Progression Is Made By The Working Class
Kankoue Folly
Ms. Pahomov
English 2
26 March 2019
“ Progression Due To Workers”
In the Lord Of The Flies, written by William Golding, the author explores the development of individuals when placed in a society without any laws to govern them. In the novel, the stranded individuals are a group of boys after their plane crashes. After Golding introduces the first two characters, Ralph and Piggy, Ralph finds a conch, and Piggy advises him that it can be used like a trumpet and explains how. Once Ralph blows the conch, the sound calls the rest of the boys scattered around the island to gather. From this moment the conch was established as an item that gave an individual power. Soon enough, the boys established a society, only for it to collapse in a short time. The society, as we would soon learn, was only sustained by a few working individuals, whom everyone benefited from. This relates to the general situation of our current society, in which, the individuals who make progress from labor are ignored by those who benefit from it.
The idea that progress is only sustained by workers who in turn are ignored by the individuals who benefit from the incentives of progress goes beyond the novel. This could even be applied to the United States where there is a billionaire president and most of the Supreme Court Justices and Governors are millionaires in their own rights, as stated by Vox. Given the duty to represent all Americans and their values, these government officials actually only represent 6 percent of Americans. 6 percent of Americans who are millionaires or more. With the nation’s population consisting of 52 percent of people who are workers, this raises forth the question: why does the minority rule the majority? When investigated through a modern lens, it becomes clear that the minority elite prioritizes their needs over the needs of the community as a whole, as suggested by the economist. This creates the social imbalance in which the progressors work for the minority, without any consequence for both parties.
In the novel, the idea that society’s progressors are ignored by the elite is metaphorically represented when Piggy, the established progressive, is stripped away of his right to use the conch as a medium for his voice and ideas to be heard. “I’ve got the conch Piggy said in a hurt voice, I’ve got the right to speak,”(44). Piggy’s freedom to speak and express ideas has been stripped away by those who are on top of society, notably Jack and Ralph. Despite Piggy’s assistance in creating a society and his knowledge and understanding their current circumstances, he is stripped of his voice, because it benefits the elite of Golding’s society to rule from the fear and work of their peers. This is much like how the rich elite of our society benefits from the work of the working class.
As continued in the novel by Golding, a social imbalance begins to occur, in which tension starts to take place between the working class and the nonpareil class. Ralph, the newly established working class, has a disagreement with Jack, leader of the hunters, the established elite class, Golding starts: “ The rest of the hunters came back hours ago and. They’ve been swimming” Golding continues to write: “ we want meat ” (51). This moment of disagreement and tension further exposes the idea of how the established elite, will prioritize their needs over the necessities of the majority, even if it is deemed less important.
The nonpareil prioritizing their wants over the necessities of the working majority is still prevalent in today’s society, notably when it comes down to taxation. Over the course of many years, the working class has been asking for tax cuts, however, these wishes were never granted for the working class. Now under the Trump administration, these cuts were made possible for the upper class and mega-corporations. Trump, a billionaire in his seventies, argues that these tax cuts will “bring jobs back to America”. These jobs coming back to America is seen as the necessity of the working class, when in fact this reform, will only serve as another source of income for the upper class. Yet another example of the elite prioritize their wants over the needs of the working people.
The exploitation of the working class to form a source of income for the upper class is a large issue in society, however, the problem goes beyond this point. The elite also exploits the working class to further stabilize their position in society, this, as stated by Stuart Jeffries of The Guardian: “The bourgeoisie has learned to make the exploited pay for its crisis and to use them to disarm its adversaries.” When applied to today’s society, a clear example of this would be mega-corporations such as Apple and Nike using the labor of underpaid workers to make quality products to compete or distance themselves from their competitors. As suggested by the Huffington Post.
The bourgeoisie exploiting for their own betterment can also be applied to the Lord of The Flies, in which Jack uses the notion of bravery to exploit the mind of the boys to help him get into a position of power. With this newly established control over the boys, Jack uses it to bring havoc upon his adversaries, Ralph and Piggy. “ We’ll hunt, I’m going to be chief…..I say this. We aren’t going to bother about the beast… We’re going to forget about the beast !” (Golding, 133). This act of bravery made by Jack gets establishes him as the leader of the boys, Jack distances himself from his adversaries as fearless.
The exploitation of the working class for the betterment of the social elites, is nothing surprising, especially when analyzed and explored through Golding’s Lord of The Flies and further examined through modern eyes. Ideally, we can see how the social elite and mega corporations use working people as a means to augment their social impact or financial status, as exemplified by Nike, Apple, and the president himself. The imbalance of social power and status that braces civilization today is a topic of concern. It is imperative that we create a society in which the social elite do not rule and benefit from the progression made by the working class because a society ruled by the elite, is for the elite.
Sources Cited
Carnes, Nicholas. “Working-Class People Are Underrepresented in Politics. The Problem Isn't Voters.” Vox, Vox, 24 Oct. 2018,
Gibson, C. Robert. “How the iPhone Helps Perpetuate Modern-Day Slavery.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 Nov. 2014,
www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-gibson/how-the-iphone_b_5800262.html.
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006
“Government of the Rich, by the Rich, for the Rich.” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 17 Feb. 2011,
www.economist.com/free-exchange/2011/02/17/government-of-the-rich-by-the-rich-for-the-rich
Jeffries, Stuart. “Why Marxism Is on the Rise Again.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 July 2012,
www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/04/the-return-of-marxism.
Seabrook, Jeremy. “The New Class Struggle.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 7 July 2006,
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jul/07/themakingofthenewbritish.
Vigo, Julian. “Modern Times And The Crisis Of Labor.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 19 Dec. 2018,
www.forbes.com/sites/julianvigo/2018/12/19/modern-times-and-the-crisis-of-labor/#5f61f21b50ca.
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