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How it all goes Downhill

By Eli Zimmerman

William Golding’s fictional novel, Lord of the Flies, is a world renowned classic that tells the story of a group of grade school boys who hailed from the Home Counties. The boys have been stranded on a deserted island. In order to survive the kids must work together, so they appoint a chief via the democratic process of voting. They decide on  Ralph, who is one of the eldest. As the book progresses we see another figure rise to power, Jack another older boy, who challenges Ralph’s position and wins it over by using fear to his advantage. Jack overthrows Ralph by using fear to unite the boys, and gets them to join him. The book raises the point that fear and misinformation lead to the unwinding of democracy.  Recent political events in the United States and Europe confirm that relationship.

Towards the beginning of the book the boys join in meeting to discuss what the group's agenda should be. They use a conch shell as a tool to create order. Whoever has the shell in their hand is the only person that can talk. As they talk, a little boy who is too shy to talk raises a point about a mysterious beast on the island. At one point a very young boy attempts to share what he has seen in the woods. With a little reiteration by Piggy, the boy tells the group what he has seen. “Now he says it was a beastie.” “Beastie?” “A snake thing.” “Ever so big.” “He saw it.” (35). Although the older kids take the little boy”s comment as a joke at first, the beast morphs into the theme of fear recurring throughout the rest of the book. The creation of fear is what drives the book’s main plot. Fear of the beast subliminally fuels every single decision made by the boys throughout the rest of the novel. The beast’s actual physical appearance is not important rather the symbol of fear it represents is what drives the plot. With the beast in play, the boys have a real life representation for their fear. The symbol makes the boys disorganized and leads to trust issues. Before they know it, the power of fear begins to take control of the group.

Much later in the book we see that things have gotten out of control for Ralph and his trusty advisor, Piggy. Jack has distanced himself from the group and has developed a few very close allies. As the story progresses,so does Jack’s power. We see the boys flocking to the leader who shows the least amount of so called fear. Some of Jack’s friends have stolen Piggy’s glasses, forcing Piggy to go and retrieve them. The rock struck Piggy, a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. (181). Jack offers the boys protection and food if they join him. While Ralph sticks with the original plan of lighting a signal fire and hoping help comes. We can assume Jack is able to persuade the boys to join him, because of the promises he makes. When people are uneducated and fear the unknown they seek refuge and protection. Jack seems fearless which is the only thing the kids look for. Because of fear they toss rational thinking and the possible instability of Jack’s personality out the window, just for protection from the unknown. The shattering of the conch represents the end of order and democracy within the group. Fear unravels democracy. With order turned on its head, Jack has the ability to strike and take his place as leader. He chooses to do this with force, and anarchy is unleashed within the group.

A New York Times article, written by Amanda Taub states that Western democracy is on the decline. If you look at the numbers you begin to see America is falling behind on global test scores. This article concludes that a majority of America is becoming less and less intelligent. As of 2017, 75% of silicon valley’s skilled labor needed to be filled by people on the H1 B1 visa. The fact that Americans are increasingly less educated not only affects jobs, but also impacted the recent presidential election.  As seen in the last election millions of Americans turned away from a progressive candidate in Hillary Clinton, for a more conservative option, Donald Trump. Donald Trump planned to remove many parts of structured democracy, like the freedom of the press. A study by Fivethirtyeight surveyed 981 counties and found that 48 of the top 50 counties with the highest number of people possessing a four year degree voted for Clinton. But in the 50 counties with the lowest number of four year degrees Trump won the majority. Trump ran on the promises that he would build a wall to shelter America from Mexico and defeat ISIS. Many will debate that Mexico and ISIS should not be the top of America’s agenda. So through his ability to invoke fear and appeal to the uneducated side of America he won the presidency. A similar scenario is also found in the book when Jack promises safety from a thing that the boys couldn’t confirm existed.

On June 23, 2016 the United Kingdom (UK) decided to leave the European Union (EU). The EU is a European trade partnership between 28 countries. Experts call it a liberal trade deal because it involves single market free trade that is backed by the democratic side of Europe. The EU brings Europe closer together through trade ties. In 2016 a campaign was started by the right wing Unionist party to have the UK leave the EU. The party stated that dangerous immigrants were coming into the country due to very few trade regulations and poor border security. Just like Trump, the party ran on a campaign that generated fear. The movement began to pick up momentum and eventually came down to a vote. The day after the vote Brexit was issued, Google reported that the second highest search was “What is the EU?”. The vote in favor of Brexit was backed by a majority of uneducated voters. A study done by Telegraph showed that citizens in the UK lacking a university education who were over the age of 65, overwhelmingly voted against the EU. This outcome confirms that fear and limited education jeopardize the principles of democracy.

Because we all have the capacity to fear everyday things, emotion plays a major role in our decision making. When fear is mixed with limited education, we see people making conservative and protective decisions. As illustrated by Lord of the Flies fear resulting from information that is not critically analyzed is the beginning of the end for democracy.

