Decisions

How do humans make their decisions? Many people would like to say they do what they want and don’t care what other people think, but they are lying. For some reason, they are created by peer pressure, trying to get a viewers vote, from fear or even from embarrassment. They tend to impress the folks by saying something, just by an appearance or their behaviors, instead of the actual truth. Honesty does not play a key.

In chapter 1 of “Lord of the flies” by William Golding, the children, after experiencing a devastating plane crash meet up on a part of the island. They decide to hold a poll for a leader or in the books case “chief.” “This toy of voting was almost as pleasing as the conch. Jack started to protest but the clamor changed from the general wish for a chief to an election by acclaim of Ralph himself. None of the boys could have found a good reason for this; what intelligence had been shown was traceable to Piggy, while the most obvious leader was Jack. But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet the most powerfully, there was the conch, The being that had blown that, had sat waiting for them on the platform with the delicate thing that balanced on his knees, was set apart.” (Pg. 22) This quote from Lord of the flies shows the kids thoughts on who should be “chief”. They chose Ralph as chief because he was the person who blew the conch. With the following lines “Him with the shell.” (Pg.22) “Ralph! Ralph!” (Pg.22)  “Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing.” (Pg.22) The kids did not take the time to understand and analyze who fits the role of “chief”, but instead decided based on appearance.

The example from Lord of the flies closely relates to the election that is currently happening. According to the article by editor Carolina Moreno at Huffington Post. The article quotes Donald Trump’s statement that  “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re sending you/ They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re bringing rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” When Donald Trump made this remark he received attention, both positive and negative. This is how he got noticed, people agreed with him and his opinions. However he’s only saying the things he said to impress the people of America in order to get on the ballot and win votes for the presidential election. At the same time there is no evidence showing immigrants committing more crime than native-born Americans. However first-generation immigrants are pre disposed to lower crime rates than native-born Americans. Thus, showing Donald Trump is just making his decision or movement based on impression.

A moment in Lord of the flies that shows a decision being made from being under pressure is when Ralph began wanting to leave the island, however Jack’s plans interferes with Ralphs. He makes rules because they spotted a ship, however Jack’s “group” went to go hunt and forgot about maintaining the fire lit. This made Ralph feel like he missed out on a chance of a lifetime. Ralph says to his followers in chapter 5, “And another thing. We nearly set the whole island on fire. And we waste time, rolling rocks, and making little cooking fires. Now I say this and make it a rule, because I’m chief: We won’t have a fire anywhere but on the mountain. Ever.” (pg.81) This shows that Ralph was pressured by his surroundings. It frustrated Ralph, which prompted him to make the decision to make rules.  After seeing the ship and missing the chance at an early escape of the island, Ralph felt the way he did because Jack refused to obey Ralph’s commands.

The same situation happened during the upcoming on World War 2. The United States of America signed a treaty with Germany so they wouldn’t speak about what happened and to stay in peace, however from embarrassment Adolf Hitler plan secret meetings known as the nazi party. During these nazi party meetings Adolf Hitler would speak and his words inspired the german people to follow his commands, especially putting the blame on jews because it was there fault that germany lost during the first world war. After some time Adolf Hitler became the dictator of Germany. After quite some time Adolf Hitler made a name for himself after invading poland, and killing a large amount of jews. It reached to a point where the U.S had to step in and sent reinforcement into Germany to put a stop to this war. Adolf Hitler reached a corner in his plans and instead of paying for his crime he killed himself. The decision was based on fear.  According to History.com Adolf Hitler quotes that he was becoming paranoid, “Doctor what is the best way to kill myself?” Adolf Hitler  made the decision he made because he needed an escape route, especially with full forces coming into Germany at both sides west and east, this is why a treaty was later created making the U.S and Russia keep watch over Germany.

In conclusion we can see that both Lord of the flies and the real world examples show that decisions can be made by countless of things however these are the main ones that sparks out. From fear through good intentions we can tell that people's decision making can't be countered and would have to deal with hiding the exact truth from each other.