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In today's society, people are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development `known as civilization. In an organized civilization, leaders are chosen in order to install stability within a society. In most cases though, the best leader isn’t always the one chosen. When picking leaders people don’t always weigh all of the factors they should , they usually just consider who is the most popular. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the novel demonstrates how people feel towards leadership, usually basing their decision on popularity rather than what's best for them.

In the novel, the boys had to chose who the group leader or “chief” would be. It came down to a running between Ralph and Jack. Ralph was not the best option to become leader, but he displayed usefully human qualities when working towards the betterment of the boys society, and demonstrated a better understanding of people than Jack. This earned him popularity with the rest of the boys. In one passage in the novel the boys and the choir were about to vote for chief between Ralph and Jack. the boys looked up to Ralph and gave him a respect that they didn't give Jack, even though Jack was the stronger and better option between the two. The passage reads, “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 most powerfully, there was the conch.” The kids go on to vote for Ralph, not because he is the better leader, but because he is someone very popular amongst them and someone they look up to. He has done this through his understanding of the boys ways. This entire example shows that people choose candidates and leaders based off of popularity. Neither Jack nor Ralph were the best options out of everyone, Piggy was arguably the best option to become chief and lead the boys. Piggy was a practical option and had ideas that would make the group of boys thrive. But again Piggy wasn't even considered because of his general appearance and the way he carried himself

Recently it was in the media that Kanye West announced that he would be running for president in the year 2020 during the 2015 VMA’s, some looked at it as a joke or a popularity stunt until he got serious about his running and then everybody realized that it was a serious claim. Some professionals have even conversed about this as a possibility and several have been baffled by the fact that there is even a chance that he might be elected. In all actuality Kanye only has a chance to become a delegate because of his popularity throughout the world and his vast appearances in the media. This is a problem because clearly Kanye West would not be the best option for the wellbeing of the country, but again Kanye has so much popularity and enough fans that would be willing to vote for him. this makes him not only a serious option but also a serious threat to anyone else running.

Returning to Lord of the Flies, there are several cases after a leader is picked where one or more of the boys has an idea or statement, and it is overlooked because they are looked at as insignificant or as if their ideas are meaningless. A prime example of this is in chapter two of Lord of the Flies, Piggy makes several points and comments on the boys work ethic and their proficiency at getting tasks done. His points would prove to be very valuable if they had been listened to but again all of Piggy’s comments and/or ideas were all deemed unimportant or overlooked. This again proves the point that they boys on this island and almost all of society only pay attention to what they find important no matter how helpful other things could be. This reference also proves that the boys small society already has segregation and discrimination not necessarily to races but it could be compared to social classes. If an idea or statement is presented to a society but its origins are unknown or coming from an unimportant area then that suggestion is most likely to go unrecognized no matter how much it could benefit the society.

This specific theme although it is broad is still very prominent throughout most societies now. There are several examples of this all through the media nowadays, but the most recent and still ongoing example is the current presidential election involving Donald Trump. Donald Trump is currently leading the republican party for delegate votes. One of the reasons he is leading is because he became a household name during the airing of his multiple television shows. He is also known across America for his extensive amount of wealth and knowledge revolving the business world. That is mostly what people know about him fully. Most of his supporters do not know about his full economic preference and how he will treat americas funds, or how he has publicly kept changing his opinions on multiple different subjects mostly just appealing to the current audience he is speaking to such as his thoughts on gun control, abortion, and immigration. Donald Trump also does not have any prior political experience except for him previously running for president. Clearly Trump is not the best option to become president for the wellbeing of the country and to try to improve it as a whole. But again trump is in the lead of his party mostly because he is the most widely known, and he has kept himself in the press for an extensive amount of time, not because he is the proper candidate to become president, and if society doesn't realize that trump will lead this country the wrong way because he does not have the experience or credentials to do so, and he is certainly not qualified then this society is practically sealing its own fate.

The people Chosen to lead are the people that form a society. The people that lead are the ones who the rest of the society is forced to follow. So whether it be a group leader or a presidential candidate all options should be considered, and decisions need to be made based off of well being not based off of favorites and predetermined judgements.

Works cited

• Abramowitz, Alan I., Ronald Rapoport, and Walter Stone. "Why Donald Trump Is Winning and Why His Nomination Could Shatter the Republican Party." Larry J Sabatos Crystal Ball RSS. March 10, 2016. Accessed April 11, 2016. http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/why-donald-trump-is-winning-and-why-his-nomination-could-shatter-the-republican-party/.

• Bankoff, Caroline. "Could Trump Actually Win a Third-Party Nomination?" Daily Intelligencer. April 10, 2016. Accessed April 11, 2016. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/04/could-trump-win-a-third-party-nomination.html.

• Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin Group, 2003.

• Collinson, Stephen. "Donald Trump Has Almost Won the Nomination. Now He Has to Win the GOP." CNN. March 03, 2016. Accessed April 11, 2016. http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/02/politics/donald-trump-republican-establishment-fight/.

• Mellen, Ruby. "Kanye West Will ‘Definitely’ Run For President, Thinks Ben Carson Is ‘Brilliant’." Huffington Post. September 24, 2015. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kanye-west-2020-carson_us_56043542e4b0fde8b0d1a0f7.

• Lyles, Travis. "Kanye West Says He Definitely Plans on Running for President in 2020." Business Insider. September 24, 2015. Accessed April 11, 2016. http://www.businessinsider.com/kanye-west-is-definitely-running-for-president-in-2020-2015-9.

• Dinan, Stephen. "Trump Quickly Recants New Stance on Immigrant Guest-workersStephen." Washington times. March 04, 2016. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/4/donald-trump-quickly-recants-new-stance-immigrant-/.

My goal in writing this Advanced Essay was to ultimately "wake" the reader up to a lense of America typically avoided and that there is little to no progress made on. The event that I keep referencing(where 6 people died) was really like an eye opener for me, personally, specifically when it happened, as soon as Spring was beginning to open, and made me sad to hear about. I do think it is a shame that this is the point that our culture has come to, but I am also not surprised, which I also hoped to express in essay as well. The writing process was admittedly awkward, to say the least, due to a combination of me approaching an analytically themed writing style that I don't often reach for, along with the nature of the subject, being one that I only ever mostly discussed in a broad sense, not considering how people died and whatnot and fitting it all into an essay that was reasonably sized. Nonetheless, I still think it's a good read, and still should serve its purpose fairly.

A lot of people died the other day. Six of them actually. There had already been over 40 in the city by the 3rd month this year, and I have become confused as about to which point the violence was supposed to become unacceptable. On the night of March 8th, 2016, Philadelphia had become a sort of war zone. Separate occasions across the city put Philadelphia back on the map and helped, once again, further define what it truly means to be American, that is, what it truly means to be violent. Even under our evident war torn history, our violently inclined present, and the inevitably destructive future that lies ahead of us, we still seem to be crazed with war. Even in the past year’s violence in American lifestyle becoming a norm,, intensity of gun violence debates and police brutality, still, a lot of people died yesterday and the question that remains is how.

This was premeditated. “In retrospect Sandy Hook marked the end of the U.S. gun control debate. Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over,” said Dan Hodges in response to the recent gun controversy surrounding the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, North Carolina. On June 17th, 2015 a man by the name Dylann Roof killed nine people in their church after a session of bible study. The church invited him with open arms into their service, and to his own personal ill, I guess it was ok niggas died. This is not even to mention the other near 13,000 who died to gun violence just last year alone. 36 People die everyday, on average, but still I take offense that six of them died last Tuesday.

Of course this in turn means that some lucky child had the opportunity to witness at least one murder a day on his local news channel that year, and perhaps one could see the irony that those same news channel would turn up studies of how violence in video games may be the cause of a violent youth. We use our weapons to protect ourselves, and 756 children were killed in 2015, they are understandably very dangerous, and it is ok. We like turn to terrorism for the blame. Between 2005 and 2015, 71 Americans were killed in terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, and their deaths were not in vain; in the same time period, over 301,000 Americans died, to each other.

Our culture seems to have grown to romanticize the features of death. We must like the way it looks. It is on our T.V. screens, it is in our books, and the flavors of it, you can even taste in our heroes. As a community, our lust for blood has even grown so wicked, that you can practically smell it in the hearts of our youth, it wreaks from them, so badly so that it would probably take you by surprise if our future generations could manage to resolve a conflict without violence.    

Dr. Bruce D Perry, in his analysis “Why Does Violence Happen?” identifies that one of the biggest sources of violence is due to our detachment from others or one another. He states that “When we become more detached from each other and from common unifying beliefs, violence increases,”  he continues “ ..when we hateful ideologies to make groups or classes of people to be viewed as different, bad or even less than human, violence increases.” This would speak to a part of the reason why it is believed that, today, black men are disproportionately affected by gun violence in America; last year, 50% of the gun deaths were deaths of African American men, who make up only 6% of the American population. The ideologies that Dr.Perry presents are scary simply by their nature. It is an outlook that is especially hard for America to uphold and try to make more synonymous with its lifestyle, being that America’s entire history was built around the concept of otherness. In the 1700s we fled from Great Britain in refuge from a difference of vision with King George III, we enslaved dependant on melanin, we sought to take control of any country who did not share our values, we had been America since day one, and we made it explicitly known.

The last Winter had been a long one, but things were finally starting to look for the kids of the ghetto. The essence of Spring was so beautiful, I remember, you could practically smell it’s eloquent breezes as you stepped outside. I remember the crew had been anticipating the arrival for days now, below 20 degree conditions and being snowed in can not compare with 70 degree days outside and flowers we were promised. But last Tuesday, once again America had made sure its vision was explicitly seen. Why am I surprised to wake to hearing the words “a lot of people died yesterday in Philadelphia,” from the local news this morning. Six of them actually.

Chang, David. "6 Die During Violent Day in the City." NBC 10 Philadelphia. NBC 10, 8 Mar. 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. <http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Philadelphia-Double-Shooting-Fatal-Injury-Gunman--371463021.html>.

