LOTF- Pridefulness by Justin Stewart

Posted by Justin Stewart in English 2 · Pahomov · C Band on

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.












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