Works cited:

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

Taub, Amanda. "How Stable Are Democracies? ‘Warning Signs Are Flashing Red’." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 Nov. 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/world/americas/western-liberal-democracy.html?_r=0

Natesilver538. "Education, Not Income, Predicted Who Would Vote For Trump." FiveThirtyEight. FiveThirtyEight, 28 Nov. 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/education-not-income-predicted-who-would-vote-for-trump/

Dunford, Ashley Kirk; Daniel. "EU referendum: How the results compare to the UK's educated, old and immigrant populations." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 24 June 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/24/eu-referendum-how-the-results-compare-to-the-uks-educated-old-an/

Zimmerman, Neetzan. "UK's second most Googled question after Brexit: 'What is the EU?'" TheHill. N.p., 24 June 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/leave-remain-brexit-uk-google-trends-what-is-eu-european-union-referendum-what-happens-now

Growing up in this generation has shaped me to be the person I am today. Many aspects of my life have been affecting due to many of my personal experiences. Although my father and I grew up and different generations many things have stayed the same and others have changed drastically. The values and what is accepted of us as people has largely impacted young males such as myself and my father. I wanted to interview my father because he grew up during the 1960’s, a time much different than the one I’m growin up in. I wanted his perspective on the visible changes in society.

I started the interview by asking him what his childhood was like and how the standards in his generation influenced his decisions he made. He expressed his feelings regarding the environment in his household. He spoke on the void that exists in many modern day families.

He talked about how families held unity as a number one priority. They didn’t take for granted the time they shared whereas families today rarely eat dinner together. Time was very important and crucial to the growth of children but now “Kids ain’t even kids today. We had a chance to be children because when you lose your childhood you lose everything.” In today’s world, children don’t value their childhood they want to grow up so fast. And those children that do value it are robbed of their childhood due to their personal circumstances. Most kids are in a rush to have the liberties and freedom of being of age but not the responsibilities. You look forward to 18 because you’re “legal” and can make more of your own decisions, but most people are barely able to support themselves on their own.

Towards the end of the interview my father talked about the the violent aspect of society today. He spoke on how fights have changed throughout the years.  He explained how back when he was growing up the worst that could happen to you would be getting beat up, but nowadays there is a probability that you could be killed. “If we had disagreements we didn’t shoot each other” He even said that back in his day after a fight people would sometimes become cool with each other, whereas people today hold on to problems which just lead to more conflict. “Kids today seem to have no regard or respect for life, kids today take a life how they would take a shower”

Jacobo Pastor

English 2/ Ms. Pahomov

March 31st, 2017

Breaking the Game

If you were to survive in an unknown environment, surrounded by dangers and threats, what type of decisions would you take? If the strong are battling to survive, why should they waste care and resources on the weak? Would fairness and justice prevail or would fear rule? What type of options would you have when your choices are limited and you lose your faith in mankind? Would you work together as a team or would you fight with one another? What type of leader would you follow? What limits would affect your actions and your leader’s ones? What would you consider a necessary evil or a good action? How does fear influence those situations? The book, The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding starts at the beginning of an unnamed war. A group of English schoolboys, ages six to 12, are being evacuated from their homes when their plane is shot down and crashes on a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean. From that moment on, the boys need to take all kind of decisions. One of the older boys, Ralph, takes control of the situation trying to organize the boys into a kind of productive, democratic society. Anyone can speak his mind and help the group come to a decision, as long as he's holding the conch, a large white seashell. Ralph symbolizes a civilized society. While Ralph is that, the other leader Jack symbolizes violence and anarchy. This book symbolizes today’s society, where they discover that power can justify any action they take, now matter how cruel it might be, causing disagreement amongst their civilization. The actions and decisions they take will define the way they all live.

Since the first chapters Ralph tries to organize the boys into a kind of productive, democratic society. In their first meeting, when they are establishing the rules that should be followed, Jack brings up the punishment topic. Immediately Ralph makes sure to stop his intentions. "We will have rules! he cried excitedly. Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks' em-" (33). With just a couple of words, Jack has brought up a controversy between effectiveness versus humanity. Our society balances both of those, trying to get something that can maintain the stability of a civilization while at the same time comforting human rights. Jack believes that being effective is much more important that being humane.

This moment can be related to a famous speech given by Francisco Franco, the first and last Spanish dictator, to all the communist who lost the Spanish civil war and were supposed to surrender and repent. In his speech, he revealed all his power as a dictator with just a couple words, "And those who don't follow as I say will be crashed as worms." Rules are something that should be followed because they support and bring cohesion to society. Just as it is not rational to milk a cow till it gives its last drop of milk, rules should be treated with respect, not because someone is dictating you to do so. William Golding depicts Jack as a dictator, representing the total opposite of what our Western society believes nowadays, where anyone can speak his mind and help the group to come to a decision. On the other side Jack, the leader of the savages, believes that as members of a primitive tribe, death and suffering are natural ways to survive and rule. Following his line of thought, if he is the most violent among the rest he is necessarily the leader to follow.

