Abuse of Power, Good vs. Evil, The Beast, The Lord of the Flies

Abuse of Power

• Jack not wanting to share the meat with Piggy and Ralph after the first kill.    
• At Castle Rock, Jack abuses of his power as new chief by having the other boys bring him drinks, beating them (Samneric). In chapter 10, Jack ties up one of the boys at Castle Rock and leaves them hanging for hours.  
• The fact that abuse of power is so common on the island demonstrates how humans really are and what they are capable of.  It goes with the theme of Good vs. Evil.    

Good vs. Evil in Humans

-As the novel goes on, Jack develops a taste for violence and killing pigs

-Diffusion of responsability after Simon's death 

-Samneric still went with their instincts and helped Ralph after they switched tribes.   

-Ralph, Piggy and Simon used their power for "good" and protecting the littluns, whereas Jack and Roger were using their power for their own good. 

-The debate of whether humans are good or evil is reoccuring while reading The Lord of the Flies.  Even Ralph debates all of this after Piggy is killed.  

-Throughout the book, the good and bad things the boys depend on the situation.  The following quote come from chapter 10.                                                              

"They were savages it was true; but they were human, and the ambushing fears of the deep night were coming on."  (p 206) 

“If it were light shame would burn them at admitting these things.  But the night was dark.”  (p 209)

The Beast

-Represents the theme of fear creating hysteria.
-The Beast is a fear in the boys' heads.  Simon says: "Maybe the beast is us."  

-Though the boys want to hunt the beast, they never really can since evil is internal (explains why there were no tracks etc as Piggy mentions)

-The Beast also serves as foreshadowing since the boys were scared of themselves all along, even before they started to mutinise, murder, steal, etc.  

The Lord of the Flies

-Some people associate Simon to Jesus character-wise because of his purity and integrity.  Therefore the Lord of the Flies would be a symbol for Satan, considering it tries to tempt Simon into evil.  

-The Lord of the Flies could also represent human nature, which is why Simon is incredibly terrified of it and why Ralph immediately dislikes it and hits it when he finds it in the woods. It also explains the following quote:  

“You knew, didn’t you?  I’m part of you?  Close, close, close!  I’m the reason why it’s no go?  Why things are what they are?”  -The Lord of the Flies 

-The Beast and the Lord of the Flies are connected pretty closely.