Perry, Perry D. "Why Does Violence Happen?" Why Does Violence Happen? Scholastic, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. <http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/bruceperry/why_violence.htm>.

Mascia, Jennifer. "15 Statistics That Tell the Story of Gun Violence This Year." The Trace 15 Statistics That Tell the Story of Gun Violence This Year Comments. The Trace, 23 Dec. 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. <http://www.thetrace.org/2015/12/gun-violence-stats-2015/>.

Smead, Howard. "Why Americans Are so Violent?" Howardsmead. Howard Smead, n.d. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.howardsmead.com%2Fwhy_we_americans_are_so_violent.htm>.

If we’re still doing the whole real world lesson in quarter four this will be my final assignments for Senior year art. These assignments really pushed me outside of my comfort zone and I really enjoyed it. It actually made me think about making something that I wouldn’t normally do (adding real details, and using colors, using oil pastels) and something that’s not simple. I got so into the art I actually finished the main assignments early and did little ones on the side. . It was a really good chill, relax class where you could be open about who you are what type of artist you are. It was fun walking into class and just going straight to work not worrying about anything else. I’m going to miss senior art a lot, there’s never going to be a class like this and I'm always going to remember the memories I made in it.

My favorite assignments was the mosaic and all the water colors. One I love working with water colors, especially because they’re easy to blend with and make bolder better colors. You can use salt and cement and tape to make texture and clouds and it’s just fun to work with. The mosaic was a challenge because you had to cut smaller pieces to make your bigger piece. In the end it was worth the sticky fingers and the little paper cuts, my coffe cups came out real nice and it was really worth it. The hardest assignment had to be making a wire sculpture out of paper clips. It was the worst, I cut myself a couple of times and the little paper clips weren’t cutting it. It was a new experience for me and I learned and grew as a person from it. I made a crown out of the paper clips because it was girly enough like me and every princess needs a crown.

In the end I’m really proud of all the assignments I turned in the last three quarters and it was worth the time and energy I spent. Senior art has really taught me to be creative and think outside the box. I am really looking forward to the last quarter where Ms.Hull will be teaching us about the real world and what happens when you leave the comforts of high school. ‘Ve been waiting for lessons like this since the beginning, I think there should be mandatory classes in highschool that teach you how to pay bills and write checks, and be independent. Since we’re leaving for college soon it’s going to be a good learning experience for all of us.

Philosopher,  Albert Camus, said "Peace is [a] battle worth waging." Peace has always been one of the priorities for the world. So the problem does not lie with whether or not the people want peace, of course people want peace, the issue is how people want to go about it, and what is stopping us from achieving this goal. So to figure this out, the root of the problem must be found, and then addressed. Only then, can the possibility of a peaceful society happen in the near future, and when it comes down to it, the only thing that is keeping this world from having a peaceful society is the lack of effective communication, understanding, and fear.

When it comes to almost any problem there is always a peaceful approach, as well as a violent approach. Both can definitely get the point across, and solve the problem. However, when it comes to the violent approach, a lot of lives are lost in senseless violence. Now, if it is true that the peaceful approach can still solve the same problems that the violent approach can, then it seem more logical to go with that option. However, when it comes to the peaceful approach, it relies heavily on a characteristic that many nations tend to lack, which is effective communication. With this, it’s a lot harder to deal with. When coming to a compromise, depending upon your motive, there will be times where negotiation is not something that is really desired. There is also the fact that nations might seem weak for doing this, and no one wants that type of image. Tim O’brien stated in “The things They Carried”, “It was my view then, and still is, that you don't make war without knowing why. Knowledge of course, is always imperfect, but it seemed to me that when a nation goes to war it must have reasonable confidence in the justice and imperative of its cause. You can't fix your mistakes. Once people are dead, you can't make them undead.”(41). He has a point though. When it comes to war, it’s less complicated, even though it is deadlier, but at least you stand a with getting most of what you want with little to no compromise at all. In the novel “The Sorrow of War”, Bao Ninh said it best when he stated that “The ones who loved war were not the young men but the others like the politicians, middle-aged men with fat bellies and short legs. Not the ordinary people" (75).

Another difficulty the comes with the path of peace is that it forces people to try and understand one another. That is one of the hardest things to do sometimes, especially if one believes that they are just dealing with an evil group or individual. In this society, when someone or some group is considered evil, nobody real cares to try and understand them. They’re bad people, they have done harm to others, so it doesn't make sense to show them any sympathy or give them any excuse for their actions. In Philip Zimbardo’s Ted Talk: The Psychology of Evil, he brings up a good point by saying "Nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing more difficult than understanding him," Dostoevsky. Understanding is not excusing. Psychology is not excuse-ology.”  What is so important about this quote, is that it shows people that getting to see where these types of people are coming from, gives us an insight into human nature. It also shows us that evil is more complex, it is something that is within us all. Philip later quotes in his talk that  “Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn says, "The line between good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being." That means that line is not out there. That's a decision that you have to make, a personal thing.” Once we start to think of it that way, then the process of understanding one another is not only clearer, but it becomes a necessity.  Once there is understanding, better communication is what follows, and the peaceful approach becomes more realistic.

Now, lack of communication, and understanding are issues that keep us from having a peaceful society, but there lies another problem that is not really talked about, but is also a major problem that is stopping us from having a peaceful society is. Fear. When it comes to maintaining a peaceful society, there has to be a level of trust involved where both side do not expect the other to take advantage or betray them. But, that is so hard. For instance, Martin Luther King brought an example with his vietnam speech stating that ““We have destroyed their two most cherished institutions: the family and the village. We have destroyed their land and their crops. We have cooperated in the crushing of the nation’s only noncommunist revolutionary political force, the unified Buddhist Church….After 1954 they watched us conspire with Diem to prevent elections which could have surely brought Ho Chi Minh to power over a unified Vietnam, and they realized they had been betrayed again. When we ask why they do not leap to negotiate, these things must be considered.” We live in a society that promotes self gain and power above anything else, so it’s scary to have that kind of trust when you grew up believing everyone's looking out for themselves most of the time.

There is a lot of improvement that needs to be done in order for a peaceful to be established in the near future. One way we can start, though, is by staring each other stories with one another. Again, Dr. King says "Can I threaten them with death or must I not share with them my life?....I think of them, too, because it is clear to me that there will be no meaningful solution there until some attempt is made to know them and hear their broken cries.” Telling your story or some else’s, gives power to understanding and empathy. People have a chance to see what life has put you through. Bao Ninh said in “ The Sorrows of War” that “ It was necessary to write about the war, to touch readers’ hearts, to move them with words of love and sorrow, to bring to life the electric movements, to let them, in the reading and the telling, feel they were there, in the past, with the author” (56). Having a peaceful society is possible for us, but it’s not something we force. It’s something we comprehend together.

Bibliography

Ninh, Bảo, and Frank Palmos. The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam. New York: Pantheon, 1995. Print.

Tim O'Brien. The Things They Carried. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2005. Print.

Philip Zimbardo.The psychology of evil. Sep 2008

King, Jr., Martin Luther. "Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam." Church Sermon. Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia. 30 Apr. 1967.Youtube. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

In the world we live in today, children are not safe all the time. Without their parents, children can not grow up and survive correctly. Life was made for children to have parents to guide them through the struggles of life. A lot of children die on their own and this is a common event. According to ABC news, there are some children that have gone missing up to 15 years ago that have still not been found. This relates to Lord Of the Flies by William Golding, because the kids in LOTF prove multiple times times that they are not ready to be without adults. They seem very civilized in the beginning, but shortly after that, many savage events occur and the children take a lot of mental damage from that. Children think they can do anything and that's exactly why they need the supervision. That’s why they need their parents, to learn that they aren't invincible or they'll grow up making terrible choices.

In Lord Of The Flies, there are these kids stranded on an island without any adults. One of the first things that you hear the character piggy talk about is where the adults are. This is foreshadowing that something bad will happen without them. And this is proven to be true when the boys all get in a big arguement. It doesn't help that they're all boys so there will always be an argument over power. They were all obsessed over this conch which had no true purpose but to call others into a gathering. But they are all so content on thinking that it means power and that whoever holds it is a leader. However, this argument ends in Piggy's death. He was holding it and someone threw a rock at him and he fell to his death. They boys also lose someone prior to this. They are also always talking about a beast, but if they had an adult, they would know better. This is because once a child’s mind is on something, that becomes all they think and act on until it is no longer important to them.

If they had adults with them, then Piggy most definitely would not have died. There would be much more structure to their rules and living habits. Now the kids can just be savage without any authority. Kids simply can’t just raise themselves. Adults can have a big influence on kids lives. Some kids even go back home with their parents after college. There is a CBS News story by Erin Donaghue that many are familiar with where 3 young women were kidnapped for over 10 years. Luckily one escaped and ran for help. Some of these women were adults. So when it gets to the point where young adults can be kidnapped, then you know kids need adults to be safe.

Now the kids In Lord of the Flies think they are in danger from a beast, when they are actually in danger from themselves. This obsession causes some to die. As I said earlier, an adult would be able to identify that what the children saw was not anything to worry about. The adult would be the leader no questions asked. The adult would protect the kids and feed them, and leave no one behind. They would probably find a way to contact someone much sooner and would have been rescued much earlier.

The book Lord of the Flies illustrates many issues and important topics for us to think about. It answers the question, “What happens when a bunch of young boys are stranded on an island. It shows that people should know better than to leave their kids alone in this world. People just don't understand that this is not a perfect world. Little kids can be heard all the time saying I can fly, but if their parents never showed them that they couldn't, they would go too far one day and jump from way too high up. Kis fantasize all the time about being superheroes, which is good. It is great to have an open mind. As long as children realize sooner or later that not everything is possible before they try something dangerous.

