into Jacks favor. Where Jack creates a community of fun, food, constant action, and survival; Ralph creates a wasteland of boredom, indecision, hunger and inaction. This just goes to shoe that given the choice of a savage community where there is food and a civilized society with stability and order, most human beings would choose Jacks savage group. This shows that humans as a species are savage beasts that would give up their morals and values in a second if it meant they would be able to get food.

This has shown that deep down in everyones soul is a savage trying to claw its way out. Once its free it will take over and everything that you do becomes instinct. The childrens instinct told them to side with Jack because he was the more powerful leader and was able to provide for his people what Ralph never could.

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