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Randy Le

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

26 March 2019

The “Authority Figure” Effect

How do people act with the knowledge of there being no authority figure observing them? In any group of children, it is inferred that some may act in an inappropriate manner when a matured figure leaves the scene. More specifically, children tend to get a sense that responsibility is brushed off their shoulders when an authority figure is not present but the moment authority is established again, responsibility becomes a motive to become more civilized. When people are observed by an authority figure, their thought process and actions gravitate towards a state of civility. In contrast, the absence of an authority figure pushes people into a place where they lack self control.

In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, different scenarios are brought up that illustrate components of human ideology and behavior. From the beginning, a group of boys are stranded on an island with no adults around. In turn, this creates a gap where the boys transition from civilized to savage, under the knowledge that an authority figure is not observing them. One of the boys, Piggy, says “What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? What's grownups going to think? Going off--hunting pigs--letting fires out--and now!” (Golding 91). This shows the awareness that there is no longer an authority figure to be obedient towards. Building off of that, there is an establishment of fear in Piggy’s voice which sparks the transition from civility to savagery. Piggy notices that the boys are rather living based off their primal instincts and are devolving into savages. Without there being an authority figure, the boys have already changed their line of thoughts and structured their own community apart from the moral-based civilization with an authority figure. Piggy seems to comprehend the dangers of the primal acts but has no say in such a nonfunctional community.

In primary school, students wish for the day that a substitute teacher takes the role of their actual teacher. The desire to be in a learning environment is lost as this gives the students opportunities to misbehave. Sammy Kayes was a substitute for more than three years and in his years of being a substitute teacher, he conducted his own research of why some students may behave differently around substitutes. Through a process of asking teachers (including substitutes), Kayes was able to get an answer of students desiring to “get away” with their tasks but most importantly, their responsibilities. Responsibility comes through as a hidden theme throughout his experience and Kayes states “My initial theory was that students are trying to “get away from” whatever they’re doing. I actually wanted to be wrong.” From here, a conclusion was drawn that classes with substitute teachers behave poorly because of the fact that students would prefer to do something else. Kayes goes further to notice that the problem is more of a systematic problem rather than a problem on the teachers. In a community where behavior varies so vividly, a clear problem can be seen that may pertain more towards the people than the ones teaching.

Towards the end of the novel, the boys, who have been engulfed by savagery, target Ralph who had desired a society structured by law and order. Before the savagery could take over and possibly end Ralph, a Naval officer arrives, causing the boys to stop. They begin to cry and notice their actions throughout the story. Just from the presence of an authority figure, the boys were able to fade away from their untamed thoughts and notice the wrong acts they have done. Elaborating, the Navy officer stated “I should have thought that a pack of British boys一you’re all British, aren’t you?一would have been able to put up a better show than that一I mean一” (Golding 201-202) which criticized the behavior by saying they should have been organized and enlightened as should the British were (who were civilized). In addition, the sudden pause of action is enough to determine the impact an authority figure has on a community. The boys were able to recognize their actions and stop any more violence from occurring which shows the importance of an authority figure.

In comparison, students in a classroom may have different reactions when subsubtites are present versus when they are not. Returning to Sammy Kayes, he says “What I noticed was that every day, in almost every class, students would cheer and dance that I was there instead of their regular teacher. Students loved having a substitute teacher. They really wanted to get away, so much that it was a celebration when they finally could.” His line of thought correlates with the idea that there is some type of relief when no authority figure is present. In addition, he presents the idea of the students “getting away” by leaning towards an ideology of not only taking responsibility but distancing themselves from it. All in all, the process of becoming uncivilized accordingly to the absence of an authority figure becomes a prominent theme even when taking a look through the lens of a substitute teacher.

Taking everything into account, the absence of a authority figure shifts the behavior of human beings from civilized to more or less, savage. Glancing at the transformation of the boys, the readers can see how the absence of an authority figure can take a pivotal role in the behavior of humans. The boys ,who were previously classified as civil, became more like savages which connects with the “substitute teacher effect” when students would behave differently around substitutes. In addition, Sammy Kayes and his story as a substitute teacher further elaborates the definitive truth behind authority coupled with human beings. Ultimately, this proves that people will act differently upon the knowledge of an authority figure observing them. Whether it be performing a task or presenting yourself to the public, the large message is that people will act in a civilized manner when an authority figure is present but will act in a savage manner when the authority figure is no longer present.

Works Cited

Bodenner, Chris. “When Students Physically Dominate a Sub.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 26 Sept. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/notes/2016/09/substitutes/501227/.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006.

Kayes, Sammy, and Sammy Kayes. “The ‘Substitute Teacher’ Effect.” Student Voices, Student Voices, 12 Feb. 2017, mystudentvoices.com/the-substitute-teacher-effect-adc1a4a801c0.

Isabela Curtin

Ms. Pahomov

English II

25 March 2019

Trauma: A Cycle

Lord of the Flies by William Golding presents a story of 13 boys who crashed onto a deserted island. Over time, these children's personalities began to transform. The more separated and desperate the boys became, the more volatile their actions became. Being left alone and helpless on the island took a mental toll on the boys, similar to that of soldiers in WWII. This cycle of trauma can be seen in the real world by looking at the mental effects of WWII  in soldiers suffering from PTSD.

When the boys landed on the island, they acted like they were fine being alone and separated from their parents. This can be seen with Piggy and Ralph in their first interactions when Ralph says, "Aren’t there any grown-ups at all?" to which Piggy replies  "I don’t think so." (8, Golding). After this, Golding describes Ralph as having, “The delight of a new ambition” (8, Golding) overcome him. It’s almost as if Ralph had a fantasy of being independent from adults. This fantasy of being separated from authority figures and choosing a path at a young age can be also seen at the start and during WW2.  In the article, “World War Two Veterans: 'The people who say they weren’t frightened are liars” Clifford Guard tells the story of how he enlisted into the army at the age of 15:

I went to New York, and I met a physician who asked me what I wanted to

do with my life. I said I’d like to become an American sailor, and he said,

‘... you’re not a citizen – but I can get you in the army.’(Buist, Erica. 2015)

While the boys in Lord of the Flies, such as Clifford Guard, did not ask to be separated from their parents, some saw their journeys in a positive light. For both young WW2 recruits and the children in Lord of the Flies, this positive outlook did not last long.

As any thoughtful person would realize, taking a young child out of the safety of their home and throwing them into the horrors of war is going to cause that child to go through many emotions and will affect them for a lifetime. These effects include anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression.  Gilbert Arbiso, for example, described his reaction to being shipped out with the Navy for the first time to Newsweek: “[I wanted to go home, I was home sick,] I cried all night. Some of the older fellas said, ‘Look, son. You can’t get out and can’t go home.’”

The same reactions can be seen with multiple boys in Lord of the Flies. After a couple of days on the island, fear starts to surround the boys. Distress is clearly shown in one of the meetings Ralph calls. “The littluns were no longer silent. They were reminded of their personal sorrows, and perhaps felt themselves to share in a sorrow that was universal. They began to cry in sympathy” (87, Golding). This dread does not just overtake the little children on the island though, it takes over the older characters who are supposed to be shown as the strong leaders of this island community. The most poignant scene demonstrating this is Ralph walking along the beach, thinking about life. “Pacing by the water. . .He found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one's waking life was spent watching one's feet” (76, Golding). All three of these examples show another key piece to the cycle of trauma: acceptance. In other words,  the truth of their situation is sinking in. Acceptance can manifest itself in several ways. Littluns and Gilbert Arbiso cried after realizing they were trapped on the island, while Ralph expressed what can be interpreted as pure shock.

Eventually, the kids in Lord of Flies complete the cycle of trauma they woke up on a deserted island separated from authority figures who can tell them what is right or wrong. The boys then emotionally spiraled out of control until they eventually killed people in their own group and burned down their island. They have all participated in or witnessed this destruction, which in an ideal world no child should ever have to witness. This separation and isolation is an eerily similar parallel to the experiences of WW2 veterans. Like the book’s characters, veterans also had to face the harsh question of whether their actions are moral. Many WW2 veterans faced the choice of whether to kill in order to survive the day. They also witnessed a raw, sometimes ugly, side of human nature that few in civilized society get to experience.

War the central theme in the book Lord of the Flies.  Since the book was written only eight years after the end of World War 2,  Golding most likely had this real-world event in mind. The author used little boys to represent how anyone could find themselves in the middle of chaos and conflict given the proper set of circumstances.  The boys can also represent innocence, we possess before life gives us dilemmas, and traumatic events.

This essay analyzes the journey of the boys in Lord of the Flies while showing a comparison to the experience of combat soldiers in World War 2. The essay presents how both stranded schoolboys and the innocent army recruits start off innocent and unaware of what events will hit them. As time moves on, however, both become subjected to loneliness, sadness, and life or death situations, causing immense emotional trauma A.K.A Post Traumatic Stress Disorder..

Works Cited

Buist, Erica. “World War Two Veterans: 'The People Who Say They Weren't Frightened Are Liars.'” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 6 June 2015, www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/06/d-day-anniversary-veterans-remember-years-living-dangerously.

Edition, Newsweek Special. “World War Two Veterans Share Firsthand Accounts of the War.” Newsweek,

27 Mar. 2016, www.newsweek.com/soldiers-stories-325883.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Spark Publishing, 2014.

“War.” William Golding, www.william-golding.co.uk/explore-search/war.

Noor Kreidie

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

26 March 2019

Wall Street is an eight block area in New York City, which has made “New York the most powerful financial city in the world”, according to Huw Jones from Reuters.com. The influence of money and power in stock trading can make people become crooks. Some of the most influential banks in the world are controlled by few leaders, ending in these leaders having extreme amounts of power. In The Lord of The flies after a plane crash boys 7-12 are left on an island without any laws or parents. On the Island there is a battle over who has the ultimate power, ultimately leading in boys doing unethical actions to acquire the power. These two examples dementonstates how power corrupts people and makes people commit inhumane and unethical actions.

In 2008, a well known stock trader Bernie Madoff was caught for fraudulent, after years in being in the stock exchange world.“A well-respected financier, Madoff convinced thousands of investors to hand over their savings, falsely promising consistent profits in return.” He had made 65 billion dollars from his investors, most of that going into his own pocket. He would persuade people to give them their whole savings and then keep it for himself. In 2008 he was charged with 150 years in prison. A major reason why he was undetected for so long was because he was very respected and was a very powerful member of the financial world in New York. He helped launch the Nasdaq Stock Market which is the world's second largest stock exchange, because of this he was viewed as a leader and held major power. Knowing that he had so much power he committed illegal actions because he knew he would never get caught.

Jack was a leader of the boys at the end of the book, except for Ralph and Piggy. Ralph never wanted Jack to become Chief because he believed that he had committed savage actions. But Jack was willing to do anything to become chief, and even hurt other boys on the island.He threw a boulder which ended up impaling piggy. After Piggy’s death,  Golding writes “ See? See? That what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone-I’m chief!”(181) Just like Madoff, Jack had committed an inhumane action and wasn’t seen any less of a leader to their followers. Jack didn’t feel any sorrow for Piggy because he had a rush from having so much power. Madoff and Jack are very similar in the degree that they were lead by the need of power. With that constant need in their heads they didn’t think their actions through which lead to destruction of people's lives.