In the last few chapters Jack took over the whole island with his group of savages, breaking all the rules and agreements the boys had. One of his actions was to steal Piggy’s glasses to make a fire and cook the pig he had just killed. Piggy did not believe that that should be a way to behave. He later convinced his friend and former leader, Ralph, to discuss with him this unfairness. When they get there they had nothing to do, because Jack had an army that will kill for him. “They do what I want,” Jack states. “I am the chief” (179). Jack is also a particular sadist chief. “I don’t know. He didn’t say. He got angry and made us tie Wilfred up. He’s been” – he giggled excitedly – “tied for hours, waiting” (159), tells Robert about the orders of Jack and his submission to him. Power has corrupted Jack and has made him think that his actions are all necessary. This moment of the book can be related with the thoughts of Francisco Franco. As he once said, “I am only responsible for God and history”. In this quote Franco has also been corrupted by power and believes that as the supreme leader, he would only need to justify his actions in front of God and history books. Both of those quotes make the reader feel that no only power has corrupted their thoughts but also their need for more power. The more actions they take, the worst the next one will be. As temperature rises, their bad actions do too but without a clear result on what those would look like. It’s the fear of the unknown that keeps people scared, because they do not know what will would happen to them.

"It's the things that have crawled out of their own bones and their own veins, they don't know whether it's a beast from the sky, air, or where it's coming, but there is something terrible about it as the conditions of existence.” Said William Golding in a 1959 BBC radio interview describing the “beast” and its meaning. The Lord of the Flies, is literally the head of a pig that has been killed by Jack’s tribe and left as an offering to the island’s mysterious “beast.” What in Hebrew means Beelzebub, demon in English. In other terms, it symbolizes the “beast” that it’s inside in every good man. The boy’s belief in the beast is a tipping point in the boy's' journey from civilisation to base, primitive, human instinct. This is a good indication of the author’s purpose and a direct reference to the growing presence of evil in the characters and their transformation into unhuman beings. The good time was so short, and then human nature starts to assert itself, and their society descends into antagonism, hostility and violence. Only at the very end, we see the young kids back in the story when they are confronted by the presence of an adult- the navy in their rescue. Then is when we came to realize they were only 12 years old buy yet they behaved like the most cruel adults in the real world.

In conclusion, the abuse of power seen in the, Lord of the Flies, gives birth to an inside beast that is nothing more that themselves making them do cruel life decisions just to maintain that power or superiority between other people. The truth about this book and the real meaning that William Golding wants to represent, is to realize that when groups of people are clinging to life, the greatest threat may be not the environment, starvation or dehydration, but the other survivors standing next to them on a deserted town, beach, road, mountain.

Works Cited:

Golding, William. Lord Of The Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.

"General Francisco Franco 'El Generalissimo'" General Francisco Franco – 'El Generalissimo' | Spain Dictator | Spanish-Living.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://www.spanish-living.com/general-franco

"BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Lord of the Flies." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p026bmlj

Http://feastcreative.com, Feast Creative |. "New Adventures." New Adventures. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://new-adventures.net/rebourne/bbc-breakfast-interview--lord-of-the-flies

"La mejor entrevista a Franco." La mejor entrevista a Franco. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://www.generalisimofranco.com/franco/00H.HTM

Lord of the Flies was written by William Golding in 1954. This book is about a group of boys that are caught in a plane crash with no parent supervision so have to learn how to survive by themselves. Ralph and Piggy, two of the boys that were in the plane crash, find a conch shell on the beach. This dire situation could  and does happen in real life- news stories about plane crashes are not uncommon. People lie about having fears as a way to maintain their pride

In the military, one has to be brave and unafraid of any situation that could arise. But there are some members in the military that are afraid but don’t want other people to know. In the Army, they also value pride. One of their core values are personal courage. It says “Face fear, danger or adversity (physical or moral)”. This is a sign of pride. Pride is satisfaction derived from someone's own achievements. Pride is necessary in order to do anything and motivate yourself. People in the military motivate themselves with pride by defending our country.  We humans would rather have pride over being realistic, effective, and compassionate. The consequences of being realistic, effective, and compassionate are that they don’t want people to know that fear is controlling them.

A time that pride is showed in the book was when the group first encountered the beast. The boys all meet up and talk about the beast in chapter 5, where Piggy exclaims, ”I didn’t vote for no ghost!” (91). This occurs after Ralph asks the group if they think the beast is a ghost. When Piggy responds by saying that there isn’t a ghost, he says it like he isn’t afraid of the beast even though he is on the inside.

Pridefulness can also be present when one gives a presentation. When you present a project, one must have to be proud in what you created. This pride in one’s own work helps protect the feelings of the presenter as this confidence will prevent criticism for others. If you aren’t proud with what you created, then people will start to doubt you and that can lower your pride and self-esteem. When you present a project, you can’t let people know that you are afraid to present because that will destroy your pride. Pride can be a defense mechanism.

Another sign of pride that is present in this book is when the boys are struggling to accept their current leader. Jack offers his position, saying, “I’m not going to be apart of Ralph’s lot” (128).  Jack said this to Ralph to try to lower his pride and self-esteem in order to weaken Ralph’s hold on the group. By lowering Ralph’s pride, he is asserting himself as a stronger, less fearful, and more prideful option for leading the group.

In Conclusion, it is a sign of pride if you are pretending not to be scared even if you truly are. This stubborn and often irrational human behavior can aid people in functioning properly, but lying about fears can also be a person’s greatest weakness.

• "Pride." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

• 07, 2014 Stephen Kinzer   December. "Joining the military doesn’t make you a hero - The Boston Globe." BostonGlobe.com. N.p., 07 Dec. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

• Golding, William. Lord Of The Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.

