The Struggle For Power

People have many different groups or activities they are a part of. It makes them feel safe and at home. Like they are contributing to something greater. From being apart of a certain political category or an extremist group, everyone thirst for this feeling. In William Golding’s, Lord of the flies, a plane crash left a group of British boys stranded on an island with no parental supervision. They go through many obstacles such as voting for a leader and starting a fire. Throughout these struggles, they battle with war versus diplomacy. As a society, people are taught that it is important to contribute to the success of our communities. Like voting for a president that people feel will make a difference, inputting their opinions, but in the end, unless they have power it is out of their control.

In this scene from, Lord of the Flies, the group of kids just got done the voting for a leader. They chose Ralph to be the leader and Jack was not too happy about this decision. "This toy of voting was almost as pleasing as the conch. Jack started to protest but the clamor changed from the general wish for a chief..."(22) This quote shows that diplomacy is effective because people can bicker and complain about the decision, but the decision is final. Later in the scene, Jack was given the choirboys but Ralph is the overall leader. From the choirboys perspective they have no say in the matter, they have to follow Jack and listen to his commands. They are too young to control their own decision making and leave it in the hands of anybody with “authority”. This relates to what is going on in the presidential elections and how that most of Bernie Sanders supporters are young. In an article, from newyorker.com, which talked about the attendance of Bernie Sanders rally stated, “Another was how many young people were turning out to see an irascible seventy-four-year-old senator from Vermont.” Since a lot of Bernie Sander supporters are below the age limit they are not able to vote. They are like the choirboys not able to make the important decisions because they are too young. The young Bernie supporters can voice their opinions on social media, but in the end they can’t control the outcome. They have to leave it in the hands of their elders.

In pursuit of control many people start extremist groups to create change. In a Cnn article talking about the increase in extremist groups in america it stated, “"They believe the Constitution is being raped. With hate groups, things are going to get worse because they feel like they're in battle,"” Many extremist groups feel that they have a duty to fix what they feel is wrong with society and the government. They try to put their values out there through protesting and in extreme cases acts of violence. Since they do not have political power they feel that doing this is the only way to get heard. In their opinion the “injustice” that has been committed is big enough to start a group against. These types of group is like Jack’s viewpoint. In this scene Jack had just got done getting into a heated conversation with Ralph. In which said that Jack would even get scared if he saw a beast. This got Jack real mad and he called a meeting to impeach Ralph. He stated, “...The next thing is that we couldn’t kill it. And the next is Ralph said my hunters are no good. I never said that! I’ve got the conch. Ralph thinks you’re cowards running away from the boar and the beast” Jack tries to turn the group of boys against Ralph in this quote. He even lies about what he said, like a extremist group, he is trying correct the “wrong” that he was dealt. He left the group with his minions and formed kind of a cult that sacrifice animals to the so called Beast. He tried to change the group he was in, but failed exiling himself from the group. He was able to become leader of his own tribe but made enemies of the people around him.

In this scene a boy name Roger was walking across the island and was stopped by one of his clan mates. The clan questioned him because Jack wanted them to challenge everyone they met. They talked about what was happening to Wilfred and stated, “He’s going to beat wilfred. What for? I don’t know. He didn’t say. He got angry and made us tie Wilfred up. He’s been...he’s been tied up for hours waiting.” This quote shows that power over a whole group has gotten to Jack’s head. He is becoming a dictator, punishing anyone he pleases. The followers of Jack just go along with it either fearing that they will be next or trusting Jack because he is in a position of power. Jack doesn’t tell the group why Wilfred was being punished leaving them to think that he committed a heinous crime. This shows how power can shift people’s viewpoints of you and what you can do. He harnesses the power to take over the island, something he couldn’t have achieve before.

In conclusion, power rules the way people act and treat others. Without it they are not able to change the perspective of people around them. As we can see in, Lord of the Flies Jack gaining power affected how he treated the people around him. He began ruling with fear instead of being diplomatic like Ralph. In real life the youth lacking the power to vote affects the outcome of the presidential election which is out of their control. No matter what though people are going to try to voice their but without power nothing will change.