Analysis of Sociopolitical Structure in Lord of the Flies
Analysis of Sociopolitical Structure in "Lord of the Flies"
During the 1940s, much conflict existed between countries. People were injured, murdered, and it was complete chaos. During the span of World War II, government and societal structures were drastically changed, because of this. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, a group of children stranded on a deserted island have similar issues happening between them. Since they don’t have any adults on the island, they are left to start their own government and society. Because they are used to obeying rules and not having to depend on themselves, many problems start to occur between them, and the way they run their society soon leads to the breakdown of morality in their society. In Lord of the Flies, the main characters and their relationship with each other mirror the relationships and characteristics of the countries in WWII and the perceived breakdown of society in today’s society.
Ralph, the leader of the society on the island, mirrors the role of the United States in WWII. Throughout the story, Ralph has very few friends, and those that he does have are only of convenience. He acts as if he knows better than anyone else does and can trust only himself. While on the island, Ralph is in between a dispute between Jack and Piggy, but he doesn’t care enough to become involved in it, until it directly involves him, forcing him to become involved, and repeating the same actions the U.S. did during the war.
Meanwhile, Jack, who is selfish and bitter, can compare to Adolf Hitler. He compares with Hitler because they’re both violent, want power, and are tyrants. Jack doesn’t really pick on Piggy because he hates him, it is because he can, like Hitler, he thrived on power and helplessness. Unlike Piggy, Ralph had power, could defend himself, and wasn’t afraid of Jack, so Jack really despised Ralph. Another reason Jack can relate to Hitler is because he only wanted power and didn’t care about anyone else, unlike Ralph, who wanted to help the others get rescued from the island. Since Jack’s views on how society should be run differed from Ralph’s, he went against Ralph, and started to cause chaos between everyone.
In the middle of all this controversy, Piggy is a...