So after all of these facts concepts, and examples there are core values. William Golding's core value and lesson in Lord of the Flies are that power is not everything and that power thirsty people usually go mad. Arguments over power are simply not needed. Everyone wants to be on top, but not everyone is deserving of the top because they use those who are lower than them as a staircase to the top. Adults can be very civilized over power, but given the right circumstances, they can also be very savage. The show survivor is a good example of this point. Now when you take these same circumstances and use children instead of adults, they will go from civilized to savage in seconds. Children's minds work much differently than the minds of adults. They often act like they are ready to be adults but are never ready to be and they never have nearly enough experience to do so. So the main message of this essay is very simple child equals an adult protecting them and helping them grow. So this what to take out of this essay, Children are not gods and no matter how confident they are, they will never be ready for or understand true adulthood until they have kids of their own.

Works Cited

ABC News Staff. "Missing Children In America: Unsolved Cases." ABC News. ABC News Internet Ventures, 8 May 2013. Web. 7 Apr. 2016. <http://abcnews.go.com/US/missing-children-america-unsolved-cases/story?id=19126967>.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2003. Print.

Donaghue, Erin. "Cleveland Kidnapping Update: A Timeline of Events in the Dramatic Case of Three Long-missing Ohio Women Found Alive."CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 6 May 2014. Web. 08 Apr. 2016. <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/timeline-of-events-the-cleveland-kidnapping-case/>.

People can always depend on others to help out, right? Not all the time. Some people just jump to conclusions without thinking,  just turn on you, or they don’t believe you. Sometimes jumping to conclusions or hurting people for no reason isn’t a way to solve problems, but people some people don’t think about the situation at all. When they notice things  are not right, they don’t stop and think for a minute. Some people think that the only way to get rid of a problem is to take out the problem at its source or to ignore someone if they need help.

           In Chapter 9 of Lord of the flies Simon finds a dead person with a parachute and the others believed it was the beast, so he went back to tell the others that what they saw wasn’t the beast. In the stage Ralph and the others were in they thought Simon was the beast so they violently attacked him, Simon was trying to tell them what he found and who he is, but they already killed Simon before he had a chance to say anything.

      The reason why they thought Simon as the beast is that Ralph and the others were in savage mode and when they saw a shadowy figure in the woods, they thought it was the beast, so they attacked what they so called the beast, they attacked without hesitation. They tore and bit of pieces of flesh off of Simon and when Ralph and the others thought they killed the beast, they realized that it was Simon who was dead after the fact. The reason why the boys came up with this conclusion was the fire they made, made Simon’s shadow a beastly figure and they weird noises such as like screaming and growling. After they brutally killed Simon they were upset, so they put Simon’s body on a piece of wood and let drift to sea. The quote I found from Lord of the Flies was “ Only the beast lay still a few yards from the sea. Even in the rain they could see how small the beast was” Pg. (153).

     The reason why the thesis related to this situation is because Ralph and the others jumped to conclusions when they saw a shadowy figure of what they believed was the so called beast. They didn’t for a moment to make sure that everyone in the group was with them before they attacked. The way the fire made the shadow look made Simon look like the beast so they assumed it was the beast by the way it looked. So they attacked the so called beast, they did not

think for a moment where Simon was.

        A scenario I found that relates to this situation was that one morning a black teenager was jaywalking across the street towards a bus station when a cop saw him jaywalking across the street, so the cop stop him and he was aggressive about it. The cop pushed, shoved and pulled him onto to plants, so the teen said he was sorry, but the cop thought the teen was retaliating back so he called some other cops to help him. When they got there, they dragged and pushed him on to the ground and started to assault him and the teen cried out and said and I quote “ Get off of me” , but they stilled continued what they were doing.

      A second example from the Lord of the Flies was when Ralph and the others did not tell Piggy there was a boulder heading his way. This is how it happened. Ralph and Jack were arguing about who was a dirtier thief, then it turned into a confrontation between each others and the twins playing around as usual. When Ralph and Jack were fighting they hit the wall and made the boulder fall, so Ralph, Jack, and the others jumped out of the way the boulder, they didn’t tell Piggy to get out of the way. Because of Ralph and Jack, Piggy got hit by the boulder, fell forty feet on the red rock, when Piggy landed, his head snapped open and blood started to pour out of his head and mouth. His legs started twitching and he fell towards the ground and the waves dragged Piggy’s body into sea until his sinked in the sea. The reason why this thesis relates to the situation is because nowadays people do not help other people anymore. If someone was being raped or brutally being stabbed to death, they just stand there and take videos of the situation and failing to call the police.

      A second scenario I found that relates to this situation is when a woman was being raped and brutally assaulted. Twenty people that were watching the incident were recording the entire issue and some people were even laughing at situation and none of them had the a good soul to call the police and report the problems that is going on right there and now. The people who reported it said that they saw people walk by the issue like it was nothing and they failed to report to the authorities.

These examples of real life situations that are in the book as well, are cruel people that are mean, thoughtless, and didn’t care about other people’s well being. People just jump to conclusions or don’t people as much as they use to do anymore. They are just heartless, cruel, thoughtless people in the world and I am not one of those people. I don’t jump to conclusions in all situations and I always help a friend or anyone the has a problem that they are dealing with in their lives. When they just jump to conclusions, they go over the top with their answers. Also, when people ignore other people’s pleads for help they are just hurting the victim more by not helping them. I say “Let’s talk and help it out, not fight it out or ignore it”.

“The pen is mightier than the sword”. This famous quote has been passed around through historians, authors and teachers. In the book, “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, Jack and Ralph have many argumentative confrontations in which diplomacy never works. Jack whom is a bloodthirsty individual cannot be connected too when it comes to diplomacy. Jack is strictly a war like person. Throughout the course of history, society can see that bloodthirsty individuals cannot be diplomatic, and people like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin could not be diplomatic and craved power through fear, and violence. A bloodthirsty person is someone who might resort to violence and killing rather than, a peaceful solution. Throughout time, history has seen its fare share of bloodthirsty people. Death is the result of power in a bloodthirsty person's hand.

Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Nazi party and began to take of Europe which led to World War II from 1934 to 1945. He came into power through a democracy and although he was voted into power his true intentions seemed to be hidden. As his time in power went on, war started due to his craving for power and the refusal to gain power in a diplomatic way. He put Germany’s problems on the Jews and used them as scapegoat so he could mask who he really was. As tensions grew, more and more people reached out to Adolf Hitler in a diplomatic way in order for him to stop his reign of terror. All of these attempts were futile because of Hitler’s bloodthirsty mindset. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a german pastor who vocally objected to Adolf Hitler’s movement and what he preached. He openly spoke out against Hitler and instead of being confronted by Hitler or Hitler’s followers, he was killed in 1945. Someone who resorts to killing and violence is someone who cannot see a diplomatic solution or a peaceful one.

In chapter 9 of “Lord of the Flies”, the boys have captured and feasted on a pig and are celebrating their accomplishments. Jack sits on his throne like a king while the boys wait on him hand and foot. Ralph attempts talking to him about the fact that they do not have a shelter and a storm is coming butthis does not seem to worry Jack. Instead, Jack and his followers started a war dance, in which they get very riled up. Simon then comes out of the forrest and Jack and his group begin to kill him in their crazy frenzy.  In the beginning of the book, Ralph attempted to calm down Jack and bring him back to his senses. He did this by calmly talking to him about shelters and the upcoming storm. This attempt at diplomacy was to no avail as Jack did not listen. Jack who has had a thirst for blood since arriving on the island, continues to show his savagery and lack of thought put into himself and his people. Then as he has instilled fear, and a false sense of power into his people much like how Hitler did to his people. They killed Simon, a defenseless person who had good news. Piggy and Ralph were not near and could not have stopped the onslaught, but Jack could have. But being the bloodthirsty individual that he is, he decided not too.

Joseph Stalin was the head of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1952. In that time, he killed twenty million people. Essentially, Stalin create a dictatorship in the Soviet Union. He did this by eliminating his competition, controlling the media and pushing propaganda onto his people. As his power grew continue to increase, people were slaughtered. This person clearly was not capable of being diplomatic and having a good sense or morality was impossible to connect to in a diplomatic way. Only a savage could kill twenty million of his own people and continue to rule. Due to this,  Joseph Stalin could be defined as a bloodthirsty individual.

From what society can deduce through multiple examples of close minded, bloodthirsty and overall bad people is that those kinds of people are not capable of change nor capable of being diplomatic in any way. Both in “Lord of the Flies” and in the real world examples, people died because of these kinds of people, and not just a few but millions. Imagine how many more people would be alive today if Stalin and Hitler were capable of having reason and being diplomatic and not full of hatred. Imagine who would have come off of the island if Jack was reasonable and did not lead himself and his followers to violent solutions. The world would be better off with diplomacy and many examples show us this. Even, the Vietnam war. Society can clearly see that after attempting violence and war, millions of people died and still violence is not a solution. When dealing with bloodthirsty individuals violence is the answer, and diplomacy will not resonate with them.

In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, Golding tells the story of a group of boys who find themselves stranded on an island and have to learn to fend for themselves In the duration of their time there, they managed to simultaneously create and destroy a functional society. In the real world, we often see similar situations play out. In revolutionary movements, the leader is what represents the focus. When that leader is lost, their followers lose their focus and stray to the wrong path.

Martin Luther King is one of the most well known African Americans in the Civil Rights movement. He led a number of protests and created a lot of milestones in black history during his life. However, his time as a leader was at times difficult. In 1963, King was imprisoned after ignoring an injunction against protesting. After spending so much time in jail, the separation from his followers caused a lot of uneasiness and doubt. In Adam Fairclough’s - a British historian-, To Redeem the Soul of America, Fairclough recounts a scene in which King was speaking to a crowd. Fairclough writes, “Attendance at the mass meetings was higher than ever, but the stream of volunteers for jail had dwindled to a trickle. Kunstler watched in dismay as both King and Abernathy exhorted a packed church for an hour in order to persuade a dozen people to volunteer." In other words, because King was in jail for such an extended amount of time, his followers began to lose their energy and doubt the power behind his demonstration. From this example we can tell that passion and execution go hand in hand - one can feel as strongly as they want about something, but if there is no execution plan, that emotion has no outlet.

