To get great leaders you need great voters.

To get Great Leaders you need Great Voters

In our home of the United States of America, we have a system that is trying to listen to American people’s voice as much as possible before making decisions that impact us every day such as who is our President. Are we as normal American citizens able to make the best decisions for us and other people? Do we as Americans have good enough education to be able to make logical decisions? In other words,  is our current system of voting for leaders the best system to pick great leaders? Our system of voting can get us people we like, but our citizens are not always educated enough to give us the leaders that we need for our country.


In the book “Lord of the Flies” many of the problems that happen in the books happen because of people voting for people as leaders that they know very little about though they could have made much better decisions by learning more about them before quickly deciding who they want as their leader based on very little information. On page 22 of the novel where Ralph is voted for chief, this is the reason giving for him being picked “Let him be chief with the Trumpet-thing.” And that was final he became chief because he was seen as a leader because of his ability to blow a trumpet even though he was not the one who originally thought of that idea… that person was Piggy of which pretty much at this point has given all the good ideas but got almost no credit for it. Now to give them credit, I doubt they understood the power that the people that wanted to be leader were going to have and the horrible things that they would do to get more of it/maintain it,but they decided anyway that they would put a lack of thought and understanding of who the people are before voting for a leader.


What happened here in the book could be related to a situation that recently happened in Britain since how they voted is similar to how we vote currently since they are also a Democracy. They voted to leave the European Union on June 23, 2016. The problem is that shortly after the vote was called for them to leave the European Union the second top google search in Britain was “What is the European Union?” The other ones do not get any better containing things like “What happens when we leave the European Union?” You have to admit that is pretty depressing that after making a huge decision that puts your whole entire country at risks you find out that many people in Britain were not educated on what the vote actually meant. Though this data is hard to ignore it may not actually mean much of anything because maybe those people that searched it did not actually go to the polls or maybe they were too young to vote but they wanted to learn more about what was actually going on. What I am trying to say that people should simply be educated enough to understand what they are voting for before they actually vote so they can make good decisions for their country.


Even after all the voting is done and a leader is choosing does not necessarily mean people will agree/follow the leader later on. This was seen in the novel in many chapters later on after the vote. Ralph was the leader but it ended up that most of the people that voted for him ended up betraying him because they ended up not agreeing with his ideas. One of the quotes that relate to this is on page 91 which is Jack which is Ralph’s enemy when it comes to who is leader, “And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting their and telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing-.” Which after Jack continues attacking him about how he is not a real leader and Ralph continues trying to defend himself which ends up not working very well. Maybe if Ralph did not get voted in and they picked someone that they ended up all liking (if that is possible) maybe none of the violence and drama would end up happening to them.


This is also seen in American History also not just in the novel. A lot of people (from his very low approval ratings of %22) saw our former president George W. Bush as a bad leader. He was voted into the office after winning by the Electoral College system by %2 in his first of two terms. People did not enjoy his decisions on the War of Iraq and the Economy most of all. The thing that really stands out is that even though he ended up getting very poor approval ratings throughout his presidency he was able to strike enough votes to get re-elected. Since I was too young during this time I do not really know what ended up getting him voted and what that time was like I could only assume there were reasons greater than the economy that people enjoyed about him to get him re-elected.


In conclusion, our voting system works best when people understand what they are voting for and/or who they are voting for. Our voting system may have flaws but it is the best way we currently have to get people’s thoughts on who should be the leader of their country.


Works Cited:

CBSNews. "Bush's Final Approval Rating: 22 Percent." CBS News. CBS Interactive, 16 Jan. 2009. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

Selyukh, Alina. "After Brexit Vote, Britain Asks Google: 'What Is The EU?'" NPR. NPR, 24 June 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

Goldring, WIlliam Lord Of The Flies New York: Penguin, 2006.


Senior Art Q3

This quarter in art was far different from every other quarter. We had a new teacher in the class and learned about new types of art and experimented with each. We started off with painting using India ink which is used in traditional Asian paintings. We conducted personal studies or practice sketches before we created our final piece. My final piece was inspired by an OFF-WHITE t-shirt designed by Othelo Gervacio and Virgil Abloh. It signifies the struggle of the native people of America and their history. Next was printmaking and again, we created studies before creating our final prints. My final prints were of a Final Fantasy inspired character and the Grim Reaper. Printmaking was extremely difficult due to the fact that we had to make sure each print was in the same place on every paper. The final assignment was a sculpture with a twist. We could only use materials that we find or scavenge. This was the most difficult for me because I did not have access to certain supplies that I needed to put my original piece together, therefore I had to change my idea. My current idea represents technology that teaches kids. Today in age, we live in a world where technology is distracting kids from learning, and while observing how kids interact with technology, I thought it would be a great idea to make technology that pulls their focus back on learning.

