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Power in Lord of the Flies

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William Golding’s novel, "Lord of the Flies," incorporates numerous examples of power types. Golding uses two boys to express opposing powers; democratic and coercive. The boys, Jack and Ralph have completely opposite notions of power, which are well validated and are the main focal point of the novel. Rebekah Gardner reports. The novel starts off with an airplane crash, leaving a group of young boys stranded on an uncivilized island with no adult supervision. Golding clearly identifies the two main characters of the novel, Jack and Ralph. After commanding all stranded boys with a conch shell, Ralph gained control and was seen by his peers as the “adult type” leader. Later on a group of choirboys marched onto the beach with their leader, Jack Merridew. He was perceived as an arrogant and authoritative individual. Jack quickly begins to challenge Ralph as chief, believing he would be much more worthy. This belief by Jack is shown when he declares, “I ought to be chief, because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing a C sharp.” Conflict starts to fester between Jack and Ralph, as the position of leader is highly valued. The first power was revealed at the opening of the novel, which was the position of the “adult figure”. Ralph was thrust into a position of power as he blew the conch to gather the boys and was first to take action, even though he was being influenced to do so by Piggy. Although Ralph is already seen as a leader, he felt as if it was only fair to Jack and the boys, to hold an election for chief. Ralph with his superior age and robust initiative defeated Jack in the election. Jack’s unsuccessful attempt for chief left him humiliated, as he was sure he would better suited for the position of chief. His defeat in the election was the start of the anger and hate he developed towards Ralph. As the novel continued, the tribe of boys started to become uncertain as to whether Ralph was the rightful l

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