What does Lord of the Flies Teach Us about Governance - Research Paper Example

 The novel “The Lord of the Flies” written by William Golding is a story about four British boys who are stuck on a tiny coral island in the South Pacific after a plane crash where there are no adult survivors at all. The events in the story occur during war time, with the underlying premise that an atomic bomb may have been used, which has caused the death of all those on the plane. As the boys wait on the island and try to survive until they are rescued, their world represents a microcosm of society and civilization and the different elements that comprise it. It is an allegorical categorization of the nature of civilization and the constant underlying impulse in man to shed his civilized veneer to give reign to the savage urges that lie beneath. “The Lord of the Flies” is an allegory, in which the island is a symbolic representation of the world at large, the boys stranded on it represent adults and the two opposing groups which emerge represent the conflicts that rage in the civilized world. The basic theme of the story is civilization versus savagery, with one group headed by Ralph fighting for the former and the other group headed by Jack creating the latter. The characters in the story are symbolic representations of these different elements of society and human nature. Two different groups develop on the island, one being Jack’s group with his loyal band of choir boy supporters and the other being Ralph’s group, with each having different ideologies. Ralph is guided by the most sensible boy in the group, named Piggy, who unfortunately is unable to assume a leadership role because he is not as big as the others. But Ralph’s group represents sanity and reason, while Jack’s group is aggressive and eager to seize the power of leadership which has been endowed on Ralph. At the outset, the need for some kind of order and governance is recognized, with the boys making use of the rules of civilization they have been taught in their schools to get together and choose a leader. The boys decide that “we ought to have a chief to decide things” (Golding, 1954:22). The need for a symbol of authority in civilization is recognized; in this case it becomes the conch which produces a loud booming noise when blown upon that can be used to call others together to a central meeting point when they are dispersed over different areas of the island and Ralph becomes the leader because he is the holder of the conch. This is similar to government offices, which are the centres of decision making and also the locales where the leaders of government can be found. The conch also functions as the symbol of authority at first because it represents the right to speak; whoever holds the conch is entitled to speak and express an opinion. This is similar to a vote in a democracy, it is the vote that allows every citizen to play a role and express a view that can be presented in government through an elected representative. The story initially starts out with the boys adhering to the rules of civilization and respecting the right of a conch holder to speak and make decisions; Ralph as the primary conch holder is the leader. But as the story draws towards its close, the conch is destroyed in a tussle and it symbolizes the victory of the savage elements of civilization represented by Jack’s group. This is similar to dictatorial regimes, where the failure of democracy and the lack of citizen participation produces an environment where the rulers have supreme power and exercise savagery and brutality in achieving their ends and the rules framed to promote the common good are disregarded. This is evident in the novel, especially in Jack’s assertion later in the novel: “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong, we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat!” (Golding, 1954:91). Killing and violence are often the tools used by those who deliberately choose to flaunt the rules of civilized governance and cause civil wars in a country, which can often lead to repressive measures and dictatorial rule rather than a democratic system of governance. The group meetings that the boys have where they decide what is to be done and how to deal with their situation represent democracy and governance in action. It is during these meetings that the boys arrive at solutions to dealing with the events they face and finding ways to make use of the resources available on the island for the common good, until such time that they are rescued. The character of Piggy represents the voice of reason and good sense, similar to the great thinkers among human kind such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle; yet Piggy becomes the object of everyone’s cruelty. This is a tendency that may be noted throughout civilization, it is the thinkers who bring forth the best ideas for promoting civilization who are often persecuted by the more savage elements of society that prefer a more brutal, me first approach. The novel is a frightening illustration of how thin the veneer of civilization is and how quickly it can be destroyed to unveil the underlying savagery. The process of governance requires that individuals are willing to subdue their own urges for power in order to acquiesce to the leader chosen by the group, so that ground rules are laid down which are followed by everyone. But the realization of power and human greed can also be a powerful motivating force that can overpower reason, as may be seen in the character of Jack. When the story begins, he is hesitant to even kill a pig, but his inherent nature does overtake him on the island. His power hungry, mean nature may be seen right at the beginning where he says, “Shut up Fatty! I ought to be chief,” (Golding, 1954:22). He is vicious and violent, even when he lets the pig go, but slams his knife into the tree trunk, stating that “next time there would be no mercy.” (Golding, 1954:31). He emerges as a blood thirsty leader of the group; because he thinks blood is great; “you should have seen the blood!” (Golding, 1954:70). Jack is a classic representation of how governance can be negative, i.e., where it does not work on the principle of achieving a common objective but rather thrives on intimidating the weaker elements of society. Jack is the leader of a group of small boys and maintains his authority by his sheer size and age; but he also shows his authority by deliberately withholding meat from Piggy. When the latter questions why he isn’t getting any, this only provides the opportunity for making “more cruelty necessary.” (Golding, 1954:74). Jack is the symbolic representation of the kind of human beings who represent a threat to civilized governance and the development of practices that serve the common good. His urge for power causes him to lead his group of loyal followers into disregarding the rules the boys have decided upon at the beginning of the story. The lust for power urges him to more and more bloodshed, thereby destroying the fragile elements of democracy that helped the boys to survive initially and that later result in the death of both Simon and later Piggy. At the outset, the group is a single one, all working towards developing strategies to survive, but divisions erupt as groups with opposing ideologies emerge. In conclusion therefore, it may be noted that “The Lord of the Flies” demonstrates the elements of governance through the agreements the group reaches on collection of food, division of labour, the development of a common goal to achieve their ultimate objective of escape from the island by maintaining a fire, etc. As the story progresses however, the struggle for supremacy and power leads to the emergence of the more savage element inherent in humankind, demonstrated through the character of Jack primarily. The framework of governance deteriorates bit by bit throughout the story as the struggle for power and leadership between Jack and Ralph escalates. The greater the desire for power, the more willing the boys become, to engage in violent acts and bloodshed. Towards the end of the story, the underlying basis for governance, i.e, the desire to work towards the common good, is completely eliminated, as the inherent savagery and the thirst for blood in the boys becomes the driving factor which makes them so blind that they end up killing two of the boys – Simon and Piggy. Ralph weeps for the “end of his innocence”, the “darkness of man’s heart” and the death of his “true, wise friend called Piggy”. (Golding, 1954:184). When he sobs in this way for the demise of his wise friend Piggy, he is in effect, ruing the end of governance and the emergence of the reign of the brutal and savage primal urges in man which had been only thinly dampened by the veneer of civilization. He is glad that help and rescue have finally arrived so that the jungle situation which destroyed civilization and produced the principle of the survival of the fittest, i.e, the law of the jungle, is finally at an end. References Golding, William, 1954. “The Lord of the Flies”, New York: Berkeley Publishing Group. Read More