In this scene, Ralph is frustrated by the lack of motivation on part of the boys and decides to confront them about it. Golding writes, “‘I was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!’ ‘But we want meat!’  ‘And I work all day with nothing but Simon and you come back and don’t even notice the huts!’”(54) In other words, Ralph feels as though he is doing all the heavy work with lack of support and aid from the ones who claim to stand behind him. This is important because as a leader, one of the easier parts is lighting a fire in the heart of those who look up to you. However, it can be increasingly difficult to have those people keep up their energy and consistently provide you with the aid you need. When Ralph invested trust in the younger boys of the island, he expected them to keep their word and aspire to the various goals they had set, such as hunting and setting rules and efficiently keeping the fire alive for rescue. However, their priorities became solely focused on the hunting, which further proves how important it is for a leader to be present to keep the central focus on par.  

In Michael Dyson’s, I May Not Get There With You, Dyson recounts the experience of hearing of Martin Luther King’s death and what it was like for him as a young African American. Dyson writes, “But even that seismic event [referring to the 1967 Detroit riot], as riveting and as local as it was, failed to capture my attention the way King’s death did. The bullet that shattered King’s jaw ended his life; it’s shrapnel lodged deep in my psyche and burned me awake to race in America.” In other words, a group of followers can do as many demonstrations and acts of protests as they wish, but the leader has the biggest impact on the public (at least, in this case.) Dyson explains that his eyes were not opened to the issue surrounding him until he heard MLK’s moving speech. This emphasizes the importance of the voice of a leader. Majority of the most known leaders in the world are praised for their motivational speaking abilities and possessing powerful voices that people remember for years. King’s I Have a Dream Speech was and is so popular not just for the content and meaning behind the speech, but the power in which he spoke with. As a leader, it is crucial to be able to have power and know how to police it effectively and successfully.

In the middle of the book, Ralph, Simon and Piggy have diverged from the group, unknowingly allowing Jack to to climb up the hierarchy of the island. Golding writes, “‘I’ll blow the conch’, said Ralph breathlessly, ‘and call an assembly.’ ‘[Jack] We shan’t hear it.’”(151) In other words, Jack, angling for control of the group, immediately rejects Ralph’s efforts at reuniting the group because Ralph, the previous leader, removed himself from the eyes of the public. In reference to the real world example, this scene from the book represents what happens when the leader loses their voice and all their power along with it. Jack denying Ralph’s request is the beginning of their unity as a group breaking apart and causing further issues in the future. In the beginning, the conch shell was the centerpiece of their morals; it represented control, respect, and unity. However, now that Ralph has lost his power over the boys, everything he stands for has no power. Even though Ralph did not discover the conch himself, the conch had become a way for him to wield his power. To contrast, in the beginning of Lord of the Flies, Jack and Ralph’s roles as leaders were clear. The younger boys respected them and they respected each other, making it easy to keep order. However, as the book progressed and their roles started to blur because of Ralph’s isolation, cooperation became more difficult to achieve and Ralph lost much of his power.

“Your emotions are the  slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions.” Elizabeth Gilbert once said. In this world that we live in, our emotions impact what we do. Whether we get married because of our love or kill because of our anger, our emotions control what we do. But there is one emotion that even controls other emotions and that emotions is fear.  We could actually be scared of losing the person so we fall in love and get married in order to not lose them. We could be scared that someone might hurt our family so we get angry in order to kill someone else. Fear is a powerful emotion. Because of how powerful fear we fear fear itself. There are many real life examples of this and they will be pointed out today. Another really good example of humans fearing fear is in a novel called the Lord of the Flies by William Golding. In this novel and in my real life examples, the readers can clearly see that because humans are scared of being scared, they will do anything to get rid of that fear.

To prove my point, there is a section in the Lord of the Flies that I would like to analyze. In this section, the children were doing a ritualistic dance around a campfire chanting “Kill the beast. Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” The beast is a creature of the night that one of the little ones claimed he saw and has taken form in many of the children’s mind. Suddenly Simon, one of the children of the camp,  runs towards the group of children. He comes bearing news of what he found while he was away. He had found out the truth of the beast. That there is no beast. It was just their fear taking over their imagination. But of course, things does not go as planned. When the children saw Simon, they didn’t recognize him, though he was the beast and attacked him. ´¨“ The beast was on it’s knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abominable noise, something about a body on the hill.“ (152) This relates back to my thesis because the children were too scared of being scared they tried to hide the fact that they were scared and instead put on a brave front. They decided to kill the beast, the epitomy of their fear. Many people would think that this would not be them running from their fear but instead just being completely crazy. It is easy to argue that case but I myself, never liked thinking of things inside the box.

The example from the book relates to the Trayvon Martin case. In the Trayvon Martin case, Trayvon Martin was walking home from the store, when he was shot and killed. George Zimmerman, the man who shot him, claimed it was out of fear. He did it because he was scared that Trayvon would kill him. “I know that if I didn't act, act the way I did, um, I wouldn't be here.” George Zimmerman says as quoted in the Tampa Daily. George Zimmerman was so convinced that Trayvon was suspicious that he acted out of fear. He tried to get rid of the object of his fear by killing the person who emitted this fear. George Zimmerman was scared to be scared so he tried to get rid of it even if it wasn’t the right thing to do.

Another example in the Lord of the Flies that proves my point is the killing of Piggy. Piggy, is a character in the book that is very underappreciated. He is a very smart fellow and knows how to keep a calm head in the face of danger. However, because he has this much knowledge, the kids don’t like him and never take him seriously. In fact they insult him even when he presents good ideas. One day, Piggy is trying to help them out but they were all scared of listening to what Piggy said because they did not want to admit that Ralph was better, they killed him. “ Which is better- to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is?“ (180). By this point in this story, the readers would just think that the children of this island is crazy but in fact that they are just acting on normal human instincts. They just do not want to be scared so they are running away from that fear.  Like in this example, they are just running away from their fears and are trying to save what little of their human selves they have left.

People should elect a leader in order to keep everything organized so that  there won't be chaos. In” Lord of the flies” the boys chose Ralph to be their leader. We all need a leader to keep us in check and to make new laws if we need to have them and make new and available jobs. If we do not have order civilization could collapse. If the boys in “ Lord of the flies” could not have Ralph more kids could not have survived the island or just go crazy/insane. If we did not have presidents we would just live in chaos or not living at all. Mainly a president's job is to keep the country safe and away from harm but if harm may come then they need to have a continuity plan. If the world we live in now did not have a president. We would all fail as a nation and it could be chaos. I Lord of the Flies if the boys did not elect Ralph as their leader thing could have gotten way out of hand (even though it kinda did).

What is anarchy? Anarchy is something that we can have without a president, government etc. In The lord of the Flies  at first the boys did not have a leader and lived on the island in terror as they couldn’t find out what to do because it was no adults around to help them out. Anarchy can also happen if the wrong person is elected into doing something they cannot do correctly because they just want to lead or just boss the kids in Lord of the Flies or just boss people around in general. For example if Donald Trump is president anarchy is more than likely to happen. Donald Trump had said that he wants to build a wall around america to keep out the Mexicans out of America but also he wants them to pay for something that is bad for them. In conclusion this can prove that if the wrong person is going to be in charge there will be anarchy throughout the world.

“As long as their are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable.”Albert Einstein made this statement, at the end of World War II. This quote, while old; is still remarkably relevant in today’s society.  Throughout history, war has changed technology, mindsets, and the culture of everyone in the world. For example, the Vietnam war displaced thousands of civilians, spreading their culture and food throughout the world. It changed the way people view warfare, and how people treat veterans. Veterans are the people that are always affected in different ways from war, whether it be because of a traumatic injury or whether it’s PTSD. War and trauma also affects children, perhaps even more than adults, because their minds are more prone to have this disorder.

For the first quote, the plane that had the boys had just crashed. Piggy and Ralph first met each other in the jungle. Piggy was talking weirdly, in incoherent sentences. They were talking about the plane crash. “He must have flown off after he dropped us. He couldn’t land here. Not in a plane with wheels’, ‘We was attacked!”(Page 9). This quote shows how they were paranoid, and scared about what was happening. They immediately assumed the worse; that they were attacked by somebody. This quote proves that they were not only at war; but their mindsets were changed because of this. It reminds me of PTSD, or Post Tramatic Stress Disorder. People who have PTSD are often war veterans or those in plane cash and the effects it has on you. PTSD affects your mind, and your actions. People who have PTSD are in a constant state of paranoia, just like the boys were while they were on the island. People who have it become unaware of their actions, and unaware of the severity and consequences of their own actions. To quote a veteran of The Gulf War, “I had ahold of my son by the throat. I don’t even remember having him by the throat, my wife does. I don’t know what he said to me. I don’t even remember.” The kids are just like this veteran; violent, forgetful, and unable to make rational decisions while under this disease. The kids have it worse though; because their minds aren’t as developed as this veteran’s are, they can remember the severity of their actions as well as the consequences. With this quote, the reader can assume that the children had gotten PTSD from being on the island.

In the next quote, Jack and Ralph are talking. It’s nighttime, and everyone is asleep. They’re discussing the little children, or the “littluns”, right after Ralph had come back from hunting. “They talk and scream. The littluns. Even some of the others as if - “ (Page 52) This quote discusses how even the little children were affected by both the island and the plane crash.  Some symptoms of it include insomnia, night terrors, etc. This could also be the reason the “beast” was made up by the PTSD the boys had, a figment of their imagination.  This relates back to the PTSD because of the symptoms. If the beast was a figment of their imagination, part of the PTSD; then all these symptoms are clear signs that they have it.

Part of PTSD is losing interest in daily activities. In this example, the author is explaining the concept of “biguns” and “littluns”. “They suffered untold terrors in the dark and huddled together for comfort. Apart from food and sleep, they found time for play, aimless and trivial, in the white sand by the bright water.” This quote explains that the kids were changed by the plane crash, and that they were different than they were before. They thought of playing as trivial and aimless, useless in a way. They also had night terrors, which proves that they experienced a traumatic event that gave them the PTSD.  