Jordan Belfort the inspiration of  Wolf of Wall Street shows the dynamic of power and the inhumane abilities it has on people. Jordan Belfort had a company called Stratton Oakmont that was worth just over 1 billion dollars. On Warrior Trading.com they write“Stratton Oakmont employed 1,000 traders who were responsible for issuing stocks that totaled over 1 billion dollars. These fraudulent actions cost investors millions of dollars.” The way they got so much money was through selling penny stock, penny stocks are shares of public companies at very low prices. Jordan Belfort and his team would sell and promote penny stock. Which then would make raise the value of the penny stock. When he sold all the penny stock he would drop the stock from his company. When doing this he would gain millions of dollars while his investors would lose a lot of money. He was finally arrested and spent twenty-two months in prison. But he had done this for years and represented huge brands like Steve Madden. He never felt guilt for the companies that he represented or his investors since he was on such a high of power. He let power get to his head, which ultimately lead to the downfall of him in the financial world and his company.

In  Lord of the Flies, Jack had always wanted to become a leader, and always wanted to acquire more and more power. Jack was always on a quest to kill a pig to get food and to show his leadership abilities.“ The mask was a thing on it own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness. (64)”  At the beginning of the book, Ralph was chosen as the main leader between him and Jack. Throughout the first half of the book the boys were in desperate need of food, and everybody wanted to kill the pig. Jack thought that killing this pig would make himself look like a more capable leader. He did anything to kill this pig, going to the degree of wearing face paint to attract this pig. Even though he was killing the pig to feed the boys, he did the killing in a very gruesome manner, and slit the pig's throat. He had done actions which we would view as gruesome and inhumane to require the power that he believed he deserved.

Power has the ability to corrupt a mind. When you believe you are on top of the world, and have control over so many people you believe that you can do anything. Madoff and Belfort knowling committed crimes,but didn’t think twice because they benefited from those actions. Jack knew that killing another boy, and gruesomely killing a pig was something immoral, and yet still did it to possess power. We have a part of our brain that always want us to be the best of the best, which makes people associate with having power over other people. Human always crave power for the urge of power. Humans will do anything to be on top of the world.

Works Cited

Golding, William, and Donna Reardon. Lord of the Flies. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1954.

Jones, Huw. “United States Top, Britain Second in Financial Activity: Think-Tank.” Reuters,

Thomson Reuters, 4 Sept. 2018, www.reuters.com/article/us-survey-markets/united-states-top-britain-second-in-financial-activity-think-tank-idUSKCN1LK2TM.

Yang, Stephanie. “5 Years Ago Bernie Madoff Was Sentenced to 150 Years In Prison – Here's

How His Scheme Worked.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 1 July 2014, www.businessinsider.com/how-bernie-madoffs-ponzi-scheme-worked-2014-7.

“Jordan Belfort: How He Became the Wolf of Wall Street.” Warrior Trading, Warrior Trading, 12

Matalai Lee

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

26 March 2019

The Effect of the Social Hierarchy

William Golding’s, Lord of The Flies, depicts how being stranded on an island affects a group of prepubescent boys. It explores ideas about human behavior, human nature and at what point the boys begin to abandon their civility. The novel illustrates what aspects of society would stay the same in this situation, as well as the disparities that there would be. One constant that was shown is how instantaneously someone is repudiated. The need to create a hierarchy in their society acted rapidly, leaving certain boys at the bottom of their fabricated class system. William Golding wrote the Lord of the Flies with the intention of symbolizing how people are unfairly misrepresented and mistreated due to social hierarchies.  

In the novel, it is quickly decided who will be the leader of the group, but it was also decided who the outcasts of the group would be. Upon their first introductions, one of the main characters, Piggy, was called this name despite not wanting to be, saying “‘You told ‘em. After what I said.’ ‘About being called Piggy. I said I didn’t care as long as they didn’t call me Piggy; an’ I said not to tell and then you wen an’ said straight out-’, ” (25) . It is implied that Piggy was given this nickname by former classmates and possibly bullies, based off of his appearance. Being called Piggy makes him feel inferior because of its connotation and origin. Despite Ralph’s intentions not being malicious, he still misidentified him and gave the rest of the boys a demeaning name to call him. He is unaware that this will lead to him being tormented and continuously ridiculed.  

The boys desire for an informal social class system can be related to that of our current society. Many groups of people are still marginalized and pushed to the bottom of our social hierarchy, namely, people of color, women and members of the LGBTQ community. Specifically, the world still struggles with the acceptance of transgender people and tend to regard them as less than human. One big issue that they face is being misidentified, whether intentional or incidental. In an article recently published by CNN,  Jen Christensen wrote about the issue of the identities of murdered trans people being misconstrued in the media. The simple act of not calling someone by their proper name or labeling them as the incorrect gender invalidates them as people. It makes the person being misidentified feel inferior and creates an unnecessary divide between them and everyone around them. It has been established in society that referring to someone by their name, as opposed to not, is a way to show respect. People take the opportunity to disregard this when interacting with and talking about transgender people, and feed into the power that they hold over them, treating them as lesser. This is similar to Piggy being misidentified because both are not respectfully being referred to as how they identify as.

For both Piggy and Simon, the effects of being forced to the lower levels of their island’s social hierarchy are catastrophic. As the novel progresses, Piggy and Simon become more and more susceptible to ridiculement and persecution, which leads to their inexorable deaths. In addition their deaths were treated with a sense of nonchalance from all of the boys, with only one of the characters, Ralph, being the exception. On page 157, in reference to Simon’s death, Golding writes Piggy saying, “Coming in the dark-he hadn’t no business crawling like that out of the dark. He was batty. He asked for it,” (157). The boys were not just reluctant to take responsibility for what they had done but Piggy also insisted that Simon was partially responsible. They felt that Simon was not entitled to their respect or even recognition that he had been murdered by them. His status among the rest of the boys resulted in his death being written off as an accident. Piggy’s death, which happens not long after that of Simon, is also dealt with in a negligent matter. A character in the book, Jack, used Piggy’s murder as a warning and a threat for Ralph. Who was allowed no time to mourn the death of his friend, because of how quickly him dying was brushed under the rug. “This time the silence was complete. Ralph’s lips formed a word but no sound came. Suddenly Jack bounded out from the tribe and began screaming wildly. ‘See? See? That’s what you’ll get? I mean that!” (181).  Golding even writes that Piggys, as well as Simons, body was washed away by the water surrounding the island soon after his death. Further insinuating the lack of importance that Simon and Piggy had in relation to the rest of the boys on the island.

These events in the book are comparable to how the murders of transgender people are underreported by the media. Their deaths are periodically overlooked by media outlets and forgotten by society. Despite the magnitude of murders of transgender people, the overall coverage and recognition of the tragedies that face this community is miniscule, and in some ways insignificant. A direct quote from an article written by Raquel Willis and published by Out states that, “It has become customary for reports on murdered trans women to gain a slight bit of traction with jarring headlines — only to be forgotten about the next day.”.  The article talks in depth about the extremely noticeable trend of the dismissing of violence that trans people, specifically women of color, face and deem them and their struggles as nugatory and unimportant.

In summation, the social status of an individual or group of people heavily influences how they are treated and regarded by society. This is represented in Lord of the Flies through the characters of Simon and Piggy, and their murders. As well as in the overall treatment of transgender people. Through forceful establishment in the bottom of the social hierarchy in their respective societies, Simon, Piggy and transgender people became subject to unfair tormenting and violence.

Works Cited  

Christensen, Jen. “Killings of Transgender People in the US Saw Another High Year.” CNN, Cable News Network, 17 Jan. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/01/16/health/transgender-deaths-2018/index.html.  

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006

Greer, Evan. “Powerful Gay Rights Groups Excluded Trans People for Decades - Leaving Them Vulnerable to Trump's Attack.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 29 Oct. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/10/29/trumps-attack-trans-people-should-be-wake-up-call-mainstream-gay-rights-movement/?utm_term=.0a8f54bae572.

Mo Kelly

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

26 March 2019

Absolutism and Corruption

Power is something that everyone strives for. It gives them a sense of purpose in life and the ability to control what’s happening around them, which can sometimes be difficult. But some people aim for a different kind of power: absolute power. Absolute power is when a leader holds supreme authority over a group of people. This power makes it so that there are no checks and balances in place, and the ruler holds all control in his or her hands. Absolute power almost inevitably leads to corruption.

In Lord of The Flies, a novel by William Golding, a group of young boys are stranded on an island without any adults around to help them. They decide that in order to maintain civility, they must elect a chief. Ralph, a young boy on the island, is voted leader, but soon after, the group starts to split up. Ralph leads one group and Jack, the leader of the choir-boys, unofficially leads the second. Jack is more interested in hunting and getting meat while Ralph wants to get rescued as soon as possible. It is clear that Jack’s style of ruling consists of a more absolutist approach than Ralph’s. In a conversation between Ralph and Jack, “‘And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can't hunt, you can't sing—’ ‘I'm chief. I was chosen.’ ‘Why should choosing make any difference? Just giving orders that don't make any sense—’” (91). This quote shows how Jack believes that power should be distributed. In criticizing Ralph about not being able to hunt or sing, Jack actually intends to call attention to his own skill at both of those things. He wants to ignore the democracy of the island and use the strongest person (himself, in his own eyes) as the chief. This could indicate that Jack believes in absolute power, and more importantly, that he should be the absolute ruler, as the quote occurred before he became an unofficial chief. Later, he leads his own group of boys, and uses his absolutist ideas as chief. Golding writes, “‘Give me a drink.’ Henry brought him a shell and he drank... Power lay in the brown swell of his forearms: authority sat on his shoulder and chattered in his ear like an ape,” (150). After obtaining his absolute power, Jack becomes corrupt. He no longer believes that he has to do any work, because he is the leader. This quote contrasts with Ralph’s style of leadership, which often sees him working and cooperating with the boys in whatever needs to be done. For example, he helps construct shelters, and builds the fire that he thinks may help them get rescued. On the other hand, Jack forces his “subjects” to do even the simplest of tasks for him, like getting a cup of water. Ralph is not an absolute ruler, and he is not corrupt. Jack is an absolute ruler, and he becomes corrupt almost as soon as he gains that power, if not before.

Vladimir Putin was appointed President of Russia in 2000, and was later officially elected into the position. He has been ruling as the President for a total of 14 years, with a four-year gap in between terms. Although he fought against it early in his presidency, he is widely considered to be one of the most corrupt leaders in modern times. Even though Putin was elected by the people to be President, the fact that he has been in power for so long may have contributed to his corruption. Just like in Lord of The Flies, there are examples of Putin’s corruption before he became the President. One example is when he was the Deputy Mayor of Saint Petersburg. A quote from pri.org explains the scenario: “The government gave the company 2.5 billion rubles for a construction project. Nothing was constructed. Instead, former police investigator Andrey Zykov says the money went to vacation villas in Spain for Putin and his cronies. No one punished Deputy Mayor Putin,” (Campbell). Because Putin was in power, he believed that normal consequences didn’t apply to him-- and in a way, they don’t. This power quickly began to cloud his judgment and ability to be a fair leader. He forgot the difference between right and wrong because he was never reprimanded for anything, This ultimately led to his corruption. When he became an absolute leader, the corruption became even more evident. A more extreme example of his corruption comes from 2015, where Mikhail Lesin was found dead. According to a Russian Corruption Report, “Lesin died from blunt-force injuries to his head, neck, and torso. Lesin had supposedly been in contact with the Justice Department and the FBI to schedule an interview about the inner workings of RT [Russia Today] the day after he died, which raised questions about the involvement of his former Kremlin allies,” (Massaro et. al. 2). Russian Today is a television program paid for by the Russian Government. Multiple FBI agents have said that they believe Putin or his allies are behind the murder. This isn’t the only case of Putin allegedly having people killed. If this allegation is true, his corruption has gone from giving money to cronies to being an accessory of murder. He knows that he will most likely never get aquitted for his crimes. He believes he is above the law. His absolute power made him forget what it was like to be a regular citizen and blinded him of the consequences of his actions.

