LOTF Essay

What factors of conflict do you think cause groups to divide? Personally, I believe, as quoted by Robert Kiyosaki, “Most people have a price. And they have a price because of human emotions named fear and greed.” The fear of instability motivates us to work harder and achieve stability. However, once we get that stability, we think of all the better things that could be had. There, the emotion of greed is installed. No matter how much we chase, we are never satisfied. Most of us even going as far as breaking moral rules to satisfy our greed.

In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, young boys are stranded on an island. The boys have to learn to survive by themselves. First, they chose a leader of the group. Ralph, who is chosen and eventually leads the pack, is one of the oldest in the group. Jack, a leader of a choir group, is fed up with Ralph leading. He says, “Hands up,” said Jack strongly, “whoever wants Ralph not to be chief?” (127) Being a former leader himself, Jack doesn’t sit well with another person leading his group. From this example, we can see that fear and greed are both key emotions. Jack fears that as Ralph leads them more and more, the choir boys he once lead, will only take orders from Ralph. Furthermore, Jack was the leading person for hunting. However, it shows that he was greedy for more power and wanted to ultimately be in control of everything. Because of this, he eventually broke from the group and began his own. The term, “While the rich get richer, the poor get poorer,” exposes the greediness of humans. It shows the growing gap between those who have more and those who have less.

The Korean War was a conflict that claimed 2.5 million people’s lives.  According to The History Channel, on June 25, 1950, some 75,000 soldiers of the North Korean Communist army, advised by the Soviet Union, crossed the 38th parallel and invaded pro-Western Republic South Korea. This conflict would soon be more than a battle between the two Koreas. By July, America had entered the war on behalf of the South. As far as American officials were concerned, this dilemma could have  sparked a third World War. Quickly, America wanted an armistice signed with the North Koreans, scared that this war could trigger WWIII. From this example, we can see that both greed and fear play a role in this situation. First, the North Koreans invaded the South because of greed for power and control of the Korea as an whole. Secondly, America tried to sign an armistice with the North because they feared a greater war.

Having chosen the leaders at the start of the book, Piggy wanted to help in a task. However, Jack responded with, “We don’t want you,” said Jack, flatly. “Three’s enough.” Prior to saying that, Jack said to Piggy, “You’re no good at a job like this.” Pointing to moments like this, readers can conclude that Jack isn’t like other leaders. Instead of wanting his followers to like him, he insults them. From the start, Jack was greedy for control and insulted a fellow comrade, without valid reasons, to get his foot down. He was eager to consume all the power.  Similar to Jack, the North Koreans didn’t see South Koreans as comrades. Although they lived in the same land, they shared different beliefs. The North Koreans wanted full control of the land and similar ideology to be shared.

According to BBC.com, although an armistice was signed between participants of the Korean War, no peace treaty was ever issued. Therefore, the Korean War hasn’t officially ended. However, there has been an agreement from both sized to build a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) at the 38th parallel to equally divide the two Koreas in half. Despite that, tensions are still high between North and South Korea. Joint military exercises between America and South Korea are still being practiced today. Furthermore, the North Koreans throughout the years have tested countless nuclear missiles and displayed their military might through army parades. With this example, we can conclude that fear is once again a key emotion. America and South Korea have joint military exercises to prepare for any conflict with the north. On the other hand, the North Koreans test nuclear missiles, host parades showing their million man army and artillery in fear that the rest of the world wouldn’t take their isolated country seriously.

Work Cited

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

BBC News, Special Reports “BBC NEWS.” BBC News, BBC,

news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/03/the_korean_war/html/default.stm.

Editors, History.com. “Korean War.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009,

www.history.com/topics/korea/korean-war.

Kiyosaki, T, Robert “A Quote from Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” Goodreads, Goodreads,