For one of the final quotes, Jack was at Castle Rock, leading some of the boys with him. When they wouldn’t listen, he had an outburst where he was irrational and emotional. Right before the quote, the boys were listing reasons why they should make shelter where they are, because it was a good scouting point to look out on the island. “Right onto the bridge--’ ‘I say we’ll go on!’ Shouted Ralph, furiously. ‘We’ve got to make certain. We’ll go now.” (Page 108) This quote shows that Ralph is irrational, with the disorder taking over instead of him. It also shows that Ralph was having emotional outbursts, where his emotion would take over. He went from being calm to all of a sudden being furious.

In the final quote, it’s the moments after Piggy died. After he pushed down the rock, Jack kept fighting with Ralph. While there was some hesitation, it wasn’t like the first death on the island where the boys felt guilty for awhile. “Suddenly Jack bounded out from the tribe and began screaming wildly.’ “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore…” (Page 181) In this quote, you can see that while there is hesitation, Jack actually is aware of his actions in this situation. He intended to kill Piggy by pushing the rock down, and feels no guilt for it. The first person to die in the book, Simon, died as a Piggy felt guilty for Simon dying, even though he wasn’t one of the people who killed him directly.

There are always people that believe in the underdog because sometimes the underdog is a more useful thinker than the favored person.

In the book “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, Ralph got chosen to be the leader over Piggy. Piggy was more of a logical thinker versus Ralph who was more of an on the spot thinker so he didn’t really think about long term issues. “Piggy stirred . “I’ll come.” Ralph turned to him. You’re no good on a job like this””. Ralph wasn’t thinking about the more people the better. He only thought about piggy right then or as dead weight even though Piggy could have given really good input for their expedition. He could have even been an extra pair of eyes on the trip. He didn’t put much thought into how piggy could help in their expedition.   

During his second term George Bush probably wasn’t seen as the best leader by a lot of people. But he was the more popular person, probably since he was already president. But John Kerry was probably a better leader since george bush left the economy pretty bad when he did leave the office. But people still voted for him to become president. This is like lord of the flies because ralph wasn't the best leader but got chosen over piggy because of popularity.

Piggy wasn’t seen as a leader by most of the group. From the beginning of the book he was made fun of by the other kids on the island. His original name was fatty until ralph introduced him to the group as piggy. Since Piggy didn’t stand up for himself the name just stook with him. That’s another problem Piggy has he lets people step all over him without correcting them. This is probably why he didn’t picked as the leader. Can’t have a leader that’s easy to push around. A leader should be able to tell any of their followers to do something and they do it, not just laugh at him and ignore. A leader should have certain qualities. It shouldn’t be easy to boss them around or change their opinion very easily. Piggy should stand up for himself more and Ralph should become his own thinker.

A leader should be able to relate to his or her followers. If the leader doesn’t relate to its followers either he or she doesn’t have very many followers or it just becomes a blind leading the blind situation blind.

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.

People have many different groups or activities they are a part of. It makes them feel safe and at home. Like they are contributing to something greater. From being apart of a certain political category or an extremist group, everyone thirst for this feeling. In William Golding’s, Lord of the flies, a plane crash left a group of British boys stranded on an island with no parental supervision. They go through many obstacles such as voting for a leader and starting a fire. Throughout these struggles, they battle with war versus diplomacy. As a society, people are taught that it is important to contribute to the success of our communities. Like voting for a president that people feel will make a difference, inputting their opinions, but in the end, unless they have power it is out of their control.

In this scene from, Lord of the Flies, the group of kids just got done the voting for a leader. They chose Ralph to be the leader and Jack was not too happy about this decision. "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..."(22) This quote shows that diplomacy is effective because people can bicker and complain about the decision, but the decision is final. Later in the scene, Jack was given the choirboys but Ralph is the overall leader. From the choirboys perspective they have no say in the matter, they have to follow Jack and listen to his commands. They are too young to control their own decision making and leave it in the hands of anybody with “authority”. This relates to what is going on in the presidential elections and how that most of Bernie Sanders supporters are young. In an article, from newyorker.com, which talked about the attendance of Bernie Sanders rally stated, “Another was how many young people were turning out to see an irascible seventy-four-year-old senator from Vermont.” Since a lot of Bernie Sander supporters are below the age limit they are not able to vote. They are like the choirboys not able to make the important decisions because they are too young. The young Bernie supporters can voice their opinions on social media, but in the end they can’t control the outcome. They have to leave it in the hands of their elders.

In pursuit of control many people start extremist groups to create change. In a Cnn article talking about the increase in extremist groups in america it stated, “"They believe the Constitution is being raped. With hate groups, things are going to get worse because they feel like they're in battle,"” Many extremist groups feel that they have a duty to fix what they feel is wrong with society and the government. They try to put their values out there through protesting and in extreme cases acts of violence. Since they do not have political power they feel that doing this is the only way to get heard. In their opinion the “injustice” that has been committed is big enough to start a group against. These types of group is like Jack’s viewpoint. In this scene Jack had just got done getting into a heated conversation with Ralph. In which said that Jack would even get scared if he saw a beast. This got Jack real mad and he called a meeting to impeach Ralph. He stated, “...The next thing is that we couldn’t kill it. And the next is Ralph said my hunters are no good. I never said that! I’ve got the conch. Ralph thinks you’re cowards running away from the boar and the beast” Jack tries to turn the group of boys against Ralph in this quote. He even lies about what he said, like a extremist group, he is trying correct the “wrong” that he was dealt. He left the group with his minions and formed kind of a cult that sacrifice animals to the so called Beast. He tried to change the group he was in, but failed exiling himself from the group. He was able to become leader of his own tribe but made enemies of the people around him.

In this scene a boy name Roger was walking across the island and was stopped by one of his clan mates. The clan questioned him because Jack wanted them to challenge everyone they met. They talked about what was happening to Wilfred and stated, “He’s going to beat wilfred. What for? I don’t know. He didn’t say. He got angry and made us tie Wilfred up. He’s been...he’s been tied up for hours waiting.” This quote shows that power over a whole group has gotten to Jack’s head. He is becoming a dictator, punishing anyone he pleases. The followers of Jack just go along with it either fearing that they will be next or trusting Jack because he is in a position of power. Jack doesn’t tell the group why Wilfred was being punished leaving them to think that he committed a heinous crime. This shows how power can shift people’s viewpoints of you and what you can do. He harnesses the power to take over the island, something he couldn’t have achieve before.

In conclusion, power rules the way people act and treat others. Without it they are not able to change the perspective of people around them. As we can see in, Lord of the Flies Jack gaining power affected how he treated the people around him. He began ruling with fear instead of being diplomatic like Ralph. In real life the youth lacking the power to vote affects the outcome of the presidential election which is out of their control. No matter what though people are going to try to voice their but without power nothing will change.

From an early point in mankind’s rules have become a staple to our community, environment, and lifestyle. Its like,  Humans create rules, and laws to create some sort of order in their lives, and can keep in reach to control. Without them  many people wouldn’t have order. We’ve all wondered why we as humans have rules that are in place to follow. If we should bend, or break the rules for something or someone, for that matter, but usually this is for a gain of some sort.  

The book “Lord of the flies” takes place on an island that had not yet been populated, until the shipwrecked boys came,. They were very lawless.  From a third-person’s view, we follow Ralph as he ventures through this trial with the other boys who are shipwrecked. In this story we witness many grabs at power of the island, but more importantly how a society that tries to become organized, with rules crumble and become lawless. On page 58, of “Lord of the flies”, by William Golding,  we see the beginning stages of the rules Ralph and the group have set in place start to crumble. As people start to not follow them, or rebel, against them. A quote from Ralph says “ We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are the best at everything.”. This quote stands out to me mostly for the simple fact that, like mentioned before, rules will create a structure to their lives that will let them live without (for the most part) a worry or care. It is also intriguing how they play the fact that they are English as a key that they should follow these rules because they are “the best at everything” and as a result if they aren’t following these rules well then they aren’t being a proper Englishman. Just as it is a stereotype in popular culture nowadays that people who are English, are very proper and nice. It’s almost as if, Ralph used great debate skills  to convince them to follow the rules and not get out of line. As a way to assert dominance and stay in power of everyone on the island. As referring back to the thesis of needing rules to not only have some structure in his life but also so he can have a grip of power. Not only on his life, but the people around him lives.

While of course a book created to  depict fiction of any scenario, there are real-life examples of not only places crumbling from having no rules, but also having rules that are either so constantly broken or just not followed its as if they don't have any. And in some places they don't. For great example, Somalia is known as the lawless country. Dating back to the time that a blackhawk had fallen there, this nation has had a big problem with reestablishing a government or having any laws/rules to have citizens follow. As a result of having no rules to follow, the country has taken a turn for the worse. Civil war has broken out but slowly decreased but citizens commonly deal with problematic gangs and on a large scale pirates, and not Black beard I mean modern day pirates, which have plagued their coastlines. This country alone is one huge example of how being a lawless society can be more of a plague. This country also refers back to the quote in the beginning of the essay, that trying to be an anarchist community doesn’t ever work out for the better so we have rules in place. And sadly there are no rules in place to help progress this country, despite the many efforts that were previously attempted. This connects with people we believe, rules are in place to enforce and help. That rules are a blanket that keeps societies warm and provide shelter for them. But maybe the people of Somalia prefer to be lawless after so long. It’s become a new way of life that cannot be broken. The testament to people who believe anarchy is best that people should create a way of life that THEY would prefer to live in by the way they want. Wherever you may stand on this, both sides of the wall can be heavily brooded about.