Jack’s corruption is different from that of Putin. The result of Putin’s corruption involves money, embezzlement, and his disregard for the law; but on the island in Lord of The Flies, there is no money and there is no official law. Jack’s corruption is shown in the way he treats the other boys, and how he views himself. Although the circumstances and examples of their particular corruptions are different, both of these people were led to this by their absolute power. Jack’s descent into corruption was exponential: his small actions in the beginning of the story are clearly corrupt, but they do not have as big an impact as do his actions later in the book. Golding writes, “The chief [Jack] was sitting there, naked to the waist, his face blocked in white and red. The tribe lay in a semicircle before him. The newly beaten and united Wilfred was sniffing noisy in the background,” (160). At this point in the book, Jack is completely corrupt. He has surrounded himself by people who will do whatever he says and will only agree with him. Whenever someone disagrees with him, like in this quote, he punished them horribly and cruelly.  If given the chance, he most likely would’ve killed Wilfred, seeing as he had Roger kill Piggy earlier in the book. By appointing himself the supreme leader, there is no one to challenge Jack's authority, so corruption occurs.

Power can be a good thing. In the examples of Lord of the Flies, Ralph as chief helped the island gain order instead of the chaos that was inevitable with no leader. Leaders in nations with checks and balances in place can do wonders for that country. But, absolute power can lead to corruption. For Jack and Vladimir Putin, it did. Absolute power clouded their judgment and made them believe they were above all law. Absolute power may seem attractive to some, but it can cause many problems within the community they are leading.

Works Cited

Campbell, Bradley. “Five Corrupt Moves That Helped Make Putin the Most Powerful Man in Russia.” Public Radio International. www.pri.org/stories/2015-01-13/five-corrupt-moves-helped-make-putin-most-powerful-man-russia.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books. 2006

Massaro, Paul, et al. Corruption in Russia: An Overview. U.S. Helsinki Commision, 23 Oct. 2017.

Aidan McLaughlin

Ms. Pahomov

English

25 March 2019

Lord of The Flies Vs. The Unite The Right March

Many comparisons can be made between William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and the August 2017 Unite the Right march in Charlottesville. Lord of the flies, is a fantasy novel about a group of boys who got stranded on a remote island after their plane crashed. The conflicts within the novel range from the self conflict experienced by Jack, the primary antagonist, to the clash between civilized behavior and the savage ideals which culminate in the killings of two boys. During the Unite the Right march, white supremacist groups gathered to espouse their views, including the idea that non-whites and Jews were “destroying” America and must be stopped. Some of them went so far as to call for ethnic cleansing. During the rally, several conflicts erupted between the Unite the Right marchers and counter-protesters. The most significant act of violence occurred when James Fields, a Unite the Right supporter, drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters striking and killing Heather Heyer.

During his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly made incendiary comments that encouraged violence by his supporters against non-supporters, while complaining about political correctness. For the march in Charlottesville, Trump can be compared to Jack for his role in emboldening hate speech and increasing outward displays of hatred including violence, leading up to the Charlottesville rally. James Fields is like Rodger who acted on his savage impulses killing Piggy, and the internet is like the mask worn by Jack and his followers to conceal their identities and free themselves from fear, self-consciousness and remorse.

In chapter four of Lord of the Flies, Painted Faces and Long Hair, Jack paints his face using red and white clay and a stick of charcoal brought from the fire. He painted one eye socket and cheek white, the other half of his face red, and drew a black bar with charcoal from his right ear to his left jaw. After constructing his face he peered into a coconut for his reflection and was so appalled at his new face that he leapt to his feat spilling the coconut water. “He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling… and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (Golding 64). This quote exemplifies that the mask gave Jack the freedom to unleash his savage nature. At first the mask and the savagery it stood for was a thing that Jack could hide behind, but it would later become Jack. Eventually, Jack was able to stand by his savage ideals and present them publicly without hiding behind the mask-- so much so that those ideals would become the reason for his existence.

The internet provides a mask for hate group members to hide behind. Through social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, video platforms such as YouTube, online funding vehicles including PayPal and GoFundMe, hate-based websites and activities on the dark web, white supremacists find each other, promote ideas of hatred and violence and secure funding for their activities. Following Charlottesville, action was taken by all of the internet companies listed above to clamp down on hate speech and the promotion of violence as well as the funding of hate groups. This has forced many hate groups to utilize the dark web where their sites can’t be accessed by ordinary search engines and where individuals can remain anonymous. Prior to Charlottesville, anyone who wished to know about the kinds of white supremacist groups that united there, could do so through any number of internet outlets without fear of being discovered. Research by the Southern Poverty Law Center found that hate group organizers, speakers and individuals used the web to raise and distribute money for the march in Charlottesville. Like Jack’s followers, the Unite the Right marchers eventually became bold enough to leave the safety of online anonymity and share their views in public while demonstrating their willingness to perpetuate acts of violence.

While the rise in hate groups cannot be laid completely at Donald Trump’s feet, there is evidence that suggests he contributed to that rise. According to an analysis of data accrued by the Anti-Defamation League, hate crimes rose by 266% in counties where Trump rallies were held. Also, the FBI reported a 17% increase in hate crimes in the first year of the Trump presidency. During or following his rallies, Trump was cited for promoting violence numerous times. For example, at a Cedar Rapids, Iowa rally, Trump said, “Knock the crap out of him, would you? I promise you, I will pay your legal fees.” This was not the first time that Trump promised to cover legal fees if his supporters became violent with non-supporters. Trump also made derogatory comments about Mexicans, Muslims and the countries of Africa, sentiments widely shared by white supremacists while simultaneously encouraging his supporters to free themselves from the burden of political correctness. Finally, well known white supremacists and rally participants, David Duke and Richard Spencer, both publicly supported Trump’s candidacy.

When Jack left the group, many of the other boys joined him and would soon conceal their faces with the clay and charcoal. One night the boys formed a circle around the fire. They began to chant and the chanting went from excitement to a beating pulse. As they saw something emerge from the forest that they thought was the beast, a deadman that they thought was a monster, they ran toward it yelling, “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” Jack’s authority and words lead the others to act like savages and kill Simon, and, like the march in Charlottesville, passions are inflamed by chanting.

Later in the book, when Ralph, Piggy, Eric, and Sam got to Castle Rock, where the Savages had their fort, to try to retrieve Piggy’s glasses, they’re confronted by the Savages. When piggie speaks, Roger, one of the savages, uses a stick to pry a boulder loose and send it over a cliff. The boulder bounded across the neck of Castle Rock and, “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch (which was previously used for speaking) exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went. Piggie fell forty feet and landed opened and stuff came out and turned red” (Golding 181). The conflict between the two groups, the freedom to express savagery that had become a part of their daily existence, and the support of his peers pushed Roger, to go so far as to commit murder.

Like Roger, James Fields was emboldened by the support of his peers. He was not the leader. He was one of the Savages who had removed the mask to make his hatred known publicly. Inflamed by words of hatred and threats of violence he acts on his savage impulse and hurls a deadly object, his car, toward the counter protesters ultimately killing one of them just as Roger killed Piggy.  

In the Lord of the Flies, Jack abandons the more egalitarian society favored by Ralph and others and draws his followers into a way of life where they think and act outside of the constraints of good conscience. Likewise, Donald Trump moved millions of people, enough for him to win the election, toward a society where political correctness is set aside and contempt for other points of view is encouraged. The rise in hate crimes, particularly in those counties where Trump held rallies provides some evidence of his impact. The mask provides Jack and his followers a way to hide their identities, to hide themselves from themselves, in order to free themselves from self-consciousness, fear and remorse. Like the mask, the internet provided a way to hide that allowed people to anonymously learn about white supremacy, share their opinions and receive validation from others. Some eventually became so emboldened that they were ready to remove the mask and march in Charlottesville. The march became like the Savage’s circling around the fire, which was made complete with their chanting. The Unite the Right marchers now experienced the freedom to express their hatred for non-whites and Jews along with the power of their numbers. Before it was over, one of the marchers, James Fields, forced the bolder off the cliff, demonstrating the ultimate savagery by killing another human being.    

Works Cited

CNN, Staff. “Five Ways Hate Speech Spreads Online.” CNN, Cable News Network, 2 May

2018, www.cnn.com/2018/05/02/us/hate-groups-using-internet/index.html.

Feinberg, Ayal, et al. “Counties That Hosted a 2016 Trump Rally Saw a 226 Percent Increase in

Hate Crimes.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 22 Mar. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/22/trumps-rhetoric-does-inspire-more-hate-crimes/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e43f6a94ad0d.

MacGuill, Dan. “FACT CHECK: Did Donald Trump Encourage Violence at His Rallies?”

Snopes.com, Snopes.com , www.snopes.com/fact-check/donald-trump-incitement-violence/.

News , VICE, and HBO. “Charlottesville: Race and Terror – VICE News Tonight on HBO.”

YouTube, YouTube, 14 Aug. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIrcB1sAN8I.

Times, The New York. “Car Crashed into Counter-Protesters of Charlottesville White Nationalist

March.” YouTube, YouTube, 12 Aug. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQN7ApKL7AY&has_verified=1.

“White Nationalists March in Virginia.” YouTube, CNN, 12 Aug. 2017,

youtu.be/ZN7vm9mIPBs?t=9.

Nuala Cowen        

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

March 26, 2019

Identity, something that we can’t help but carry with us. Every mistake, fear, and insecurity imprints on our identity and leaves a scar on who we are. Many people look for ways to hide the vulnerability of their identity by using masks that they could use to create a new identity and hide their own. In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, the boys on the island are liberated from the captivity of adults and their morals, leaving them to decide on their own. Looking beyond the novel, it is clear that this idea of anonymity is embedded in the philosophy of human nature. When committing acts that go against society’s morals, many people look for ways to maintain an untouched identity so that they can leave their scars with their mask once unveiled.

Throughout history, people have relied on disguises to hide from society’s morals and the constraint that their disguises have brought. Robbers cover their faces before entering a bank while parents shield their children from the corruption of real life. The Ku Klux Klan was a hate group consisting of white supremacists, mainly taking place in the ‘60s during the Jim Crow Laws but still lasting today. The KKK’s main goal was to abolish the idea of equality between African Americans and Caucasians believing that white people were the superior race. By doing this they spent their nights committing violent crimes that would often end in lynching.

Possibly their most recognizable custom was their uniform. “Indeed, the image of a hooded Klansman has become a popular hate symbol itself, displayed on t-shirts and tattoos by white supremacists around the world”(ADL). Their hoods became less of an identity and more of a shield from their shame. Rather than showing superiority, the white hoods would often be correlated with fear and violence due to the numerous amounts of hangings that occurred at the time of segregation. Often we only recognize the iconic white hoods of the Ku Klux Klan, rather than the faces underneath them.

Furthermore, many people believed that the participants of the Ku Klux Klan presented themselves as madmen, outcasts of society. But oddly enough, many of them kept themselves as civilized and put together people. “Though Democratic leaders would later attribute Ku Klux Klan violence to poorer southern whites, the organization’s membership crossed class lines, from small farmers and laborers to planters, lawyers, merchants, physicians and ministers” (HISTORY). Most people correlate these types of jobs with responsibility and trust, but with masks on, no one truly knows who’s hidden underneath.  The KKK was known to be one of the most violent and uncivilized hate groups throughout history due to their lack of morals. But with a hidden identity, they could justify their actions, claiming it wasn’t them or perhaps that they were influenced by the liberation in which the mask brought them.