Majd Bostani

Ms. Pahomov

English 2 - E Band

March 31, 2017

Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole!

    Everyone that has ever been in a large, excited crowd has participated in a chant. Whether the chant is at a sports game rooting for the home team, a protest against an unjust system, or in the case of the savage tribe Lord of the Flies, to celebrate the killing of a pig. These cheers can be used for a variety of reasons: to encourage an individual, excite an action, and/or indicate approval. Each of these outcomes shows that cheers unite a community toward a common goal, and help empower each other to achieve that goal.

    In the twelfth chapter of Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the original tribe has separated. There is Ralph, who got dumped by all of his former allies, and is attempting to fend for himself. The rest of the kids on the island formed a savage tribe united under Jack. They threatened Ralph by means of death, to try to get him off of the island. One night, Ralph heard “Kill the pig, cut his throat, spill his blood.” (186) through the trees. Ralph concluded that the savages must be living on the other side of the island. Ralph remembered the chant from when the original tribe would kill a pig and sit around a fire to consume it. Thus he reminisced everyone sitting around together as one. Consequently, Ralph revised a strategy of how he was going to survive, because he was alone and outnumbered by a tribe of his former partners who are threatening to kill him. 

    Ralph and Piggy - two of the main characters in the book of Lord of The Flies by William Golding found a conch on the island. “He kind of spat,” (16) Piggy instructed Ralph on how to make sound with conches. Following Piggy’s instructions, Ralph blew into the conch which made a loud sound, that could be heard throughout the entire island. “Meanwhile Ralph continued to blow till voices shouted in the forest. A small boy squatted in front of Ralph, looking up brightly and vertically.” (18) Right before the reader’s eyes, a community was brought together. Thanks to this chant, and communication, kids on both sides of the scene were reassured that they weren’t alone. Ralph and Piggy then had the reassurance that they will have the manpower to make a civilization and survive as one unit. It also gave Johnny, who was very young, small, and presumably very afraid, the comfort of having other people with him.

    According to William Golding, one of the main purposes for writing Lord of the Flies was to make a book with ample connections to modern society. As stated before, chanting occurs a lot in the world of sports. The spectators gathered around the playing field are yelling, screaming, hooting, and hollering for their home team to win the game. A Sports Illustrated article published in 1992 stated, “Although players and coaches usually have no response to the chanting, fans still do it. This is because they feel personally connected to the teams because of their hometowns, ....” This quote demonstrates that people chant to make themselves feel a part of a bigger movement. In this case, that would be the community of the hometown. This is encountered in Lord of the Flies when the boys would chant. The chant made the boys feel in the mood to kill a pig, and helped them get the encouragement to kill it.

    Chanting is one thing humans instinctively do when in a crowd that is dedicated to a task. It doesn’t matter whether it is to support the home team, to encourage something like a fight, or the killing of a pig. At the moment of the chant, it is easy to overlook just how infectious the environment is. However, it is promoting community, unity, and loyalty. Chants allow people the feeling the feeling that their message will get across; especially if the person they are trying to send their message to is in the area. 

Works Cited:

Jasmine Watkins @JasmineLWatkins Published on Sep. 26, 2014 Sep. 26, 2014. "'Derek Jeter' chant breaks out at Fenway Park." Sporting News. N.p., 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

"Student Activites | Bryn Mawr College." Student Activites | Bryn Mawr College. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2016.

Dawe, TJ. "Why Do People Cheer for Their Team?" Beams and Struts - A Magazine for Hungry Brains and Thirsty Souls. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

In order for a person to become a leader, there is one thing that he or she will need: power. Power is something that humans have strived for since the beginning of history. There are many ways that a person can gain power. Some gain power through inspiration, some become revered public figures that people naturally want to follow, and some have great skills and attributes that lend themselves to leadership. However, there is one tool has been used to attain power throughout history and has proven effective. That tool is fear. There are two ways that fear can be used to attain power: making people fear the leader and utilizing people’s fear of others. However, this essay is going to focus on fear mongering. Fearmongering is when a leader creates a common enemy for his or her people to fear. In William Goulding’s novel Lord of the Flies, a plane full of British schoolboys crashes on a deserted island. When the boys tried to decide on a leader, there was a power struggle between two boys named Jack and Ralph.

Throughout the novel, Jack used fear as a way to gain power over the group of boys. When the boys were on the island, there was a dogfight in the sky above them. The loser of the dogfight parachuted down on the island to his death. Eventually a littlun (little kid) went up and reported that he saw a snake-like beast. Fear of the beast spread among the boys. The fear caused the boys to neglect their civic duties. Ralph tried to quell the boys’ fear but to no avail. Jack declared that the beast was real and created a ritual to serve it "'This head is for the beast. It's a gift.'"(129) This quote shows that Jack was trying to convince the boys that the beast was real. It is clear throughout the novel that Jack was not happy about losing the “election” to Ralph and wanted to become the leader. He realized that since he was the lead hunter, the littluns would rely on him to protect them from the beast. If people turned to him for protection, he could easily steal the role of leadership right out from under Ralph’s nose.