Have you ever made a game with your friends? Or decided to play something like cops and robbers, and hide and seek because it was boring. There were almost always rules involved with these games to create a structure within. Now think, was there ever a time when your friend bended the rules to fit their needs? When one bended the rules so badly usually it is because they don't have any power in their hands. They can’t control what happens so they try to overthrow the rules and the person or people who made them. Like we saw in “Lord of the Flies” when Jack tried to overthrow Ralph. Do you often wonder if rules are pointless if people do infact bend them or break them. Maybe the Somalis are right for having no laws so nobody can attempt to control anything.

Every so often, like somewhat the case with Somali, citizens or settlers, begin to break rules and sometimes rebel against them. This is the case somewhat with this next quote from the novel, and it says… “ Hands were reaching for the conch in the light of the setting sun,. He held on and lept on the trunk. “All of this I meant to say. Now I’ve said it. You voted me for chief. Now you do what I say.””. This quote demonstrates a person, higher up, etc, losing his control on a group of people and is reacting because of it. Ralph doesn’t like the fact people are going against the rules that are established, to stay in control, and displays that in the quote. It may also be the fact he doesn't feel as though their, for the sake of it having some type of name, tribe was structured enough for his liking. Relating back to the thesis that rules are in place to give someone power and structure, and when Ralph was losing one or both of those he displayed how disgruntled he was.

What Comes with Age

Some say that age is nothing but a number, but in some cases it is also a responsibility. Ever imagine someone younger than a person being in charge of them? Not younger by a year or two, but like a decade. It’s like being babysat by a younger sibling. It seems weird. Humans are trained to believe the older you are the more ability you gain, and younger people are trained to respect that. Older people are usually in charge. Whether it’s being in charge of a small group or large country, people who hold the most power tend to be a part of an older age group, even though they may not be the most qualified to be in charge.

People rely on age for a lot of things. Just because people are older than some, they believe that they hold most of the power. In the book, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a stranded boy, named Ralph, introduces an idea about using a conch shell to present their ideas. This plan also allows them to be able to speak during meetings. Ralph soon then present an idea of having a leader. Jack volunteers to be the leader. “"I ought to be chief," said Jack with simple arrogance, "because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp."( Pg. 22). Jack thinks he should have the power because he's always had it. He doesn't have any particular talent for leading. The only thing he has is that he can sing C sharp which is obviously a survival skill. He is just arrogant and confident and that can be good for the group. He is a biggun and feels no doubt that he would not be capable of having the position as the leader.

In the world it seems like leaders are mandatory. Everywhere you go there will always be someone in charge. Realize how these leaders have a greater age than most people or how them seem old enough to know what they are doing. People do not always trust their leader, but if they show any opposition they may end up in trouble. This is quite similar to Lord of the Flies. They chose Ralph to be the “chief” and he was one of the oldest. Even though he was the chosen leader people did not always agree with what he believed in, but they still followed him because he was the most dominant and oldest on the island.

The Constitution is a document that protects our freedom against those with political power.  In Article One of the United States Constitution, it gives congress its powers and limits. It states that “Senators must be at least 30 years old to represent”. Not only do grow up to believe that age provides abilities, this is a forced rule. This shows that age is a requirement when applying for leadership roles. It is just another legalized statement that shows people that age is a significant factor. This is similar to Lord of the Flies because the boys somewhat follow the rule of having the oldest be in charge. Ralph is the oldest on the island and that is one of the main reason why he was chosen to be chief.

In the book, Jack and a few of the littluns did not like what Ralph had to offer to the group. They decided to distant themselves and take control. They began to rebel and taunt the other group. They killed two of the other group’s boys and continued to act inhumane. They sung a vicious song while performing a ferocious ritual. “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Pg. 152) The boys are obviously not under control. Having a group consisting of a bunch of littluns resulted in violent activities. When people allow immaturity, and in this case young people, to take charge the result could have dire consequences.

In late April of 2015, riots broke out in the United States. A young man, named Freddie Gray, was allegedly murdered by police officers while in their custody. This resulted in multiple riots in Baltimore, Maryland. Majority of the rioters were young, high school students who left school for a “peaceful” protest. “Initially 75–100 people who appeared to be high school students began throwing bricks and bottles…”. A peaceful protest became an extremely dangerous riot at the hands of young people. These people took over a protest and turning it into something completely opposite than what it was suppose to be. This is just a demonstration of why young people are not the dominant ones in the world.

It somewhat seems amazing the way humans are trained to know their limits when it comes to age. People will think the world is in their hands when they turn 18. They just do not realize that there are restrictions at the ages of 21, 25, 30, and 65. Just because age increases does not mean nobility does too. Not everyone of an older age has the right amount of responsibility. And not everyone of a younger age is irresponsible. Although a lot of people can be categorized into a specific type, there are people cannot be sorted. People are all different, but there are still rules, laws, and restrictions to make sure that serenity is amongst us.

Works Cited

• Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee, 2006

• "U.S. Constitution." LII / Legal Information Institute. Cornell University Law School, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

• "Older People Are Not the Enemies of the Young – We're in This Together | Letters." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 11 Mar. 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

• Foreman, Tom. "Riots Erupt in Baltimore after Freddie Gray Funeral - The Boston Globe." BostonGlobe.com. Associated Press, 27 Apr. 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

• Anderson, Ivie. "2015 Baltimore Protests." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

During periods of danger, people tend to base their decisions on what will be the quickest way to relieve themselves from the situation.  This is result of humans not being able to efficiently deal with things that cause them discomfort. They will go to great measures to decline back into a space of comfort and familiarness. In modern society, people make rash decisions with the sole purpose of protecting themselves from anything they’re not used to or do not want to deal with. A mindset that can drive people into survival mode in an attempt to deter the panic, this sudden uncomfortable fear or anxiety that can cause people to act in an unnatural behavior. This often times cause for our actions to be uncivilized;  affecting the environments around us, thus causing us to to do things that we don’t want to do sometimes breaking a law or two maybe the effect of panic. Actions are determined by the complexity of a situation and the way we choose to handle it.

In  “Lord of the flies” by William Golding, this happened to a group of small boys, who were stranded on an island due to a plane crash. Not understanding what is going on around them ,they began to cause chaos because of their panic. This was because, they were stuck on an island with no adults to guide them and tell them what they should be doing. They were scared and that was the bottom line. When someone is scared they begin to panic and most of the time they want to get their mind off whatever is traumatizing them. These boys wanted to get off of that island but they couldn’t. It was physically, mentally and emotionally impossible for them.  When first reading the chapter when the boys calmed down and were able to do something that might help them get their mind off the fact that they were stuck on the island, they decided to elect Ralph, a boy who was just about the oldest of all of them,  as the leader that’s when they put all of their faith in him to help guide them off that island and back into the arms of their parents.

Once they have chosen a leader they needed rules to keep everyone on the same page because they all had the same goal. They wanted to stay safe and alive. Generally, in the real world today, when rules are created it's to keep people safe and make sure everyone has something to do. Which brings us to the question of why, Why do humans create rules and law? When do they help and when do they hurt? In the novel, it's pretty clear that having rules and laws kept everyone in place. Rules are created all the time to make sure that people know that can not do anything that they want to do.

When the boys decided that it was time for them to come up with some rules for everyone, the one rule that was most important out of all of them was the one relating to the conch shell. It was used to signal the other boys on the island, and Ralph had full control over the conch and was going to use it to his full advantage. Shortly after sounding the conch, he continued to say, “And another thing. We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school.” (33). The conch was key to all of the boys on the island, the one who was holding the conch could have a chance to let their voice be heard just as much as the person who was next to them.

The best thing about the conch was that it was something that someone could hold and maybe have the same feeling Ralph did when he got elected to be the leader. Sadly that’s not the case, today in the real world. Humans could only hope for something as simple yet very powerful. There are 43 case like this one, but not the same exact one. When the people of the United States of America elect someone into office want someone who knows the best thing for us and can get our message across the world.

In the real world, Laws and rules keep people safe and things organized. Without them the world would be at war right now. Wherever you go there are rules that you have to follow and/or obey and if you choose not to then you have chosen to accept the consequence that come with it. This is a quote from the novel, "We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at everything." Keeping in mind that these are children, the fact that they said that they have to obey the rules really is shocking the reason behind this is because they have more common sense than most people do. The author of the book seems to believe that rules are necessary but on the other had someone might stop back at the quote and look at that word “savages.”

There are many “savages” in America, now the word savage could mean many things to many different people. The way that it’s used in the book makes the reader think of people who don’t obey and follow the rules. Today those people might be labeled as criminals, rebels or maybe they are just savage. The answer to the question of why do humans create laws and rules is simply, to keep people safe. When do they hurt? They can hurts whenever you chose to accept them as rules.

Why do humans create rules and law? When do they help and when do they hurt? - This may seem like the most easiest question to answer but once you really break the question down and begin to answer it you will understand how intricate the question really is. Humans create rules and laws to ensure that everything is going smoothly and everyone is safe. Everyone wants the same thing to keep each other safe but sometimes things don’t work out like they should. We can’t just write our own life and avoid everything that is planned for us. We don’t know what are future will consist of.

Savagery

Who are the real savages? Children or adults? There is a fine line drawn between children and adults when it comes to making violent decisions. Adults have the responsibility over disciplining their children.  as, adults grow up, and develop a responsibility over the decisions they make. Kids still are taught the rights and wrongs in life, and adults establish whether to live in the norm of society. Meaning, following each rule and doing the right thing when the situation is approached. According to the novel adults are more savage, because of influences and “Reasons” behind their actions. The difference is that children are motivated by the influence of adults. Interpreting that they just follow the surroundings that adults provide them, but with adults they have the power and responsibility over themselves, which gives them more freedom, and also more ability to be savage.