In the novel, Lord of the Flies, a group of schoolboys get stranded on an island due to a plane crash. The boys were introduced as well-mannered and civilized children who relied on

innocent morals to shape the laws they set on the island. Jack, one of the older boys on the island, presented himself as a coarse and orderly character of leadership, yet torn up by insecurity and shame. Only until he discovered the beauty of the painted face, was he able to hide his vulnerability to the rest of the boys. “He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (Golding 64). At the start of the novel, Jack was unable to face the bitter truth of violence, as he was sheltered by the morals of the society he grew to carry with him. But once he painted his face, he couldn’t even recognize his reflection and more importantly, his own identity; “He knelt, holding the shell of water….He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger” (Golding 63). Everything that had held him back from killing the pig, and better yet the savagery it brought him was protected by the mask. It’s human nature to feel the need to protect ourselves from certain things that would sully our status so we look for other ways to purge inner need to go beyond the line of morals that we are taught to never cross.

Consequently, living on an island with little availability to food, the boys were surprised to find that it was populated with pigs. Jack, being the first to spot that pigs lived on the island, believed that it was his duty to act as the provider of the island. Thus, he pulled out a blade he had brought and drew it to the neck of the pig. “The three boys rushed forwards and Jack drew his knife again with a flourish. There came a pause, a hiatus, the pig continued to scream and the creepers to jerk, and the blade continued to flash at the end of a bony arm” (Golding 31). His hesitation was due to the vulnerability of his own self. The idea that he needed to act a certain way in order to be a civilized member of society. From this, his obsession for blood grew and his only resolution was to cover his face in paint in order to conceal himself from the pig while hunting.  Towards the end of the book, the mask became less of a tool for hunting but more of an acceptance to savagery. When Jack covered his face, he saw himself as a whole different person; someone who had no shame nor insecurities that would hold him back from feeling the need to follow rules and fit in with society.

When acting on crimes that go against our morals, we will use masks to protect the vulnerability of our own integrity and to leave on less scar on who we are. The Ku Klux Klan used hoods to conceal their faces when lynching African Americans while Jack and the hunters used paint to present themselves as less visible when hunting the pigs. But what if their main reason for hiding their faces wasn’t for appearance, rather something deeper; their own identity? In society, we are taught that innocence is one of the most valuable customs and corruption is looked down on. Both the African Americans and the pigs represented the corrupted innocence caused by the disguise of someone else: a savage.

Works Cited

Kinney, Alison. “How the Klan Got Its Hood.” The New Republic, The New Republic, 8 Jan.  

2016, newrepublic.com/article/127242/klan-got-hood.

Editors, History.com. “Ku Klux Klan.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 Oct. 2009,

www.history.com/topics/reconstruction/ku-klux-klan.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. The Penguin Group, September 17, 1954, pp. 31

Taj Walter

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

26 March 2019

By Any Means Necessary

Violence seems to be the natural state of mind for humans. The mentality of “by any means necessary” is a natural thought process for mankind meaning that humanity will want to win no matter what the consequences are. War often resorts to humans wanting to win by any means necessary. This often causes war crimes which are defined by Merriam-Webster as “a crime (such as genocide or maltreatment of prisoners) committed during or in connection with war.” These war crimes being agreed upon by the international community have happened since the inception of war and continue to happen today, but why? With the knowledge of war crimes being inhumane the world still commits them. Lord of the Flies by William Golding explores these questions greatly without giving an absolute answer to any of them. The events in the book draw interesting comparisons to the real world, specifically the Vietnam War.

The Vietnam War is a terrible conflict mainly fought by the United States and Northern Vietnam. The war lasted from November 1, 1955, to April 30, 1975. During the war, both sides started to get more savage in their approach to winning, but as the scales started tipping more and more into Northern Vietnam’s favor, the United States started to adopt the ¨by any means necessary¨ state of mind. This caused the war to be much more violent than it was at the start and also began to destroy civilian lives at a much quicker rate than it had in the beginning. One of the most devastating operations was titled Operation Ranch Hand. “During the Vietnam War, the U.S military engaged in an aggressive program of chemical warfare codenamed Operation Ranch Hand.” As stated by history.com, the U.S. sprayed twenty million gallons of herbicides between the years of 1961 and 1971. This very deadly warfare method lead to countless deaths in Vietnam. The particular chemical spread that will be focused on is Agent Orange. Agent Orange was one of the many chemicals used during the war. It was the most widely used of the chemicals accounting for two-thirds of all the chemicals used during the war. This is a very destructive chemical that caused untold damages to the country and its people. The ¨by any means necessary¨ approach caused this to happen. If the United States’ military thought of the consequences of their actions, this would have not happened. This did not even win them the war. Millions murdered for nothing just because the U.S. thought that this strategy would win them the war. This is similar to the approach Jack took at the end of Lord of the Flies.

Lord of the Flies is a story about a group of boys that crash land on an island. They range from 7 to mid-teens years of age. They have to try to save themselves and survive on the island, so their natural first idea is to decide on who should lead them. They have two choices between Ralph and Jack and Ralph wins, becoming the leader of the boys. From this point forward, Jack makes small comments and actions about how he should have been the leader and that Ralph is not fit to be a leader. When the opportunity comes for him to leave Ralph’s group and take some people with him effectively having a coup, he takes it. He succeeds and starts his own tribe separate from Ralph’s. Fights happen between the group and some switch sides which eventually leads Ralph to be by himself. He is being hunted by Jack and his savages and is managing to avoid them and stay alive. So Jack believing that Ralph is worth everything decides to set the forest on fire. Ralph puts it perfectly by saying, “Now the fire was nearer; those volleying shots were great limbs, trunks even, bursting. The fools! The fools! The fire must be almost at the fruit trees--what would they eat tomorrow?” (Golding 154) He decides that the best way to get Ralph is to burn everything that they have and destroy it all to get him. He believes that he must get Ralph by any means necessary. This approach is similar to the United States’ during the Vietnam War. This demonstrates that it is a natural way of thinking for humans. When at war man must succeed by any means necessary. If done in a war by the U.S. military who has plenty of people keeping it in check does it and a Savage who has nobody to keep him in check does it, then it is clearly an ideology that is natural for the civilized and the savage.

Stated by the Washington Post waterboarding “is an enhanced interrogation technique that simulates the feeling of being drowned. CIA medical staff determined that the process was dangerous enough that they required resuscitation and medical equipment to be placed in interrogation rooms where waterboarding took place. On at least one occasion, a detainee required resuscitation.” This is a technique that the U.S. has used in the past. This technique shows a complete and total lack of care and respect for the victim. As long as the U.S. gets what they want from the individual and leave with what they want, they do not care how the victim feels. Taking the victims to the point of needing resuscitation is dangerous and treats the victim as of their life and pain do not matter to the U.S.

In the third paragraph when I mentioned that some people switched from Ralph’s side to Jack’s, I was referring to two characters named Sam and Eric. They are twins who were on Ralph’s side the entire time, but when they were separated from him they were tortured by Jack and his tribe. They tortured them for information and forced them to join Jack. Sam and Eric say "--they made us. They hurt us--" (Golding 147).  This shows Jack’s complete and total disregard to the people he is torturing. He does not care and does inhumane actions because of this lack of care which is similar to the U.S. and waterboarding its victims. The torturing of victims by Jack and the U.S. leads me to believe that the natural thought of humans is to get their task done by any means necessary.

Jack and the U.S. act similarly when in states of war. They lose all care for their actions impact as long as their goal is achieved. Jack tortured Sam and Eric and burned down the forest to get to Ralph. The U.S. waterboards its victims and releases chemicals to win a war or get information. These two entities tell me that they will win by any means necessary. One being a kid and the other being an entire military operation show me that no matter how many people are in charge or how old they are that the natural state of mind for humanity is to win no matter the repercussions.

Works Cited:

Golding, William. Lord of the flies. Penguin Books, 2006

Editors, History.com. “Agent Orange.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2 Aug. 2011,   

www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/agent-orange-1.

Golding, William. Lord of The Flies. yoanaj, www.yoanaj.co.il/uploadimages/userfiles/352.pdf.

“War Crime.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/war

crime.

In the book the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of boys are stranded on an island. They have no guidance, and even worse, they have no way to get off. They decide to work together to stay alive. There are around twenty boys in total, but Jack is considered to be the main antagonist of the group. He is a ticking time bomb, even from the beginning, but as the story goes on, he progressively becomes more and more deranged.  This is similar predicament to that of Kanye West. He was known to be a man who spoke up on more taboo issues in society, even when those things could have gotten into a troubling situation. He is now distracted by his title and his role in the rap game. The main thing that these two very different individuals have in common is that they both were always a little unstable, but when they were put into the positions of high power, they changed for the worse. This effect on Jack and Kanye West demonstrates how power has the ability to transform one’s sense of self in multiple negative ways.

Initially, Jack does an okay job at being apart of the team. He makes compromises with other boys, obeys orders, and hunts for pigs. He, in general, did a very good job at trying to make sure that everything on the island went smoothly. Kanye, on the other hand, also did a great job of shaking the table in Hollywood. He was very vocal about his opinions and he was considered to be a voice for the world when the world didn’t want to speak about certain issues. A good example is his songs, “Diamonds from Sierra Leone,” which tells the story of ‘blood diamonds’, the majority of which are mined using child slave labor in African countries like Sierra Leone.  Another example is his song, “All Falls Down,” which is mainly a self-reflection of his own personal battle with consumerism. A good quote that stands out is, “We'll buy a lot of clothes, but we don't really need 'em, things we buy to cover up what's inside, 'cause they made us hate ourself and love they wealth, that's why shorty's hollerin', "Where the ballers at?” Drug dealer buy Jordans, crackhead buy crack, and the white man get paid off of all of that.” He also discusses other issues in society, such as the problematic judicial and education systems of white America. Acting as a normal human being in their respective worlds, with nothing special about them, Jack and Kanye both were relatively productive beings who knew to do the right thing, and usually did so.

On the island, all’s well for a while, but eventually, chaos ensues. The boys break up into two groups, the bigger group being led by Jack. He was always quite unhinged, but when he gets into the position of power over the boys, he begins to change. They describe this on page 160, “The chief was sitting there, naked to the waist, his face blocked out in white and red. The tribe lay in a semicircle before him.” Before this point in the book, Jack was always referred to by his name. Now, though, he forces himself to be called chief by the other boys that he’s leading. This shift in power has made him feel as though he is better than the rest of the boys. The name change shows a more authoritative tone, and the fact that he wants to be called chief 100% of the time is questionable because there was no logical reason for him to do so. This situation is almost mirrored by Kanye’s. After consistent critical acclaim as a producer, songwriter, and activist, he almost ruins his career at the 2009 VMA’s. That year, Taylor Swift won an award for Video of the Year for her song, “You Belong With Me”. As she was giving her speech, Kanye ran up on the stage and said, “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!” This lead to him becoming a social pariah, and he left the limelight for a couple of months. This stunt led to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which, fortunately for him, is thought of by many to be the best albums made by him to date. From here, he began to shift as a person. After MBDTF, he released Yeezus, in which he repeatedly states that he only wants to be called Yeezus, because he feels as though he is a god and should be treated as such.