Playing off of people’s paranoia in order to gain power has also happened throughout history. One example of this is with former U.S Senator Joe McCarthy. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Joe McCarthy was a senator for the state of Wisconsin in the 1950s. When he was senator, he rose to power by accusing hundreds of people in the government of being communist, without any evidence to back up any of his accusations. Joe McCarthy was senator during the Cold War, which was a time when a lot of Americans were very paranoid about the “Red Scare” or the spread of communism. McCarthy was playing off of their paranoia about communism by making the fight against communism the primary focus of his campaign and administration.

When Simon went to the top of the hill, he saw that there was no beast, just a dead fighter pilot. Simon went down the hill to Jack’s feast to inform the boys that there was no beast and that they had nothing to fear. Jack ordered his followers to “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!”(142) and the boys killed Simon. When the idea of the beast was introduced to the group of boys, Jack saw an opportunity to play off of the boys’ fear of the beast in order to gain power. It is clear that this strategy worked because many of the boys joined him and served him like a king. When Simon came along and started telling the boys that there was nothing to fear, Jack saw him as a threat to his power, so he accused Simon of being the beast and had him killed. This shows that when a person tries to tell people the unfortunate truths about the leader's’ rule or rise to power, the leader will try to eliminate that person by any means necessary.

Within Philadelphia, we have seen many similar instances occur. One example from 40 years ago happened with Frank Rizzo. According to Vice Magazine, Frank Rizzo started out as a police officer in Philadelphia. He eventually rose up to become the chief of police. Once he became chief of police, he was often accused of racism, corruption, and police brutality. He eventually became mayor of Philadelphia. When he became mayor, the Philadelphia Inquirer published a satirical article about him. In retaliation, he told his allies at the Building and Trades Construction Council to form a picket line outside the Philadelphia Inquirer building and harass the reporters, in an attempt to shut down the newspaper. This is an example of how leaders will often persecute people who reveal the unfortunate truths about their methods of rule.

As these examples show, power has always been something that humans have sought. People have tried many different methods of gaining it, and one of the most commonly used methods is fearmongering. Leaders play off of their follower’s fears in order to control them, and when their followers reveal unfortunate truths about their rule, the leader will persecute them.   In William Goulding’s novel Lord of the Flies he explores these themes through the power struggle between Jack and Ralph.  Like many leaders throughout history, such as Joe McCarthy and Frank Rizzo, Jack encouraged fear and paranoia in order to consolidate his power and persecuted those that challenged his teachings. It is clear that Goulding wanted to show the development of civilization with his novel. Civilizations can not exist without a leader, and Goulding wanted to show how leaders rise to power. This novel was written shortly after World War 2, so it is clear that he had seen leaders use fear mongering to rise to power, and he wanted to analyze how it works. Fear mongering works because people follow those who make them feel safe, and in order to make people feel safe, there must be a fear that is being played off of.  This method also works because when there is an idea of an “us” and “them”, it strengthens the idea of “us”. That is why people have used fear mongering throughout human history. Unfortunately, fear mongering is still being used by leaders today in America.

Work Cited -

1. Blumgart, Jake. "The Brutal Legacy of Frank Rizzo, the Most Notorious Cop in Philadelphia History." Vice. Vice Magazine, 22 Oct. 2015.Web.31Mar.2017. <https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/remembering-frank-rizzo-the-most-notorious-cop-in-philadelphia-history-1022>

2. Achter, Paul J. "McCarthyism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 28 Nov. 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. <https://www.britannica.com/topic/McCarthyism>.

3. Goulding, William. “Lord of the Flies.” New York: Penguin, 2006.

The perception of something is more powerful than the thing itself. When we are faced with an object, for example a peace sign, we see much more than just a circle with some lines through it. Our minds take into account the opinions of others, the places we’ve seen the symbol, and the way that it is typically used. The final judgement we give of the peace sign takes all of this data into account and influences how we perceive it; in this case, as a symbol of peace, safety, and kindness. The fact that others have the power to control how we perceive things means that they also have the power to destroy those views -- and one way to do this is by attacking the items we associate with those powers. People destroy symbols, both literally and figuratively, in order to assign a new meaning to those objects.

Before 1920, the hooked cross, or swastika, was no more  a symbol ofr evil than the cross or Star of David. In fact, the symbol had been used for religious purposes for over 5,000 years before Adolf Hitler claimed it as the face of the National Socialist Party in Germany. Jainism, Hinduism, Odinism, Buddhism, Aryan nomads, and many other groups used and/or still use the swastika as a religious symbol. For them, the swastika represents the movement of the sun across the sky. It’s name comes from a Sanskrit word that means “well being,” and it symbolizes luck, prosperity, the creator, the Buddha, and rebirth; a stark contrast to what the symbol became known for after Hitler stole it. His reasoning behind choosing the symbol was that he needed to put a face to the party. He needed something to draw in the working people and to give them hope. The swastika was chosen, in particular, because of the Aryan’s ancient ties to German culture. Hitler falsely took this to mean that if the Aryan’s used it and were ancestors of the Germans, then the swastika had always been an anti-semitic symbol, making it perfect for his regime. The Nazi flag became a red background to symbolize movement, a white circle to symbolize the Nationalist ideals, and a black swastika in the center to symbolize the struggle for victory of the Aryans. Regardless of its pleasant religious ties, after Hitler claimed the swastika as the symbol of Nazi Germany, the old meaning was destroyed. The swastika will never regain its former peaceful glory because Adolf Hitler destroyed it in order to create his symbol of terror. From this we can see that no matter how strong or positive a symbol may be, once destroyed, the destroyers have the power to give it an entirely new meaning.