On the other hand, children can act in an untamed matter, but only to the extent of the limit of freedom they are given. If a child is given tons of freedom, they can gain access to a lot of things as to a child that is contained without much freedom provided to them. However in the “Lord of the Flies,” the boys have the island all to themselves without adults and with plenty of exemption. When the boys were surrounding Robert and hurting him with Eric’s spear, there was not an adult figure to tell the boys to stop fooling around. Moments before the boys formed a circle, they were discussing their plan of hunting for animals. When they returned, they started fooling around (as boys do) and started to get carried away by harming Robert as all the boys were gathered around him enjoying the breathtaking moment. It was all fun and games until one of them was the one getting hurt.  A passage from the novel of the exhilarating scene is, “They got his arms and legs. Ralph, carried away by a sudden thick excitement, grabbed Eric’s spear and jabbed at Robert with it. ‘Kill him! Kill him!’” (Chapter 7, Page 114).  This moment from displays the fact that the boys already had experience killing something.  The idea that they were getting pleasure and joy from it all goes to show that they have the tendency to act on a savage manner to former surroundings. Being on an island led them to a desperate manner of survival and pleasure.

As said, adults have a lot more freedom than children do. The recent event of the Brussel bombing  is proof that there is reasoning behind the circumstances that get played out. What happened was that the same people who were behind the Paris attack that occurred in 2014, planted three bombs in an airport. Unfortunately, only two out of the three bombs actually went off, but just the two did enough damage to kill about thirty five people, and injured around eighty-one. The reasoning behind it all was that the terrorist were finishing the damage they did to Paris. It was also stated that because of the arrest of some of their leaders, they wanted revenge, and bombing an airport just had to do. It was the fact that the terrorist’s fellow helpers were going down, and someone was going to suffer in response. According to the BBC News Website, “The Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the attacks in a statement issued IS- linked Amad agency.” These three or men who were involved in the appalling scene seemed to have a reasonable reaction towards the rest of their leaders getting punished. The fastest reaction that came to their minds was killing and torturing innocent human beings. If a kid had a best friend that got punished, they might lecture whoever punished their friend, but they wouldn’t go to an well known place and bomb it. First off, a kid would not have access to the particular weapons to harm another human, and the disciplinarian would have kept the kid in his or her place.

In similarity, both examples showed that the boys on the island resorted to what was entertaining. There isn’t a kid who thinks it is all fun and games until someone gets hurt. In “The Lord of the Flies,” people get killed instead of just hurt. The boys did not have a reason to kill one another. it was just the fact that they were stranded, and wanted to rough house.In circumstance, their actions brought out the savagery from their hearts. With the Brussel airport attack the adults supposedly had a reason behind their action. In both situations, the kids and adults were wrong. It was the the comparison of the reactions in response to their actions and surroundings. It was rational for the boys to suddenly lose their minds, because they were stuck on an island without adults. The novel showed a clear example after the boys were fooling around, “Jack’s arm came down; the heaving circle cheered and made pig-dying noises. Then they lay quiet panting, listening to Robert’s frightened snivels. He wiped his his face with a dirty arm and made an effort to retrieve his status” (Page 115). Being raised by your parents, and having even the littlest opportunity to be free of them, will lead to one committing an action that they would not be allowed to do.

In reality, most of the decisions people make in life determine where people stand as individuals. In the end, we are only really responsible for ourselves. Not everyone is given the freedom needed to achieve certain goals. The goals can either be beneficial or negative thing to achieve. The novel, “The Lord of Flies”  gives the reader the opportunity to ponder on the fact that what surrounds you can later can eventually become you. The Brussel’s bombing gave evidence that things can get blown out of proportion. All of it just goes to show that adults take things to another level, while children are limited to level in which they are allowed to take a situation such as being stuck on an island.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigree,2006

Morris, Chris. "Brussels Attacks: Zaventem and Maelbeek Bombs Kill Many - BBC News." BBC

News. BBC News, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2016. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35869254>.

Rules are supposed to be followed, but what if there’s a rule that  just feels wrong? If you think about it, nothing is born with rules already naturally stored in their heads. Animals aren’t naturally domesticated, and humans aren’t naturally born obedient. From a young age, we’ve been taught what’s right and what’s not, but how can we be sure what we are told is really right? We are taught that if we disobey a rule, then we are “bad”, but what the way we disobeyed a rule was justified, and the actions taken had good intentions? Rules have a way of taking over and controlling our brains telling us whether or not a society is civilized or savage. People come to accept all rules and laws as ‘civilized’ even if they are not, because they get used to what’s expected of them.

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, we see many examples of how rules took over the boy’s minds and we can see a total transformation in their behavior from civilized “good english boys”  to completely savage. When the boys first arrived on the island, the first thing they wanted to do was pick a leader amongst themselves. In picking that leader, the boys expect him to make them all cooperate in hopes of them one day being rescued, including making the rules and laws of the island. There is some tension because the choice is between Ralph or Jack as the leaders because they both have a powerful influence over the boys.  Ralph is elected the leader, and has some difficulty containing the boys at their assemblies. In one assembly, Ralph says to the boys “all this i meant to say. Now I’ve said it. You voted me for chief. Now you do what I say.”  (pgs. 58-59). When the boys got rowdy, all Ralph had to do was remind them that they agreed to follow certain rules, and they chill out. In their minds, the idea of having rules is equivalent to having order, and that’s why they calmed down.

The boys in Lord of the Flies have multiple assemblies to establish order and to get everyone on the same page throughout the book. In one of the first meetings, Jack says to the boys “We got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. After all, we’re English, and the English are best at everything.”  There is so much wrong with that statement. Jack believes that all of the rules that are created should be obeyed, because that’s what makes them “good boys”. This way of order does not last very long, however. Readers can see the rivalry growing between Jack and Ralph over who should be the rightful leader, and eventually the rivalry reaches a boiling point. War breaks out and the civilization the boys had on the island splits in two, and blood is shed when the boys abandon their morals and rules that were supposed to keep them united. The boys  interpret their rules in a completely reversed and savage way and it is madness on the island until they are rescued.

The way the boys act on the island, is similar to how our government works in today’s modern society. The laws are there because a vast majority of people decided or agreed it should be there. The punishments are similar between the two situations as well. They are both cruel and unnecessary in some situations. For example, 670.000 people are incarcerated for misdemeanors that are not dangerous, and other nonviolent crimes across America. People are imprisoned for maximums of 3 years, or can be fined up to $2,500, and the person who committed the crime is now considered a felon.  According to an article I read, “Felonies don’t just land you in jail- they also result in a significant loss of civil rights.” This is a rule that the leaders of our country decided on. This rule which grants another humans to take away some of the basic rights that make us a “civilized” country. For a small misdemeanor, a person can lose their right to vote, the right to hold a political office, and can even be denied you second amendment, which is the right to bear arms. Where is the civilized action in that? Laws like these ignore and completely go against the basic morals of humanity that everybody should have.

Rules were not automatically stored into our brains when we are born. Our upbringing creates the idea that we must have rules to be civil and peaceful. People believe that we must have rules in order to function and survive. What people don’t realize, however, is that by creating rules, society is also creating an image of what “wrong” people and things to do are. Our society is naturally judgemental and it has been like that since the beginning of this country and the first laws were set. Rules are also so contradictory to themselves, and instead of stopping savagery, they just create leeways for less extreme behavior, but still savage all the same. For example, slavery was abolished, but there are still acts of racism that are allowed to take place in this country, like the KKK, who are still allowed to have meetings openly to this day.  

The lines that divide a civilized civilization from a savage one, and what’s right from what’s wrong are slowly getting blurred. Another thing that people fail to realize is that rules shouldn’t be a determining factor in how they portray the world and the goings-on around them. In some cases, the rules that are put in place are effective, and beneficial, and appropriate. Some rules are essential, and there is just no getting around them. Rules should not have to determine whether something is a success or not. They should not determine the potential something has either.  In determining what makes something civilized or savage, we have to not be biased just because of a set of rules tells us what’s justified and what isn’t. People should not succomb to all rules or laws because it’s expected of them to do so.

Works Cited:

1. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee, 2006.

2. "NORML.org - Working to Reform Marijuana Laws." FEDERAL Laws & Penalties -. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

3. "NORML.org - Working to Reform Marijuana Laws." FEDERAL Laws & Penalties -. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

Works Cited:

Books are a great tool for entertainment and understanding. Books answer lots of great questions that make people think really hard about. The big question I thought of after reading William Goldings’s Lord of The Flies was  who’s more savage adults or children? A reader of Lord of the Flies would choose children, because in the novel they were killers and robbers. Are children actually like that in real life? From robberies, stabbings and rape, to even various slayings, one would ultimately think that adults are the savages. Lets face it, adults and children can both be savage, but, adults have  furtherly developed brains, which in turn, allows them to know the difference between right and wrong, unlike children.

In the book Lord Of the Flies, the children who are stuck on an island started rituals. These rituals allowed them to have something in common, something they could all fall back on. In some of the rituals the children would scream some crazy things that may make the reader think of them as savages. Like a tribe, some of the characters had rituals. One of the rituals was a chant that said “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”(186). This quotes comes from children who are under the age of 12 and are scared of a beast. These children also are in a situation where they are on there own and trying to survive on an island. Researchers have found that the brain isn’t fully developed until around the age of 25. If these children are under 12 they aren’t half way through brain development so they don’t know right from wrong as much as an average adult.

On December 14, 2012 The second deadliest mass shooting by a single person in America occurred. Twenty year old Adam Peter Lanza killed 27 people including his mother. According to investigators Lanza killed his mother at their Newtown,CT home then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School where he killed six members of the staff and 20 students all of which were under the age of 8.  According to The Guardian“Adam Lanza, the 20-year-old who convulsed America when he shot dead 20 young children and six of their adult carers at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut last December, was obsessed with mass murders in the run-up to his meticulously-planned attack and kept photocopies of newspaper articles on shootings of children dating back to 1891.” This show that Adam Lanza was nothing but a savage and he knew what he was doing. He had an understanding of what was going to happen and what he wanted to do. Adults aren’t oblivious to the actions of themselves. This shows that adults plan things and try to see how they are going to carry things out. Therefore they are more aware.

