Lord of the Flies

Thomas Hobbes has views of how society comes into existence, in that man is purely selfish by nature. He believes that the only reason forms of social structure exist it is mans individual best interest to have one. Lord of the Flies, written by William Golden supports this idea. Hobbes theory is demonstrated in this novel through it’s main characters.

Throughout the novel, Ralph is constantly trying to form a democratic society on the island that concentrates on being saved, and immediately takes the leadership role. While some would simply view him as the “good guy”, he is only acting in his best interest. The first thing he orders the group to do is make fire “We must make smoke on the island we must make fire (pg 38).” He also states “We wont be painted, because we aren’t savages (pg 172).” He is doing everything he can to keep things as if they were back in Britain, he is not putting in all this effort for the sake of everyone, but to make sure he gets home safely.

Piggy is another example of this. He believes society should be the way Ralph wants it. Stating, “Which is better, to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is.... Which is bett

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His main concern is food; from the beginning he says, “I’ll split up the choir, my hunters that is. He is the only person to help Ralph build the shelters, he never gave into temptation, the “Lord of the Flies” talked to him, and when he died a circle of blue organisms surrounded his head in the ocean, representing a halo. In a nutshell, Golding made it clear that the only way to escape this selfish lifestyle is to not be human.

The only character that is completely selfless in the novel is Simon. ” This scares all the boys into doing exactly what jack tells them, his actions are always used to give him more power of this society. They strattle Ralph’s democracy and Jack’s dictatorship, and ultimately give in to what will best protect them. He is selfish in the sense that he manipulates Ralph into being a perfect leader, at his weakest points. He is an extremely powerful leader because he uses fear to control everyone on the island. “When they find me, what are they going to do? The twins answered him indirectly, you got to go now Ralph(pg 189)” This supports the fact that they have joined Jack’s society only because it is in their best interest, they see it as a way to prevent death, and it is selfish in the fact that they are basically leaving Ralph to die. (pg 186)” They refused to join Ralph in hiding from Jack. er, to have laws and agree, or to hunt and kill? (pg 42)” Piggy is a person who has always been a follower, and finds comfort in having someone there to tell him what’s right.

Samneric, the twins of the island, also demonstrate this theory. He drills the fact that everyone needs food over fire, but really he is consumed with the adrenalin rush of killing. Jack kidnapped then into his tribe, leaving Ralph alone and to be hunted, but when Samneric have a chance to escape and do what’s right, they do not because it puts them at risk.

Common topics in this essay:
Ralph Stating, William Golden, Jack Ralph, Lord Flies, Thomas Hobbes, Flies Simon, Castle Rock, Jack Samneric, lord flies, hobbes theory, hobbes theory demonstrated, believes society, pg 42, theory demonstrated, pg 160, leaving ralph,

Approximate Word count = 819
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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