This theme of assigning new meaning to symbols is also found in William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies. In the final chapter, Ralph has been exiled by the remaining boys on the island and is being hunted by them in the woods. When they first arrived on the island, the boys killed a pig together and placed its head on a spear as a symbol of their power. While running away, Ralph finds this relic, and stops to think: “The skull regarded Ralph like one who knows all the answers and won’t tell. A sick fear and rage swept him. Fiercely he hit out at the filthy thing in front of him that bobbled like a toy and came back, still grinning into his face, so that he lashed and cried out in loathing,” (185). Understanding the contrast in Ralph’s relationship with the skull before and after this interaction is key to breaking apart this quote. The skull on the spear is a standing symbol of power. It was constructed by the boys to make them feel strong at a time when they were unified, so it can be thought of as a symbol of their strength and unity. The fact that Ralph finds this symbol of unity as he is running away from the boys he now feels completely isolated from is pretty striking. In that moment, Ralph feels something, most likely betrayal when thinking about it as a symbol of unity, and starts to destroy the skull. This skull represents the boys. This object that he once looked to to feel safe now makes him paniced and destructive. As in Nazi Germany, a once cheerful symbol has taken on a completely opposite meaning thanks to its destroyer.

Directly after punching the skull, Ralph reflects on what he’s done, and how the symbol has changed for him; “Then he was licking his bruised knuckles and looking at the bare stick, while the skull lay in two pieces, its grin now six feet across. He wrenched the quivering stick from the crack and held it as a spear between him and the white pieces. Then he backed away, keeping his face to the skull that lay grinning at the sky,” (185). Here, the changed meaning of the symbol fully comes to life. Ralph has hit the skull, effectively destroying the bond the boys once had, even though it injures him. He is hurt by the destruction of something they built as one. Next, Ralph looks at the bare stick, and this is where a switch in his thinking happens. Previously, he has not been too focussed on self defense, and was only acting out of anger and fear. Now, he physically separates the spear from the skull. He makes a weapon out of something he loves. He destroys something he cares about in order to defend himself. He has to use the boys against themselves, and in the end of the story, that is basically what he does. Ralph is forced to outsmart the boys at their own game. This short interaction between Ralph and the skull not only demonstrates a change in Ralph’s mindset, but also in the traits of a key symbol from the novel. After this section, the old meaning is completely gone, and only the new destructive meaning remains. Ralph has injured himself during the process of this transformation, proving how unstoppable a motivated destroyer can be.

A powerful person is someone who can alter the minds of others. Both in Nazi Germany and on the island in Lord of the Flies, a powerful person changed the perception of an object, either to German citizens or to readers. By taking a joyous symbol and turning it evil, both men gained power and strength over their lives and the lives of those around them. Hitler was able to command the masses to commit a genocide, and Ralph was able to command himself to be fearless and survive. While one may have had a most massive impact on our world, both are equally good examples of people destroying old symbolic meanings to create their own new ones.

Citations:

"History of the Swastika." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

"The Swastika: A Sign of Good Luck Becomes a Symbol of Evil." Holocaust Teacher Resource Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of young boys stranded on a completely deserted island. They are left to fend for themselves with little to nothing. At first, it seemed simple; one boy would be chief, one group would hunt for food and another would build shelters and support the others. However, the island’s limited resources and conflicts in the group slowly drove most of the boys to madness and savagery. They no longer saw right from wrong; all they saw was hunt, kill, and fun. They are left with much worse than what they started with and even though they do get saved, the trauma of the experience leaves with them. The conditions and the way we express anger and savagery affects not only how others see us, but how we see the world around us and what we do.

Anger is a recurring emotion in our lives, and a powerful one. This emotion can take over anyone, even the best of us. It reprograms our brains and can lead us to do things we can never imagine ourselves doing, such as crime and murder. Some people argue that extreme anger and savagery are results of negative genes. In that case, the victim would have no control over their negative actions. Others believe that situations with severe limitations, such as the predicament in Lord of the Flies, are what drive people to madness. Take Jack for example. We’ll get into it later, but Jack is a character who exhibits anger and savagery throughout the novel.  

Before we do anything, let’s take a look at Jack. At the start of the book, Jack was a complete jerk, but he at least understood the situation at hand and offered to help the others survive. He also wanted to be chief at the beginning of the book, but didn't get nearly as many votes as Ralph did. “‘All right. Who wants Jack for chief?’ With dreary obedience the choir raised their hands. ‘Who want’s me’ Every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air. ‘I’m chief then.’” (23).  After this little election, Jack was pretty upset about not becoming chief. On the plus side, he became in charge of a choir of boys, who’d later become his troop of hunters. This setback has probably increased his anger, though as of now, he shows no ill will to Ralph. Besides, he gets to hunt. That’s something he’s offered and has been willing to do since he got on the island.

