What Aggression Can Do

Is there a person you know that is popular? Why are they popular? Is it because they’re attractive, intelligent, kind, or aggressive? Do you ever wonder why or how that person is so popular? All of those traits above have a positive connotation, except for aggression. Aggression is something that anyone can have. Surprisingly, it can make someone more popular, whether their aggression is used as entertainment, or simply to set a standard.  Although aggression is usually seen as a negative trait, it is actually the most important quality for a person who is seeking to gain power.

In chapter eleven of Lord of the Flies, there was a scene with a conflict between the group of boys where it ended up with Ralph and Jack fighting each other. Then, Roger decides to pull something up his sleeve resulting in Piggy’s death, and the conch being smashed to many pieces. “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone -”... “I’m Chief” (181). The cause of this was the aggression between the two sides: popular vs. unpopular. Studies done by APA concluded that popular teens or kids seem to be more aggressive compared to their peers. In the beginning, the conch was what lead to Ralph being chief and the most popular. Also, Ralph was pretty aggressive during the beginning of the book, especially towards Piggy. As time passed, Ralph grew to his senses and became more understanding towards Piggy. Jack used that opportunity to become more aggressive towards them both, which ended up to him gaining more power and popularity, leading him to make his own decisions. With Ralph starting to stick up for Piggy and the conch being smashed, he drops in popularity and lost possession of the one thing that could’ve help him in his status. Words like viciously, fiercely, and wildly were used because of the fact that most of Jack's popularity comes from his aggression(181-182). Also his desire to hunt and have fun ends up winning over the boys.

Donald Trump shows a displacement of aggression all throughout his campaigns. He made all kind of statements and comments, but his intentions were clear and bold. Many of his speeches consist of the wildest and craziest ideas, over and over again, especially about building a wall. “I will build a great wall - and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me - and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.” Everyone knows about Donald Trump and his intentions of building a wall. People took this information in many ways, but it all makes him more known, talked about, and overall popular. With his aggression towards making a wall, a lot of people could look at it in different viewpoints. Many jokes were made about this and things just went around. The more they went about it, the more his popularity grew. So with his aggression towards certain things, it will help him in getting power with popularity.

Jack is pretty violent and aggression in many situations. In LOTF, Jack had taken the boys watching and fire and added them into his hunting crew. That ended up in a disaster because they were watching the fire and a ship passed by. Ralph was frustrated, but when Piggy said something Jack beat him up. All Jack really want to do is have fun and hunt. “Jack stood up as he said this, the bloodied knife in his hand. The two boys faced each other. There was the brilliant world of hunting, tactics… Jack transferred the knife to his left hand and smeared blood over his forehead as he pushed down the plastered hair” (71). Even tho being rescued was important, Jack still stuck onto hunting, providing food, and having fun. He was pretty straightforward about it. With this because of Jack’s obsession with hunting and his aggression towards it. It gives him power because the hunters, or kids would look at him with admiration. What he is trying to do is have fun and survival which wins over the kids.

During one of Donald Trump’s speech, he spoke about Mexicans. He talked about what he thinks they are and what they’ll do. This relates to why he suggested we build a wall. It’s mainly to keep out immigrants and most of them are from Mexico which is why he threw flame at the Mexicans. “Mexicans are bringing drugs, they’re bringing criminals, they’re rapists,” said Trump. The aggression he puts towards them is very violent and like bullying. This form of bullying is formed into a  way where people will joke about it. Through research, it’s said that bullying can be a form of popularity. Some people take bullying as a joke or as a source of entertainment which leads to them being popular. So trump being aggressive ended up him being in more position of power.

Overall there are many characteristics that can result in popularity throughout the society. Aggression being one of the characteristics has to lead to people becoming new leaders, like Trump and Jack. Their display of determination and aggression towards a certain goal has won over the people in many different ways. It made these new leaders more popular, known and spoke about. Even tho aggression towards something would usually be concerned as negative, it can be used in many different ways especially for people who want to gain a certain goal or become a leader.

Works Cited

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

Winerman, L. "Among young teens, aggression equals popularity." Pardon Our Interruption. American psychological association, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun04/among.aspx