By the end of the book, Jack had become a heartless leader. This was visible with the deaths of Simon and Piggy. He made excuses about them dying, felt no guilt, and convinced the boys to do the same because of his power over them. This is a significant shift in Jack’s character. On the other hand, Kanye has also shifted into a completely different person than who he was before. More recently, he has endorsed Donald Trump, which completely conflicts anything that he’s fought for/wanted before. For those who don’t know, Trump is constantly in the news for being a racist, a sexist, and extremely xenophobic, something that Kanye constantly spoke about as a issue in society constantly on previous occasions.  

Seeing these examples of the change of both Kanye and Jack should be more than enough evidence that the way that people think about themselves are almost always changed when they are made to feel better or more superior than someone else. When people are are made to feel that they are better than the next guy, they begin to believe it. It is easy to let that get to one’s head and transform the way that one thinks about themselves and others. In order to avoid this from happening, our society would have to remind people of what we all are: a set of flesh and bones. One set of flesh and bones is not better than another.

Elena Smith

Ms. Pahomov  

English 2

25 March 2019

Logos, Pathos, and Decision Making

According to several studies, including one from American Nobel Laureate Dr. Herbert Simon, around 90% of the decisions humans make are based on emotion. Rather than using logic in the decision process, people use it to justify their previous actions. When influencers show up, they often use pathos―which appeals to the emotional side of people―in their speeches in order to turn people to their side. If a leader is charismatic or gives people what they think they want then there’s a higher chance that they’ll climb to the top and be elected for whatever they’re running for, even if they are not the best option for the job. In the novel The Lord of The Flies, William Golding explores how the young boys who were deserted on an island switch from following Ralph’s logic and then to Jack’s tribe when he talks about giving into emotional desires, and how they eventually come to question their decision.

When Jack kills a pig with his hunters and then hosts a bonfire with all the boys on the island, he uses the good mood as an opportunity to start a mutiny and break apart what used to be a unified front by appealing to the boys’ pathos. “‘I gave you food,’” says Jack, “‘and my hunters will protect you from the beast… Who’ll join my tribe and have fun?’” (150). Not only does Jack appeal to the side of the boys that want to have fun, but he also keys in on an important emotion: fear. By using the boys fear of an imaginary beast against them and using it to guide their decisions about the tribe, Jack wins the boys over to his side, even if nothing he says is necessarily logical. Ralph tries to regain control of the situation by bringing up logical points, “‘I’m chief because you chose me. And we were going to keep the fire going-’” (150), but logic is not a strong enough factor to keep the boys from leaving his tribe.

In comparison, Trump is infamous for using pathos in order to sway people over to his side. He mostly appeals to people’s sense of fear, specifically xenophobia, comparing immigrants to animals multiple times, referring to them as “drug dealers, criminals [and] rapists” in a speech about border control, and saying that undocumented immigrants are responsible for “thousands of Americans [brutal deaths]”. Even though statistics from ICE show that undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in America, the emotion of fear is strong enough to win him support. By using a common fear of the unknown and twisting it into xenophobia and a fear of people who are “un-american” to reach a wider audience and spread his influence, Trump was able to have almost half of the United States fall to his side when the election rolled around. Just like Jack, Trump also made promises he couldn’t necessarily keep, like promising to “build a wall and make Mexico pay for it.”. He also promises to lower taxes for the middle class and the infamous “Make America Great Again” slogan, which doesn’t even have a definitive meaning because it’s so vague. As the months went on, however, Trump supporters slowly started to realize that he was not delivering on his promises and that whatever appeal he originally had was being overshadowed by logic.

The members of Jack’s tribe begin to realize the same thing, although it happens in fits and starts instead of gradually over time. The first instance in which they realize that joining Jack might not have made logical sense is only a few minutes after they decide to join his tribe when it starts to pour rain. Ralph is quick to point it out, saying “‘Going to be a storm… who’s clever now? Where are your shelters? What are you going to do about that?’” (151). Instead of defending himself, Jack and his new tribe proceed to “look uneasily at the sky, flinching from the stroke of the drops.” (151). The second time they begin to doubt Jack is when they’re skirting around the death of Simon, the boy they brutally murdered just the night before. As some of the boys question whether it was a human or a beast they killed, Jack tries to persuade them back to his side, “‘But didn’t we, didn’t we-?’ ‘No!’ In the silence that followed, each savage flinched away from his individual memory.” (160). The hunters are faced with following Jack’s way of thinking and thinking that they attacked the beast, or with the knowledge that they killed one of their own friends. Jack’s control of his tribe continues to falter with the murder of Piggy, the hunting of Ralph and finally with the ending scene as the naval officers appear to take the boys back to civilization.

Just like Jack’s control of his group is slipping, so is Trump’s hold on Conservative America. One man on a CNN news interview has called voting for Trump “the biggest mistake” and others in the same interview have said they’re “afraid of the dictator in the White House.” Many small towns in the Midwest are now realizing that Trump is not all he promised to be. One Twitter user named Phil from Ohio said to Donald Trump: “Literally just signed up for Twitter to tell you how disappointed I am. Wasted my vote on you.” Trump promised middle class America tax breaks, stronger immigration policies, jobs and a focus on the American workforce. Instead, as the Trump presidency has gone on, he has not only failed to deliver on these promises but has created more chaos, leading to a loss of jobs. After being shown evidence and hard facts, the country is realizing that Trump is about as fit of a leader as Jack is, and they are not happy about it.

Pathos is a very important factor when people make their decisions to follow people, and most people are swayed to another person's side by their emotions. Because so many people are more emotional than rational, an easy way to get people to become followers is by appealing to one of the strongest emotions there is, fear. By making people afraid of something and then promising to protect them from that outside force, it is easy to gain a following. As they come to terms with their leader, though, they begin to realize that logically, they should not follow this person and begin to have doubts. Both Jack from Lord of the Flies and President Trump have used these methods to become leaders and have fallen from grace as their followers become more aware.

Works Cited

Belz, Dan. “Midwestern Voters Gave Trump a Chance. Now, They Hold the Key to His Political Future.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 8 May 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/trump-voters/?utm_term=.de31ce34f7a2.

Camerota, Allyson. “Man Calls Voting for Trump 'Biggest Mistake' - CNN Video.” CNN, Cable News Network, 7 Aug. 2018, www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/08/07/voter-panel-regret-vote-biggest-mistake-trump-idiot-camerota-newday-sot-vpx.cnn.

Camp, Jim. “Decisions Are Largely Emotional, Not Logical: the Neuroscience behind Decision-Making.” Big Think, Big Think, 11 June. 2011, Whitener, Svetlana. https://bigthink.com/experts-corner/decisions-are-emotional-not-logical-the-neuroscience-behind-decision-making

“'Drug Dealers, Criminals, Rapists': What Trump Thinks of Mexicans.” BBC News, BBC, 31 Aug. 2016, www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/headlines/37230916/drug-dealers-criminals-rapists-what-trump-thinks-of-mexicans.

Fish, Stanley. “Donald Trump: How He Gets Away With Absurd Arguments.” Time, Time, 5 July 2016, http://time.com/4388379/donald-trump-winning-arguments/

Shoichet, Catherine E. “What 7 Statistics Tell Us about Immigration and Crime.” CNN, Cable News Network, 9 Jan. 2019, www.cnn.com/2018/11/03/us/immigrants-crime-numbers/index.html.

Heugel, Abby. “This Twitter Account Shows All of the Trump Voters Who Are Regretting Their Choice.” 22 Words, Twenty Two Words https://twentytwowords.com/this-twitter-account-is-full-of-trump-voters-who-deeply-regret-their-decision/

“How Your Emotions Influence Your Decisions .” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 9 May 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2018/05/09/how-your-emotions-influence-your-decisions/#6862a2f63fda.

Antonia Solar

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

25 March 2019

Power Through Fear

How is leadership established? There are different forms of leaders all around, some leaders with more power than others, but what should be done when people are ruled by the one they fear? At times, desperate followers can assist towards insecure people asserting fear-based leadership. The hopelessness of the followers leads to them not having the confidence to stand up to their leader due to the terror they have of the outcome if they can’t guide and support themselves. The coercive power of leaders keeps people in line by creating a sense of powerlessness, obedience, and dependency.

In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, Jack presses the group of boys to listen to him as he plays into the fear that they will be stuck on the island forever. As chief, Jack says he will “get more of the biguns away from the conch and all that" (133). Jack states  that when his tribe hunts they'll leave some of the kills for the beast so that it won't bother them. The conch, which represents a civilized society, illustrating how Jack did not think about long-term effects of staying on the island. Instead, he thought of what benefitted him and what he wanted, leading to him being able to come into rule as the uneasiness of what their future might hold giving Jack leeway to come into power. Ralph and Piggy try to tell Jack that the fire is their only way out, and throughout the book, it represents their only tie to society and their old life. As Jack becomes blinded with his greed and need for power, he blurs the goals of his tribe. The more Ralph loses his hold over the group of boys, they are left seeking for someone who will lead them in a more effective manner. Running wild becomes the only way they can stay in denial of the events that have happened.

Although it may seem almost from another world, government enforced disappearances exist as a way for leaders to establish their power over others. In an article from “Human Rights Watch,” it is pointed out that “It is impossible to determine the exact number of people jailed on politically motivated grounds due to the complete lack of transparency in the justice system, closed trials, and severe repression that precludes independent monitoring of these cases.”  In countries like Turkmenistan, where the government is very strict and the people living there have less freedom, fear of one’s family or friend being taken leads people to try to stay in line, reinforcing the government’s power. Governments can use their followers to their advantage and since they were given the power, the follower is left with nothing to do as they are unprotected by the law, which appears corrupt by the ones in power. This is revealed in the book, as Jack rules the group of boys by imposing the idea upon them that he is the only way they will survive, making them dependent of him.

Jack shows his ability to control others when he kidnaps the twins Sam and Eric to get them to be under his rule. Ralph tries to free them and they refuse to come, he says, "’Won't you come with me? Three of us--we'd stand a chance.’ After a moment's silence, Sam spoke in a strangled voice. ‘You don't know Roger. He's a terror.’ ‘And the chief--they're both--’ ‘--terrors--’" (189.) The description of Jack and Roger, who are the authority figures, by Sam and Eric who were forced to join their tribe, shows the fear that is instilled in them if they do one wrong move. It is shown that Sam and ric are too afraid to follow what they really believe and as there is no one who can challenge Jack and Roger, they are left helpless. This occurs too with government enforced disappearances as no one can help them as there is no one with enough power to overrule the leaders.

When it comes to government enforced disappearances, the fear is implanted in people by the fact that the ones who they trusted with keeping them safe are the ones hurting them, leaving the victims powerless. According to “Amnesty International,” an organization that focuses on human rights, “A disappeared person is also at a high risk of torture since they are placed completely outside the protection of the law.” Leaders can use their powers in negative ways as they are responsible and are able to influence the people who rely on them. This causes people to not be able to do much about the disappearances because they were already given control and power. Just like in Lord of the Flies, the mental hold that the leader has on the followers because of fear of being hurt, or not being able to go back to their lives, gives the leader the ability to do what they want.

Many of the events and characters can be connected to real-life events, and through this, we can understand the philosophy of humans and human behavior. Government enforced disappearances and Jack’s rule over the boys reveal the ideology that some people have where they are able to come into power through the vulnerability of the many followers. When Jack separates and creates his own tribe, his vision for the others becomes blurred with his own needs. This is apparent in government enforced disappearances as they as the government uses this technique for their convenience in a way to gain their best interest at heart. In Lord of the Flies, Jack even kidnaps Sam and Eric in a way to take what control Ralph had left. They are left without a way out as Jack’s show of strength keeps his followers loyal to him, haunting them with the fear that they too may be hurt if they do not do what they are told. Furthermore, when governments decide to enforced disappearances, they too show the control they have over their followers. As bystanders, the surrounding followers do not rebel and instead feed into the power of the leaders, helping them grow their influence. Books can be metaphors to people’s lives, leaving many lessons to be learned. Lord of the Flies can be seen as a reflection of the world, revealing the possible fear that can control people’s decisions, views, and can ultimately be the one to entrap one in their own self.