Now, let’s skip ahead a couple chapters. One time, when Jack and a few others came back from hunting, Ralph got mad at them because they let the signal fire go out. “Ralph spoke. ‘You let the fire go out.’ Jack checked, vaguely irritated by this irrelevance but too happy to let it worry him.”(69). Jack must’ve been very proud of his catch, and he must love hunting. “‘I cut the pig’s throat,’ said Jack, proudly, and yet twitched as he said it. ‘Can I borrow yours, Ralph, to make a nick in the hilt?’” Hunting seems to be an outlet for him, a way to escape from the other boys and express himself. He and the other hunters love the activity so much that they even made little chant they say whenever they capture a pig. “Kill the pig. Cut the throat. Spill her blood.” This chant varies throughout the book. However, they did let the fire go out, and thus missed a chance to be rescued, much to Ralph’s dismay. He chews Jack out for blowing it, and then Jack gets mad, presumably because his kill wasn’t as important as the situation at hand. “I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk, But you can’t even build huts-then you go off hunting and let out the fire-”(71). Ralph is starting to act a lot like a parent to the others, him being chief. Jack must like the idea of no grownups around, and Ralph is ruining that. Still, nothing was going to stop Jack from hunting pigs, he’s getting to be addictive to it. And then this happens. “This from Piggy, and the wails of agreement from some of the hunters, drove Jack to violence. The bolting look came into his blue eyes. He took a step, and able at last to hit someone, stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach.”(71) This little shenanigan angered Jack as well, and quote reveals that he’s been itching to hit someone for a while. Now that’s two things that make Jack angry: power and Ralph’s parenting. He’s on his way to savagery.

Let’s look towards the end of the book. At this time, nothing is in order. Savagery and anger have taken over Jack, who has broken away from the group and began his own tribe, gaining many followers. This leaves only Ralph, Piggy, and the two twins, Sam and Eric. One night, Jack’s savages break into what’s left of their shelters, ravage the place and steal Piggy’s glasses. The next morning, the four boys head over to the castle rock, the other tribe’s home, in hopes of getting the glasses back. When Jack refuses, Ralph calls him a thief, and the two fight. “Jack made a rush and stabbed at Ralph’s chest with his spear. Ralph sensed the position of the weapon from the glimpse he caught a Jack’s arm and put the thrust aside with his own butt. Then he bought the end round and caught Jack a stinger across the ear. They were chest to chest, breathing fiercely, pushing and glaring.” (177).

Despite Jack’s superiority, Ralph was right about everything; he was initially voted to be chief, and Jack did attack them and stole Piggy’s glasses. Ralph tries to reason with him, but the Jack he knew was long gone. He wasn’t hiding behind just a painted face, but savagery and anger have clouded him, making him a completely different person, feared by even his tribe members. That’s enough to make anybody crazy. There seems to be three things that sent Jack over the edge: hunger, desire for power, and Ralph’s constant nagging and superiority. By the way, it’s a fact that hunger can cause savagery. The kids on the island have been living water, nuts, berries, and, for some, pig meat. That isn’t very much food to get through the day. Anyway, Jack has always been someone who doesn’t like to be defied, especially by someone who he thinks is inferior to him. And now here was Ralph walking up to him demanding things, again.

In these horrid conditions, Jack became a savage. Again, there were three things that set him off: hunger, power, and Ralph. This island experience was traumatizing for everyone, but I think Jack was affected the most. His thirst for hunting and violence made him a perfect victim of savagery, which I honestly think was bound to happen.

Works Cited

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

Brown, Zachary. "Can Extreme Hunger Trigger Humans to Become Savages?"Www.quora.com. Www.quora.com, 18 Feb. 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.<https://professorianrobertson.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/savagery-explained-5-reasons-humans-become-inhuman/>

"Savagery Explained: 5 Reasons Humans Become Inhuman." The Winner Effect. N.p., 18 Aug. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.<https://www.quora.com/Can-extreme-hunger-trigger-humans-to-become-savages>

Deans, Emily. "A Gene For Violence?" Psychology Today. Www.psychologytoday.com, 30 Oct. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.<https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201410/gene-violence>

Soy Lauryn Lewis y me crié en ¨Uptown¨. He vivido aquí la mayor parte de mi vida. Esta comunidad me ha enseñado muchas cosas. He ganado una familia así como aprendido que no llamar a la familia. Mi barrio ha sido parte de la familia desde hace más de 50 años. Ha sido seguro y peligroso vivir en mi comunidad. Usted no sabrá las luchas de vivir aquí hasta que usted viva aquí usted mismo. Recomiendo que la gente se quede en mi comunidad porque será una gran lección. Si usted quiere visitar mi comunidad está en la parte del noroeste de philadelphia.

Yo pintaría mi mural en la calle de mi casa. Por la calle de mi casa hay un centro de recreación. Este es un buen lugar porque mucha gente lo verá. Animará a la gente de mi comunidad a hacer mejor. Elevará el estado de ánimo triste de algunas personas. Puede inspirar a otras personas a hacer sus propias formas de arte. Ojalá pudiera ser visto por alguien que podría darlo a conocer a nivel nacional. Quiero que este mural impacte el mundo entero y se destaque. En este lugar creo que puede alcanzar tanta importancia y honor.

