Lord of the Flies

The Lord of the Flies by WIlliam Golding, clearly illustrates the complex problems in society today with abstract ideas in a compelling story. He covers issues like power and control, discrimination, and the degeneration of people with untapped potential. It conveys such a strong message which everyone needs to learn, and can be used for anyones posterity. Everyone is so unique, but also very similar in the respect of basic human traits.

People will always desire power and control. Prowess in anything they endeavor. Who doesn't want success? Some people will stop at nothing to reach that higher high, higher plateau, etc. Intertwined in that is that lust for respect, but the problem with that is you can't just be given respect. You have to earn it. Some of time it's effected by stereotypes, such as ageism, racism, sexism, etc. But also sometimes people assume the former, when really all a person asks for is decency.

Everyone has flaws, inside or out, and for some people it's much more evident. Piggy obviously has many which are out of his control. What he lacks in health and appearance, he makes up for with knowledge. But some people can't stand generalized groups of fat, old, black, white, yellow, male, or female people. This is clear when Jack takes out his anger and insults Piggy:

Piggy began again.

'You didn't ought to have let that fire out. You said you'd keep the smoke going-'

This from Piggy, and the wails of agreement from some of the hunters drove Jack to violence. The bolting look came into his blue eyes. He took a step, and able at last to hit someone, stuck his fist into Piggy's stomach. Piggy sat down with a grunt. Jack stood over him. His voice was vicious with humiliation.

'You would, would you? Fatty!' (75).

As hard as Piggy tries to earn respect from the others, he'll never fit the prototypical 'Chief' or leader. Humans either use violence to instill a sense of fear, or use relating to instill a sense of understanding. The former will develop into the cycle of jealousy, hate, and anarchy depicted in the crumble of democratic agreement on the Island. The latter will develop into civilization,