Works Cited

“Everything You Need to Know about Enforced Disappearances and Human Rights.”

Disappearances | Amnesty International, Amnesty International, www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/disappearances/.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006

Khazan, Olga. “Why You Shouldn't 'Go With Your Gut'.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company,

20 Sept. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/09/the-best-headspace-for-making-decisions/500423/.

Sada, Michelle. “Psych 256: Cognitive Psychology FA16 – 002.” Powered by Sites at Penn State -

WordPress, Penn State, 20 Nov. 2016, www.sites.psu.edu/psych256fa1602/2016/11/20/the-effects-of-fear-on-decision-making/.

“World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Turkmenistan.” Human Rights Watch, Human Rights

Watch, 17 Jan. 2019, www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/turkmenistan.

Ethan Chen

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

21 March 2019

What happens when you put two leaders with different ideologies in the same environment?

Imagine you are on an island trapped with a group of people and you have to rebuild a society on but you have two potential leaders fighting over different concepts of how to run this island. Well, in William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, a group of boys survive a plane crash and they have to rebuild and recreate a society on a deserted island with no adult authority. As the book goes on, their society progressively turns from civilized to chaotic which ends in an all-out war for power between Jack and Ralph. The reader can see real-world examples from history where two leaders with totally different opinions rise up to power causing tension and resulting in an outbreak of violence.    

North Korea and South Korea is a famous example of this. Both are well known for one of their most militarized and protected borders in the world. What once was a unified Korea living as one, whole country, fell into the split of North and South Korea. The Japanese had all control over Korea when they invaded in 1910, oppressing them and destroying their culture until the Japanese finally surrender during WW2. The Soviets started to take over Korea as well as the US had to make sure they did not take all of Korea. This was the chance for Korea to rebuild under a new government in which two people came into power, Kim II Sung and Syngman Rhee. The problem was, they had different ideas of how to run the country. In the article “Why North Korea and South Korea Are Separated” by Prableen Bajpai, she wrote about how the rise in power for the two leaders caused conflict as their political ideology differed about how to run the new era of Korea. Sung wanted a communist government while Rhee wanted a capitalist one. They both wanted to reunite Korea as a whole but the fight over which political idea is still being battelled out. This means that although the two emerging leaders wanted to agree on the objective to unite Korea as one nation again and rebuild their society after the Japanese conflict, they both had completely different views about how the government should be administered. This opposition created a lack of trust in each and the tensions between the two groups. Primarily, without an agreement from both parties of what to do, pressures from both sides can rise quickly which will ultimately lead to a call of action. Similar to the boys in Lord of the Flies, Ralph’s plans are challenged by Jack’s plans about what priorities should be set for their time on the island.   

In the early days of the island, there were already disagreements of what their intentions on the island should be. Jack and Ralph had already started to have a controversy about their differences in ideas of how the island should be governed and what is essential to their survival. In this scene, Jack came back after he failed to catch a pig as Ralph and Simon were trying to assemble living quarters for the boys to live in. Ralph got frustrated in their progress on the shelters. “’I was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!’ ‘But we want meat!’ ‘And I work all day with nothing but Simon and you come back and don’t even notice the huts’” (54). In this tense interaction, Ralph is arguing with Jack about how building shelters and creating a fire is essential to their goal of surviving. On the other hand, Jack thinks that hunting is more important as they need food to avoid starvation. This shows how two people who are rising to power can cause conflict as they believe in completely different methods of how the island should be run and what they should prioritize for their survival. Even though they are in the same environment going through the same situation, there would always be a disagreement of what to achieve and to accomplish. It caused tension between Ralph and Jack’s relationship with each other which in turn caused the lack of effectivity on the island and issues later down the line, which will resulted in a split between the group.  

With the disagreement of who should run Korea (more like communism vs. capitalism,) the USSR and the USA relationship barely holding on, the communist North decided to attack the whole Korean peninsula. In “Korea: A History Of The North-South Split” by Tim Marshall, the Foreign Affairs Editor wrote that “In 1950 the North launched a surprise attack across the 38th parallel and quickly took most of the South. The United Nations then backed what it called a "police action" to repulse the advance and the Korean War, which would last for three years, had begun.” This shows how the situation could escalate when two completely different ideologies are put down on the table. This real-life connection happens to take a violent path with an unexpected attack to dominate the other side. With the method of violence, it supports the one leader display dominance to the people and dominates the other party. This also gives the party leverage of power over the everyday people they are leading. Similar to Lord of the Flies, Jack’s tribe decided to attack Ralph’s tribe so they could obtain the power of the fire which in this case, the fire is the essential thing that keeps both parties at power.

After Jack left Ralph’s tribe, he established a new group which was made up of mostly the biguns who left Ralph as they believed in Jack’s ideas. They both ran alongside one another separately for a while until Jack planned an ambush against Ralph. His tribe needed a way to roast the pig so they decided it was best to steal Piggy’s glasses from Ralph’s tribe. Knowing that the glasses means fire and fire is the symbol of power, they wanted to fight to get it. As night fell, things started to unravel. Jack tribe ambushed Ralph’s group and invaded their sheatler. “He was torn and jolted, found fingers in his mouth and bit them. A fist withdrew and came back like a piston so that the whole shelter exploded…’ That was Jack and his hunters’ said Ralph bitterly.’Why can’t they leave us alone?’” (167). This section from the text shows how an outbreak of violence finally occurs between the two rivals with completely different ideas of how to run the island. With two separate groups on the island who highly oppose each other, there will always be conflict between the two groups in order to dominate the other side and belittle them. With two leaders who have very distinct ideas from one other, there was bound to be an outbreak or clash between the two parties.

By connecting Lord of the Flies to the real-life event of the split of North and South Korea, it is seen how two individuals with highly opposing ideas interact and lead a group of people in the same circumstances. With two rising leaders with two different beliefs and no solid agreement from both sides, there would definitely be a split between the group of people supporting the leaders that their ideas line up with, causing very high tension between the two parties which could ultimately lead into conflict like violence. When you place two leaders with different beliefs and standards, there would be immediate dispute between the two groups that could lead to serious difficulty later on.  

Work Cited

Bajpai, Prableen. “Why North Korea and South Korea Are Separated.” Investopedia  

Investopedia, 12 Mar. 2019, www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/040515/why-north-korea-south-korea-are-separated.asp.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006

Marshal, Tim. “Korea: A History Of The North-South Split.” Sky News,

https://news.sky.com/story/korea-a-history-of-the-north-south-split-10449691

Szczepanski, Kallie. “How Korea Split Into North Korea and South Korea.” ThoughtCo,

Sophia Paul

Ms. Pahomov

ENGL 2

21 March 2019

Lord of the Flies Essay

Human nature digs deep into the actions that someone takes and asks, What leads to people’s actions? In the novel  Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there are a group of boys that are stranded on an island without any adults. They start out civil, but after they started killing pigs for food, they became more savage. They killed the pigs and hunted the pigs in a very barbaric way. How the boys on the island act mirrors similar primitive tendencies that people still possess such as Black Friday shoppers. The pig hunt in the book is essential for survival  but it is also how they show their true colors. Jack wanted to kill the pig the most and more excited with the fact he killed the pig than the protein he could get from the pig. When Jack killed his first pig he says, “'I cut the pig's throat,’ said Jack, proudly, and yet twitched as he said it...said Jack, laughing and shuddering, ‘you should have seen it,’” (69). Jack’s reaction to this revealed a dark truth of how people are fulfilled with pride when they have the ability to dominate and slaughter another being. Furthermore, when he killed the pig, he felt so proud and he wanted to tell everyone about his “prize.” After killing the first pig the reader could see that Jack reveals how it is human nature to have a desire of domination. A modern phenomenon that mirrors this is Black Friday where people go drastic measures in the pursuit of getting a financial discount.  This reflects Jack’s outburst because, once a buyer gets the deal, it makes them feel accomplished. According to a website article, today.com, they stated, “‘This is how they win and they are proud of it. ...it’s a symbol of their prowess,’ ” Within this quote, it explains how good it feels when the buyer wins. When the guy gets 50% off his flat screen T.V. and he gets to bring it up and put it in his house, it is a symbol of pride. That buyer is able to show the world that he “won” Black Friday. And even if the buyer had to shove someone out of the way or push pass people to get to the television, the buyer does not care. The same ideas are in Lord of the Flies. When Jack kills the pig, he gets so excited and giddy like he just won the prize. He was laughing and couldn't wait to tell the other boys about the kill. He does not think about what he just did, he just celebrated. Both of these examples show that even after doing an evil deal, it doesn’t matter because the reward is so worth it.

Emotions play a role into the actions of what characters in the book do. At the beginning of the book, Jack was trying to kill a pig, but failed. Due to him being  unable to kill the pig, he got very upset and angry. In the book, it stated, “He snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk. Next time there would be no mercy,” (31). Jack became  upset that he was unable to kill the pig. He was in front of all of the kids and he was not picked chief, so he wanted to prove himself. Due to his inability instead, he slammed his knife into the tree in frustration. The boys knew that next time he would not hold back; he would have no mercy. Moreover, felt that his inability reflected his lack of worth as a person due to the pig escaping, which lead to his wrath after killing it. Jack’s frustration with being unable to slaughter a pig also reflects Black Friday shoppers. During Black Friday, people can also be emotional. When they get their prize, they feel so proud and happy, but when they don’t they get enraged. In an article from pbs.org, “...participants ... who had an emotional response to the scenarios, whether negative or positive, were more likely to be willing to engage in consumer misbehavior,”. A study was done to see how different consumers acted during Black Friday. More customers that are emotional are more likely to do bad things. If a buyer went  into Walmart to buy a television 50% off and someone else took the t.v. from him, he got emotional. And once the customer gets mad, they will most respond with physical violence. If another consumer gets in the buyer's way, the buyer will have a higher chance to show the consumer out of the way. This concept is seen within Lord of the Flies. When Jack didn’t kill his pig, he got very enraged and that was one of the causes that led him to kill more pigs and kill two of the boys on the island. After the emotions come through and the control the person, genuine human nature of the person is seen.

After harsh events, people are exposed to how they will act next. Jack and his hunts showed how he had fun killing and taking the life out of creatures and how little he cares about what he did. Black Friday shoppers do not care about the safety of the other shoppers and are only trying to get their product by any means possible. The feeling of winning is strong, but the feeling of losing is even stronger because that feeling will grow and grow until they win. These events are revealing the brutal and crude side of man hide that lays just beneath our surface.

Works Cited

Lee, Jaeha. On Black Friday, the Psychology of Retail Rage. PBS, Public Broadcasting Service,  

24 Nov. 2017, www.pbs.org/newshour/science/why-black-friday-leads-shoppers-to-behave-bonkers.

Vivinetto, Gina. Why Do We Do It? The Psychology behind Black Friday Madness.  

TODAY.com, TODAY, 27 Nov. 2015, www.today.com/health/madness-crowds-psychology-behind-black-friday-t58096.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006

Isabella Torres

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

24 March 2019

Unity Within a Community

The difference of opinions are everywhere and there will be disagreements with every topic. Sometimes, they can be talked over and solved, but other times these opinions can escalate to new levels. In the novel, The Lord of The Flies written by William Golding, a group of young british boys crash on an island and they divide between two groups. One was civilized and they followed moral rules, while the other group was savage and did murderous things, the group as a whole was not on the same page. The separation of a unity of people will cause havoc for everyone involved.