In Lord of the Flies some of the characters became more like a family. All together like a family was Ralph, Roger, Jack, Piggy, Simon and a few others. They were each other's shoulder to lean on and together worked to survive. The horrible decision of one person changed it all. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee: the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went. Piggy fell 40 feet and landed on his back across the the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy's arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pigs after it has been killed”(181). This quote was a turning point in the book. This was when Jack and Ralph were fighting and Roger threw a rock. This makes children look like cold hearted savages. This shows that children don’t think as much as adults because their brains aren’t fully developed. Roger probably didn’t think or want to kill Piggy, he probably just wanted to give a warning.

There could be many factors into why adults do outrageous things. No matter the factors it still can be considered savage. One common factor in barbaric activity is mental illness. According to the New York Times “Medical experts at Yale University had called for drastic measures to help Adam Lanza in the years before he shot and killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., but those calls “went largely unheeded” by his mother, who was also shot to death”.  It also says “based on a comprehensive examination of the medical and school histories of Mr. Lanza, 20, found he was “completely untreated in the years before the shooting” for psychiatric and physical ailments like anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and was also deprived of recommended services and drugs.” These quotes show that there’s a reason why adults may be more savage. It shows that mental illness is a factor in why adults are more savage. The mental illness could have been caused by boys mother in which over time made him more of a savage but he knew what he was doing. Adam is also more savage because he could have made the decision to get medication himself. By the age of twenty years old in the U.S. a person is allowed to make medical decisions by themselves. There is no excuse for someone to not get on meditation if the person’s doctor recommend it to them.

As it turns out adults have furtherly developed brains, which in turn, allows them to know the difference between right and wrong, unlike children. In Lord of the Flies things that were said were uncivilized and people were killed. These were children whose brains were not in far development to completely understand what they were doing. In the 2012 shooting death of 26 people, shooter Adam Lanza knew what he was doing. Adam planned it all out and knew what he was going to the school to do. What people can get out of this is that many factors play a role in being a savage, but brain development makes people more and less of a savage.

Work Cited: Golding William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee 2006

Work Cited: Pilkington, Ed. "Sandy Hook Report – Shooter Adam Lanza Was Obsessed with Mass Murder." N.p., 25 Nov. 2013. Web. 7 Apr. 2016.

Many believe that adults are more civilized than children, because adults are able to control themselves, since they have more of a matured state, and have the ability to calm themselves unlike when children cannot, and start throwing tantrums. However, in truth children and adults are equally savage because adults are just as capable as children of doing bad things.

Lord of the flies has very few examples since it’s about the kids, with barely any adults involved, but that is also something savage about adults. At the beginning of the book, one of the main characters “Piggy” noticed something was wrong. “there was that pilot. But he wasn’t in the passenger cabin, he was up in front.”(8) The pilot just jumped out without any warning, telling us that he wanted to save his own life instead of trying to guide the passengers or made their protection the pilot’s. There is also a radar that has the plane’s location or coordinates, and as soon as the plane crash, or at least not move for a good 10 minutes, the adults should’ve noticed and signaled an emergency and rushed over there, to rescue survivors of the crash.

Not only is that an example of savagery from adults. At the time, there was a war going on while kids were stranded on the island, and they haven’t mentioned about any adults noticing anything about the kids being stranded, even though they should’ve made it one of their top priorities. A kid noticed a body in the sky. “There was a speck above the island, a figure dropping swiftly beneath a parachute, a figure that hung with dangling limbs.”(95) This tells us that someone tried to survive a plane crash but failed, letting the kids see something horrific.

Because there isn’t any adults in the book to talk about how children are equally as savage as adults, I’ll talk about how the children in the book are not as savage as you think. In the book, a group of kids are stranded on an island, and there are kids who wants to have power, kids who wants to survive, and kids who want to be with those who have power. Piggy is a kid who is made fun of because he is fat, and he wanted everyone to work together to get rescued, which is not savaged at all, but there are kids who doesn’t listen to him because of the way he looks like, so they have a vote on who would be leading. “Who wants me? Every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air. Ralph counted. “I'm chief then.”(23) Although Piggy do have the specs of being a leader, there is also Jack, who leads the choir, and the type of person who wants power. Ralph who has the conch, on the other hand, just wants to survive and be able to get to safety, and also cares for others. During the vote, Ralph was appointed as leader, but Jack was irritated, so Ralph also gave some of the power Ralph was given to Jack, to make him happy, which is also not savage.

There are times where the group gets out of hand, and starts to go crazy since they are stranded and out of their comfort zone. Especially, the time where simon was the “pig” and the group were beating him, dancing, and singing “Kill the Pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in.”(75) In which is savage, but it is inevitable because adult or children, they cannot stay stranded on an island out of their comfort zone for long, without losing sanity. Which leads to a real world situation where a care worker who is caring for a elderly who suffers from Alzheimer's, and loses her sanity, leading to physical abuse upon the old woman who suffered Alzheimer’s. She has been abusing the old woman for who knows how long, but the care worker was caught with a camera of her abusing the woman for 17 minutes. And because she have alzheimer’s, she couldn’t remember if she was abused or not. Telling us, that everyone can lose their sanity and does something terrible to contain their insanity, Adult or Child.

The kids in the book do things that makes them angry which is understandable, but it can also go out of hand. So do adults, and one example where there are a married couple, and the husband had cheated on the wife, and which angered the withm which lead to her cutting his penis. Sure that maybe too far, but he deserved it. He went to the hospital to get it reattached but the wife snuck in, and cut his penis off again, which is savage because she had already done so, and the husband had already learned his mistakes.  In the book, I’ve never read anything of anyone doing something as painful as what the married couple had done. Many believe that adults are less savage than children, but in truth there is an equilibrium between the way children and adults act. There are many different ways they can act, but they can act the same way at the same time.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel that focuses on a group of young British schoolboys whose plane crashed on a deserted island and they are the only survivors. The book travels throughout their success and failures as a group. Throughout the book, the boys have to make decisions that they wouldn’t usually do at home. The island forces them to act more mature and this causes a loss of innocence. The more dire the situation is for a child, the more they are at a loss for their innocence.

Simon was one of the main characters in the book. He is portrayed as innocent and kind to the other boys. He is the only one to see the paratrooper is what they have mistake for the beast. While he is still in the forest, Ralph has conducted the boys into a dance group. Caught up in the frenzy surrounded by darkness and rain under the influence of hunger, the boys kill Simon, which they mistake for the beast. Later on, Piggy says, “There's them on this island as would laugh at anything. And what happened? What's grown-ups goin' to think? Young Simon was murdered.” (158) Piggy says it bluntly to the boys. Once the job has been done, there is no turning back. This quote establishes that to the rest of the bunch. If the boys weren’t on this island, there isn’t much of a chance they would compose a murder spree. Living on the island for so long distorts their minds. They lose their sense of reality. Once the sense of reality is fading, all rules are gone. “Grown ups” aren’t there to scold them or place them in jail so there aren’t consequences. In their home life, they would still be locked in their innocence where there are consequences to be dealt with when mistakes are made.  It’s more than just killing a pig, they took a human’s life. This was a big step in losing their innocence.

Anne Frank is a big symbol of innocence in crucial circumstances. She went into hiding during World War II and kept a diary to document her time and thoughts. Maturing and innocence was a topic that was highly discussed. She was torn between wanting to fulfill her time as a teenager, but noticing the effects of the war affecting her. In one entry she writes, “Sometimes I wonder if anyone will ever understand what I mean, if anyone will ever overlook my ingratitude and not worry about whether or not I’m Jewish and merely see me as a teenager badly in need of some good plain fun.”(12/24/1943.3). Anne spent a great deal of time trapped away in the  security of an annex in a home in Germany. Nazi Germany to Anne is like the island for the boys. There is no way of escaping. The Nazis are Anne’s grown ups. They have all power over her and live on the outside world. Anne explores the thought of her not only being a Jewish girl in hiding. She wants to be young carefree teenager but is forced to mature faster under the war. One part of Anne is a war victim and the other is a teenager. She is torn between two personas. One she is becoming, and one she is/wants to be. The boys are like Anne in the sense that they still have their innocence in them, but events on the island are maturing them. They can’t help but transform. Survival depends on them developing into more mature teenagers.

At the end of the book, the boys paint their faces in tribal paint to get ready to hunt. The narrator says,  “The chief was sitting there, naked to the waist, his face blocked out in white and red. The tribe lay in a semicircle before him.” (119) This scene portrays the boys as a tribe with a leader. They look strong. In the next chapter, they are found by a naval officer.  The narrator says, “The boys, their bodies streaked with colored clay, sharp sticks in their hands, were standing on the beach making no noise at all.” (219) The island made them into savages, but when exposed to an adult not from the island, they are boys. They all saw each other as wild tribesmen with painted faces but behind their gilded appearance were young schoolboys. The transition from the island to reality is shown here. Once brought back into reality by the naval officer, they are in their innocence once again. When they return back home, their personalities will return back to normal. But their time on the island will always stay with them. The death of Simon and Piggy will always be remembered along with all of their struggles. Their innocence will return, but the island will affect their growth of maturity.

Children in Syria are currently living through a war. A BBC journalist, Lyse Doucet, traveled to Syria to follow six Syrian children. The children play in flooded bomb craters and tanks. One child, Ezadine, age twelve, tells Doucet, “I'm only a child in age and appearance. But in terms of morals and humanity, I'm not. In the past, a 12-year-old was considered young, but not now. Now, at 12 years, you must go for jihad." Ezadine understands the length of mental growth under the impact of the war at only nine years old. She knows she looks her age, but knows in her heart that she is matured. Jihad is an Islamic term that means “struggling” or “striving”. A military jihad refers to protecting their faith against others. Ezadine, only twelve years old, pushed back her fear and was willing to stand up for her faith. The Syrian children can’t control the war like the boys can’t leave the island. They have no choice but to adapt and change. The boys are left to mature and try to make their own decisions like the Syrian children change to protect their religion. If there was no war, Ezadine would still act like normal twelve year old as would the boys if they were back in England.