Los diferentes elementos de mi proyecto serían las diferentes formas de arte. Mostrarían lo que los diferentes tipos de arte y Filadelfia. Actuación y la música es una gran parte de la técnica y Filadelfia. El tema está apoyando el arte, Filadelfia y ayudar a mostrar el apoyo a los muchos artistas. Estoy tratando de comunicar la importancia de hacer las cosas positivas. Tantas personas quedan atrapados en las calles y empezar a hacer cosas malas porque no tienen nada que ver. Esta es la voluntad de ayudar a la gente de la calle y hacen más seguro Filadelfia.

Mi obra de arte muestra una buena idea. Muestra un buen ejemplo de comunidad y trabajo duro. Estoy orgulloso del diseño porque muestra la creatividad del teatro. La razón detrás de ningunos colores es que la comunidad del ht puede llenarlos adentro en sus los propios. Les dará la oportunidad de participar en el proyecto por su cuenta.

Kimberly Gucciardi-Kriegh

Hola, yo soy Kimberly Gucciardi-Kriegh. Tengo dieciséis años. Nací en Wallingford PA, mi familia y yo vivimos por un año. Mi familia y yo mudo a Roxborough en el verano de 2002. Fui a la escuela de Green Woods Charter, combinamos el lugar tres veces. Me gusta que es una zona segura, tiene  poco  delito, algunos de mis amigos. Viven allí y tengo que tener una casa unifamiliar y patio para mi perro. No me gusta que no hay mucho que hacer en Roxborough, y es un poco lejos de SLA. No cambiaría donde vivo. Sé que quieren hacer algunos nuevos edificios y algunas personas odian esa idea y algunos les gustan.

Yo quiero mi mural en esta pared porque está abierto al público y todo el mundo verlo. Voy a usar colores rosado, púrpura, azul, amarillo y rojo. Esto no está lejos de mi escuela vieja. Todos los estudiantes, padres y maestros lo van a ver. Su mensaje simbolizan y representan lo que Roxborough es hoy la historia de hoy.

El tema de mi mural ser "las cosas que piensas cuando piensas en Roxborough".Ver todas las ubicaciones claves y calles como, Ridge Ave, Andorra, Huston, Parque Gorgas, Roxborough High School, Saul, la biblioteca, El Nuevo Objetivo, Sala 21 donde muchos niños juegan el béisbol y el fútbol americano y mucho más. Mi mural va a tener un mapa de las cosas que la gente piensa cuando piensan en Roxborough y lo dibujan representa una comunidad. Esto es para mostrar lo que está pasando en Roxborough en este momento. Mi mural también ser tener una tortuga en ella porque el símbolo de Roxborough es una tortuga, que lo tienen en los basureros, murales y pegatinas de coches.

Mi mural se puede llamar arte público porque está en un lugar disponible para que disponible para siempre. También es algo que la comunidad entera puede relacionarse y entender. Mi mural muestra con precisión lo que es la comunidad de Roxborough en 2017. Las generaciones futuras pueden mirar este mural y conocer la historia de su ciudad.

Voy a contar la historia de la parte de mi mural va a estar en Filadelfia. Sudoeste Filadelfia  es la parte sur de Está al oeste del río de Schuylkill. El límite norte está conformado por varios barrios. Como, Baltimore Avenue, Cobbs Creek y 49th street. Esta parte de Filadelfia estuvo conformada por inmigrantes irlandeses antes de la migración de americanos africanos. Ahora el porcentaje es de 76.2 por ciento de los negros viven a lo largo del sudoeste Philadelphia.

Mi nombre es Dayanna Hughes. Yo han querido dibujar y crear desde que era joven. Por esta razón era inicialmente entusiasmado con este proyecto. Soy del sudoeste de Philadelphia, por lo que estoy interesado en hacer un mural de aquí. El propósito del mural tendría un mensaje especial a la gente en el barrio.

Voy a pintar mi mural en una pared que está fuera de mi casa, es una gran muralla verde ahora mismo. Sería una pieza central para la gente alrededor de él, principalmente porque hay una parada de autobús y parada de carro literalmente cruzando la calle en ambas direcciones. La pared está situada en 56 y Baltimore Avenue, es propiedad de un Church.There de África occidental son una buena cantidad de personas mayores de mi barrio, por lo que pensaría que es vandalismo.

Las imágenes simboliza que usted debe amar la piel estás en. Principalmente debido a anuncios en el área de mostrar que la belleza europea es el único tipo de belleza. Como un niño, viendo estos anuncios haría sentir que no era lo suficientemente bueno. Esperemos que si las niñas de la comunidad que ven esto, se sentirá suficientemente empoderadas para sentirse bella. Ver a una chica que se parece a usted es ser alabada le hace sentir bien. Quiero que la chica de la foto se sienta para representar a las mujeres negras como un todo.

Arte público puede ser cualquier cosa de una pequeña palabra, o una pieza de arte grande. Me siento como si lo puede ser cualquier cosa, siempre que tenga significado para usted. Arte público me tiene valores de la comunidad y te hace cuestionar cosas como tus creencias. Es cómo vemos el mundo. Me siento como si mi mural tiene. Es un buen mensaje detrás de él, y tiene un mensaje que todos los miembros de la comunidad de acuerdo a.