When the boys first started to set up camp, only Ralph and Simon were making their huts on the beach and they felt like the only ones who were responsible. Everyone else was having fun and playing games and no one was helping out Simon and Ralph build huts. Ralph exclaimed to Simon, “‘The older ones aren’t much better. D’you see? All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing.”” (50). From the beginning of the novel, the boys were disagreeing and they were not all there to help one another out. Ralph was voted chief of all the boys and Jack, the other candidate, didn’t agree with Ralph being leader. At this point in the book, all the boys are still together but Jack and his choir boys separated themselves from Ralph’s small party. Slowly but surely, tensions between Jack’s group and Ralph’s group began to grow. Jack and his group were more focused on having fun rather than being practical and help build shelters with Ralph. They had different agendas on what they planned to do on the island. when there is opposition within the group of boys, the bonds start to break and issue start to form.

The Founding Fathers of the US government had some disagreements with how the government ran and who had the most power overall. Some of the founders wanted congress to have the most power while others preferred if the other central branches had more power.  On umbc.edu, they say “A debate thus ensued, between the Federalist side, led by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, and the Anti Federalists, led by Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, over exactly how much power and authority to give Congress and the other central branches of the new government.” They did not know how to make their decision. Soon after, the small disagreement the Founding Fathers came up with a solution that they agreed on, which resulted in our Bill of Rights and our Constitution. To this day, the American government is still run on this agreement made 200 years ago. Some disagreements work out for the best, while some result for the worse. Unfortunately, within the novel, the clashing of different ideas did not result in the well being of everyone on the island. Disagreements are very common and can either end peacefully or can end with even more bickering.

Towards the end of their time on the island, Jack decided to split himself from the main group because he disagreed with Ralph’s priorities. Ralph was not focused on killing another pig while that was the only thing Jack cared about. Jack said, “I’m going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too” (127). Jack was focused on killing the beast the boys claimed to see the night before on the mountains. Jack wanted to officially kill the beast so the boys could be safe and have nothing to worry about. Jack did not want to negotiate with Ralph and try to help the whole group out. Instead, Jack wanted to focus on himself and his goal to kill the pig.

In 1787, the founding fathers were deciding who would have the most power within the US government. Scholastic.com says the first ever political groups in America, “Hamilton and other leaders who wanted a strong central government banded together to put over their policies…. they began calling themselves the Federalists. This was the first United States political party… Anti-Federalists gathered … members of Jefferson's group called themselves Democratic-Republicans.” Some experts say that these extreme parties are not helping anyone and leave the entire country in a grip. Thehill.com says, “ Each side is more extreme, and each bases their political agenda on demonizing the other side” and the boys on the island do the same thing. Jack is reluctant to try and meet in the middle with Ralph, which turns Jack to go extremely savage and further from being civilized. Both of their situations would have ended drastically if things were different.

Splitting into separate idea groups can interfere with the unity of the whole community. Just as Jack went to the extremes of being in the wild, the political parties become extreme opposite ends of the spectrum. Sometimes groups don’t always hold and not everyone has the same goal in the end. They either pull through and have a common ground, or they fall apart and all humanity is lost.

Works Cited Page

Flanders, Stephen. "The Origins and Functions of Political Parties." Scholastic. 2007. 25 Mar. 2019 <https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/origins-and-functions-political-parties/>.

Berg, Sean. "Founding Fathers Essays (Examples)." Founding Fathers Essays: Examples, Topics, Titles, & Outlines. 25 Mar. 2019 <https://www.paperdue.com/topic/founding-fathers-essays>.

Williams Paredes

Ms. Pahovom

English 2

25, March 2019

Fear is something that everyone has, but it's not always rational. People often hear things that influence their mindset, causing them to overthink and make their fear stronger than it was in the first place. In Golding's novel, the idea of a mythical ´beast’ instilled fear into the boys of the island. They used the idea the beast to entertain themselves. Fear is something that everyone inevitably feels, but In ´Lord of the Flies´ they chose to have it.

Cops are known for pulling over people at traffic stops, and they would give the people tickets or they wouldn't, but in this case, there were no tickets envoy. The cops were reportedly trying to figure out if the passenger had a restraining order against the driver of the vehicle. The passenger that was 61 years old, named Paul Askins, would give his name or date of birth to the police officers and this made the cops worry and he was asked to step out of the vehicle. “This is how he engaged us," said the police officers. Paul Askins pulled out a pistol and fired at the cops, this caused the cops to fire back as they fear for their lives. As you can see this quote is telling us that the cops had a clear view of what was happening and with the fear of death the cops step back and fired as soon as they could. The cops weren't injured but the fear of death was what made them act as quick as possible, Paul askins was injured but he did survive.

As the kids were planning the kill the beast, their was feared in their eyes because they didn’t know what they were going up against and this made them feel weak. They had to bring hope to everyone in the island so that they  had a chance to live. To bring hope they started to say ‘’Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’’(152). This quote is trying to show that the kids are trying to show that they are no longer scared of the beast. This is what brings hope to the kids in the island and to show that they have a chance to kill the beast and that they have hope to live for years to come without a problem. When Simon finds out the beast was not real, he tries to worn the rest of the kids, but when he got to the kids they thought he was the beast and that got him killed. The kids were scared and didn't even think because the fear took controller over them, so they acted as fast as they could.

In both of the book and real life example you can see that there is fear when the believe something is real and when they see someone pull out a weapon. They have fear no matter what but they choose to have it at this time, which made them over think over and over on what to do, this shows that they didn’t want to have fear they choose to have it so that they can be saved. In the Lord of the files, the kids thought they found a beast and they were thinking of what could it be and this is what Ralph said. ‘’But that’s littluns talk. We’ll get that straight. So the last part, the bit we can talk about, is kind of deciding on the fear’’(82).  When the old man got out of the truck this is what the cops started saying. ‘’ Get down, Get down’’. This show that that the kids had to show fear to overcome what that fear was and that is what made them stronger and what to keep that fear alway. When the cops said to get down they were trying to show that they can be save and to not try something stupid that will get them killed.

Towards the end of the book, Rock, Ralph, and piggy ventured into jack’s territory protesting that it wasn’t right for them to take piggy’s glasses. While they demand them to give it back, jack didn’t care and said no, and gets called a thief and reacted violently. Jack swung his spear at Ralph, but not in a menacing manner. In the quote, ‘’By common consent, they were using the spears as sabers now, no longer daring the lethal point’’ (177).  This is to use that they have power over people and that the kids should have fear for them because they have the weapon. They really don’t want to hurt one another, but the fear of losing power and scared of someone can cause them to fight.

In conclusion, The lord of the flies  tells us what fear is like if you were alone with kids and no adults. Lord  of the flies shows us that fear can bring power to kid, and they can’t do anything but just to go with it before it’s to late.  Lord of the flies show that kids need to learn to not be scared and to face your fears because if you don’t that can get you killed. Fear is something that people would never love to have because there are problems that come with it, but you have to choose it because fear can save you from all the problems that can come your way. Fear is something that everyone inevitably feels, but In ´Lord of the Flies´ they chose to have it.

Worked Cited-

Fedschun, Travis. “Man Pulls Gun on Colorado Deputies during Traffic Stop, Dramatic Body Camera Video Shows.” Fox News, FOX News Network, www.foxnews.com/us/man-pulls-gun-on-colorado-deputies-during-traffic-stop-dramatic-body-camera-video-shows.

Edition, Inside. “Cop Begs for Her Life After Fugitive Pulls Out Gun.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Jan. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i86SUNFFzs.

Edition, Inside. “Cop Begs for Her Life After Fugitive Pulls Out Gun.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Jan. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i86SUNFFzs.

Not everyone would be able to feel like they’re able to do what they want because the rules and people aren’t to their liking. In, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, most people decided to leave the group and made their own tribe because the previous one wasn’t working out for them. In America, people feel the same way since there’s a lot of criticism and misuse of power. If an entire civilization was able to adjust the rules to meet everyone’s standards, then no one would feel like they’re being exiled by the community or person in power because everyone is satisfied.

In, Lord of the Flies, Jack was the first person who decided to leave the group. At first, he held a meeting to see who wanted him to be the new leader but no one voted for him. The book states, “‘I’m not going to be apart of Ralph’s lot ... I’m going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too’” (127). Jack was so frustrated to the point where he had to separate himself from the others. Ralph was the voted leader of the entire group but couldn’t make any decisions on his own or be brave enough to lead everyone. Jack’s version of a leader at the time was for someone to be brave, a hunter, and ... , but Ralph felt the complete opposite. No one had stood up for Jack which could’ve made him feel like everything was unfair.

In Aditi Khorana’s article, she talked about the story of how her family came to America as immigrants and that she was born here. She also talked about how her life had changed after the election. She said, “In the aftermath of the election, after living in this country for thirty-something years, I truly felt like an exile in my own country. Whatever misgivings, hurt and outrage had till then, largely resided underneath the surface, coming to the fore now and then, now erupted in the form of an uncontrollable moral outrage”. This is saying that now someone in power wants to completely stop more illegal immigrants/refugees from coming in and sending them out, that her family is now in pain. Now that they had made a new home, it’s trying to be taken away from them since they aren’t like everyone else. This relates to the book because ever since Ralph was elected and wasn’t doing his job the right way, Ralph felt like he didn’t fit in and someone else should’ve been elected.

In chapter 9 of the book, Jack held a feast for his tribe and whoever else wanted to join. Everyone in the original group besides a few people had left to go to his feast. The author says, “Even at that distance it was possible to see that most of the boys - perhaps all of the boys - were there” (147). Everyone had left Ralph because there wasn’t any meat and no one there were hunters. Jack’s tribe was filled with hunters and they had meat for everyone to eat. Even though Ralph was focused on getting off of the island, people still wanted to survive and have fun at the same time. This is connected to my thesis because once one person exploits the leader then whoever doesn’t like it would feel the need to leave.

In conclusion, if the rules were bent to benefit everyone, then no one would feel like they earned any power. In the book Jack was the first to leave the tribe because he wasn’t voted for. In my real life example, Aditi felt like she didn’t belong ever since Donald Trump got elected.

Karim mullen

Ms Pahomov

English 2

25, march 2019

The book Lord Of The Flies tells a story about how a plane crashed and the only survivors were young boys. The young boys came together and voted for a leader, ,Ralph. Initially, Ralph played his part as the leader, by calling meetings, giving positions, and even keeping everyone in order. However he let the leadership position inflate his ego job get to his head which results in poor decisions. Eventually this led to his peers overrule him and create chaos. When someone is given power they feel as though their power overrides the perspective of anyone that may be affected by their actions`.Savagery is reflected upon the rights or the wrongdoings of a meaningful altercation.

President Donald Trump of the United States signed a law ensuring the shutdown for the pay of all government workers. This is because Trump felt as though if he cuts government employees pay, he could focus more on building a wall so that Immigrants from Mexico cannot enter the country. In the CNN Politics article it talks about how the citizens of the US who works for the government are working for free, they don't have any way of paying bills or keeping there houses, cars, or kids together. They also are being forced to work because if they don't go to work they still will get fired. By doing so they will not only be unemployed but, for the days they worked, they will not  get the checks back when the shutdown is over. So many people would call out sick that they would make people come in anyway because they didn't have enough people to work. No One agrees with this shutdown, not even his own staff. He fired some of his employees because they spoke their opinion on some of the poor/self-centered decisions he made. For this example you can tell that Donald Trump obviously makes poor decisions.

In this scene, Ralph wasn't exactly being the best leader he could be. “Ralph didn't know what to do and he was captain, No one did” (15). In certain situation, Ralph didn't know what to do, and some of the reasons could be because of his age. This is important because towards the end when of the story when they needed a leader the most Ralph didn't have anything to offer. So Jack stepped up and got the other kids to gang up on Ralph because he persuaded the other boys that he would be the better leader. The kids didn't know that Jack would turn out to be the worst leader they could have. The only chance the boys have really of getting rescued was from a signal fire. “ We’ve got to have special people for looking after the fire”(42), those special people were Sam,Eric, and the Choir.“ There was a ship. Out there. You said you'll keep the fire going and you let it out”(70). Jack never wanted to leave the island, therefore he extinguished the fire so that the boat wouldn't see the smoke in the air. Throughout the book Jack made decisions that wasn't his place of making begins though Ralph was the actual leader. Jack was too comfortable because Ralph couldn't never take charge over jack so basically he did as he felt. “I was chief, and you were going to do what i said”(132). Ralph started to get furious at him, but Jack still did as he pleased “ All right. Light the fire”(120) said with sarcasm.

Donald trump is taking kids away from their families and locking them in cages due to the fact of them being illegal immigrants. In his eyes he feels as though immigrants are dirty and stealing people's jobs even though they are trying to make a living for a better. As stated in the USA Today newsletter it talks about how Trump compares immigrants to dirty filthy animals. This is important because he's splitting families up because they are living here illegally, some people have tried to become citizen. It can take years for you to become a citizen, not because they were not living in the US long enough but just because of the simple fact that their request could still be pending therefore not able to get there Green card. There are millions of people out there that still are waiting to be declared citizen and get their green card but because they are technically not citizens Trump is splitting there families up.

This is compared to the boys in the story due to them being separated in groups, and the older boys had more power than the younger boy. Which is reflected upon the actions of Trump being the division of the immigrants and the documented people. While the boys leaders felt that one was higher than the other due to the opportunities that they could pursue.”Seems to me we ought to have chief to decide things”(22). Throughout the story the leader role was played from both Ralph and Jack, the two would have problem with each other throughout the book because they both thought they were the best leader for the boys. “ Ralph is like piggy. He says things like piggy. He isn't a proper leader”(144). Not only did they not really like eachother but they would talk about each other to the other kids and each other. Ralph would talk about how he is the leader to the others, and Jack would try and persuade the others to pick him as the new leader.

Camren Jones

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

25 March 2019

In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, he tells a story about how a group of young boys are stranded on an island due to a plane crash and create their own society to create peace among them, or so they thought. As more and more time passes the young boys' structured society slowly begins to fall apart. Their society quickly becomes total chaos as violence and disputes are prevalent. As a result of their society quickly they divide themselves, which ended up backfiring Characters such as Piggy who appeared weak were often belittled leaving them to feel abandoned. While never explicitly being revealed, many scholars argue William Golding utilized symbolism through Lord of the Flies. Furthermore, upon reading this one can make the case Golding used the boys' interactions to draw comparisons to the real world such as Uzbekistan governed by Islam Karimov.

One of the earliest moments in Lord of the Flies introduction of a chubby young boy. He later was referred to as Piggy as an insult and called this for the rest of the novel. Piggy eventually grew close to Ralph, the original leader. They bonded over the feeling of alienation from their peers. However, once the boys began to form different opinions they drifted apart. The ridiculing of both Ralph and Piggy begins once Piggy says, “What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? What’s grownups going to think?”(91). Following this, a hunter Jack created a division between the other boys and Ralph. Maintaining his loyalty Piggy stood his ground with Ralph despite what others thought. Compared to the others Piggy’s ideas weren’t as drastic. Piggy says “Just an ordinary fire. You’d think we could do that, wouldn’t you? Just a smoke signal so we can be rescued. Are we savages or what?”(174). Even though a lot of Piggy’s actions were motivated by the desire of being accepted it didn’t stop him from making valid points. He knew that they weren’t going to be able to stay on the island forever so he thought ahead. Piggy was very methodical with the way he moved and how he thought things out, and since many of them were young it stops them from looking at the bigger picture causing them to ridicule the first person who thought differently. Piggy and Ralph lost all power in their society because they didn’t agree with others which later led to his death.

Similar to Piggy and Ralph, a writer named Hamid Ismailov was cast out due to his debatable beliefs. Ismailov was a writer who lived in Uzbekistan once he was recruited for a controversial freelance job with BBC. He later was informed that the government wasn’t too happy with his choice of work. He knew he had to leave but what he didn’t know is that it would result in him never coming home again. He was aware of the vile acts committed by dictator Islam Karimov he understood in order to remain safe the best choice was to leave his home. After he left there was no trace of him ever being there. People were desensitized to Karimov’s cruel actions and neglected the injustice Ismailov had received. According to the Guardian, Hamid Ismailov was completely removed from the Uzbek culture. His work is no longer published nor are the people allowed to use the words “Hamid Ismailov” in print without suffering the consequences.

Both Piggy and Ismailov feared for their lives because of their choice to speak in opposition to their leadership. In Lord of the Flies, Piggy was killed and Ismailov would’ve been too if he had stayed. They weren’t afraid which caused their leadership to feel threatened and attempt an assassination. Without fear Jack and Islam Karimov were powerless and he knew which resulted in their resentment towards Ismailov and Piggy. It was their only leverage over the others. After the death of Piggy, the young boys' hands were no longer clean. Golding illustrates this by saying “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy”. Unlike the death of Simon, which was accidental, the death of Piggy was done with intent to kill. Throughout the book, Piggy was somewhat a balance that kept them from turning completely savage.

The difference between the two societies is that Ismailov knew what his people were capable but in Piggy’s case, he didn’t.  Piggy was aware of the fact that not everyone on the island would be to avoid the temptations of savagery but he didn’t know that his death would also relate to the death of their humanity. The risky thoughts of both Piggy and Ismailov caused them misery because their leader felt challenged.
Many ideas emerged from the Lord of the Flies such as one not being allowed to express how they feel. In the real world scenario, I related it to Piggy’s death due to their similarities. They both were removed from their environment one more drastic than the other but it was because of their leader feeling challenged. The fact that their leaders weren’t fond of their beliefs they dismissed.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies, New York: Penguin, 2006.

M., Morris. “10 Tragic Tales Of Modern People Forced Into Exile.” Listverse, 29 Dec. 2018,

listverse.com/2015/06/24/10-tragic-tales-of-modern-people-forced-into-exile/.

“Hamid Ismailov.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Mar. 2019,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamid_Ismailov.

Michaela Berger

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

25 March 2019

Effects of Mental Illness

How does trauma affect everyone in different ways? In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of boys experience a series of events that lead to chaos among them. After a devastating plane crash, several boys aged 6 to about 12 must learn to survive on an island with no adults and thus no authority. From this crash, the boys’ emotions change and their behavior begins to reflect it. Their experiences on the island caused the boys to become vulnerable, crude, and even violent. A traumatic event can lead to mental and emotional illnesses, which may affect their relationships with other people.

To begin, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a mental illness where a person has behavioral or emotional issues recovering from a traumatic event. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in an article about PTSD in children, symptoms of children with PTSD include acting helpless, hopeless or withdrawn, and nightmares and sleep problems. If they have PTSD, performing tasks, like interacting with others or doing something independently can become difficult. This is especially if they do not have access to treatment. A world health report done in 2001 by the World Health Organization (WHO) states that only one-third of all of the people diagnosed with mental disorders seek treatment. The majority of the time, it is because of the stigma of having a mental illness. People affected with illnesses like PTSD do not want to be judged or have others know that they go to therapy because of a mental illness they have. Other times, it is due to limited access or not being able to afford treatment. If people are not treated or do not have access to treatment, their symptoms will only worsen. Their mental and emotional health could deteriorate. In children, their actions and relationships with both adults and other children can take a drastic, negative turn.

In Golding’s novel, the boys begin to experience symptoms of PTSD from their plane crash. Specifically, their behavior reflects several of the more common ones as told by the CDC such as sleepwalking, nightmares, and vulnerability. For example, the younger boys on the island who are around six years old, show signs of sleep issues. This is witnessed by Jack, Ralph, and Simon, “They dream. You can hear ‘em… They talk and scream. The littluns,” (Golding 52). When Ralph says this, he demonstrates how the “littluns” are showing a common symptom of PTSD. Since the littluns are very young, they have a limited understanding of the severity of the plane crash compared to what the older boys know. Another consequence of their young age is that they have a different perception of the intensity of events. The littluns’ upset behavior and vulnerable actions show they are experiencing anxiety because of what happened in the plane crash.

A person diagnosed with PTSD often experiences emotional management issues. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs notes that a common symptom of PTSD is stress and anger. Having this accumulated anger can affect other people. Anger is reported to be a very common response to trauma. Temperament helps release some of the negative feelings a person with PTSD may have and helps them cope with stress. However, using anger as a main coping strategy will rarely help in the long run. Someone who resorts to solving problems with anger will use this method more often, which can lead to longer and more intense rages. It will affect other’s opinions of that person because they use their temper as an outlet. For example, U.S. veterans often experience PTSD, especially symptoms of anger. A helpguide.org article notes how anger corresponds to the fight or flight response veterans get (Smith et al). The rush of adrenaline gives them energy, so they need to blow off steam or become rageful. They are on guard at all time, which especially causes this irritability. It can prevent veterans from getting jobs, which can later lead to homelessness. Not only does this anger affect other people, but it affects how they live.

Using anger as a coping mechanism is a common trait among the boys in Lord of The Flies. Jack, the self-designated head of the hunters, often uses the rageful coping method to deal with some of the stressors of being on the island. Golding describes Jack’s angry actions, “Then Jack leapt to his feet, slashed off a great hunk of meat, and flung it down at Simon's feet. ‘Eat! Damn you!’ He glared at Simon,” (74). This quote reveals some of the aggression portrayed by the character Jack. He was angered by the actions of the other characters, but also faced some internal struggle. Although he uses yelling at the boys to show them the kind of power he has, he is really doing it because of the trauma he experienced from the plane crash. Jack releases his frustration on the boys as a way to cope with this stress. His anger affects his fellow hunters in order to get them to work together, even if it is intimidating. Early in the book, he asserts his dominance with sternness, which leads to him having some power over the boys. Contrary to what the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says, using this assertiveness causes people to want to follow him. Although it does intimidate the boys and come off as rude, Jack is able to form a cohesive group of boys with similar, angry motives.

To conclude, a traumatic event can really affect one’s actions and relationships. It can have a negative impact on their mental and emotional health. When a traumatic event happens, the ones who experience it can have impacted behavior and even sleep issues. It affects the people surrounding the victim and can eventually hurt the environment they are in. Mental illnesses like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder impact so many individuals, yet very little is done about it. Only a fraction of the people diagnosed yearly is treated. Mental health issues are so often overlooked when it really affects so many people today.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006

“Mental Disorders Affect One in Four People.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 29 July 2013, www.who.int/whr/2001/media_centre/press_release/en/.

“National Center for PTSD.” PTSD, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 3 Aug. 2018, www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/related/anger.asp.

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Feb. 2016, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml.

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children | CDC.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 Mar. 2019, www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/ptsd.html.

Smith, Melinda, et al. “PTSD in Military Veterans.” HelpGuide.org, Oct. 2018, www.helpguide.org/articles/ptsd-trauma/ptsd-in-military-veterans.htm/.