PTSD ESSAY

In my essay about Veterans and PTSD, my goal was to create something that people could really learn and reflect from. I wanted to incorporate both my feelings and actual statistics about this real mental illness that people suffer from everyday.. I wanted to encourage people to dig deeper than the common negative connotations behind PTSD. I think that I accomplished these things well. 

Briana Harris


English 3


3.27.17


PTSD in Veterans




PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault. The symptoms of PTSD are due to major trauma in a person’s life. In this case veterans go through a lot of mental distress by what they see and are exposed to. One of the veterans who came to SLA spoke about nightmares which was caused by his experiences of war, ultimately causing his PTSD. Almost 31 percent of Vietnam veterans come back with PTSD, it is extremely common. Going through trauma is not rare. About 6 of every 10 men and 5 of every 10 women experience at least one trauma in their lives.Many people are often mislead about PTSD, which leads them to make false assumptions about the person with it. It is important to educate ourselves and stop these false and hurtful stigmas.


Unlike the veterans who came to talk to us at SLA, many veterans would rather not speak of war. Mainly, because it was so traumatic and they would rather mask it and leave it in the past. The stigma behind PTSD of being insane and crazy, causes them to steer away from getting the help that they desperately need, due to unawareness and just the simple fact there is an extreme negative connotation behind any mental illness. From a person like myself who suffers from PTSD, including panic attacks, and paranoia, it is very important to realize that this does not make a person crazy, but also realize that it is serious and that the person should be seen for and treated for, as it can cause numerous issues for that person besides fear.


Veterans experience more than just combat violence but sexual violence as well. When people think of Veterans and PTSD, they automatically associate it with the trauma of the actual war, never associating it with the sexual trauma that some of these men had to undergo. There are many more male veterans than there are female veterans. So, even though military sexual trauma is more common in women veterans, over half of all veterans with military sexual trauma are men. Military sexual trauma (MST) is the term that the Department of Veterans Affairs uses to refer to sexual assault or repeated, threatening sexual harassment that occurred while the Veteran was in the military.


Some people refrain from saying that PTSD has to do with the violence that some veterans commit as they arrive home away from war. It is important to know that PTSD contributes to the violence of Veterans. While it is inaccurate to say that PTSD causes violence, the unfortunate truth is that there is a link between PTSD and postwar homicide, and it’s far more than just a passing correlation. Serving in a war zone exposes people to very serious moral challenges, and the experience can serve as a catalyst, making some people less stable and more violent than they might have been otherwise. War is hell, and the hell rubs off.


Veterans risked their lives, so that we as Americans could live in a better country. This is why we should honor them and respect them. In order to help Veterans with PTSD, or anyone else, it is important to first educate yourself about the illness and to educate others so that they can too know that the negative stigmas behind PTSD are false.


   
Slate Magazine: PTSD Contributes to Violence, April 17, 2014

Respect the Disrespected- LOTF- Cynthia To

Why do people treat different  people unfairly? This usually happens because of miscommunications, misunderstandings, or just plain jealousy because of the different classes, race, and faith of others. In such a social society, being “normal” is the norm for our society and being special is deterring. Special needs people aren’t always treated with the same respect as people considered “normal” are. Special needs people are often looked down upon. In the book the Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, none of the other boys  would listen to Piggy when he had the almighty conch in his hand. This behavior shows that symbols are not as powerful as our society wants them to be. This is because the power ultimately lies with the individual and the social status of that individual and not the object itself.

In the chapter,5  , Beast from Water, Ralph set up a meeting about the beast and no one could talk unless they were holding the conch. That was their way for one person to talk at a time, but it didn't really work. When it came time for Piggy to have the conch in his hands, no one wanted to listen to what he had to say even though he had information. The boys treated Piggy like he was different, just because he had specs, ass-mar, and he was a bit heavier than most of the other boys on the island.“‘Sit down!’ ‘Shut up!’ ‘Take the conch!’ ‘Sod you!’ ‘Shut up!’ Ralph shouted. ‘Hear him! He’s got the conch!’” (89) The meaning of the conch is for one person to talk at a time and to show leadership and power. At the time, Ralph was on Piggy’s side and tried to enforce the rule no matter who the hand the conch in their possession. That rule worked until Piggy had the conch and then no one listened. This shows that people would rather listen to the patient with the normal appearance instead of the person with the special needs or different appearance. This shows that people that are similar to Piggy are not being appreciated but ignored.

The book is not the only time that example has happened. This social stigma has also happened in reality. In a middle school in Cleveland, Ohio, Shaker Middle School made it on the news for the wrong reasons. The broadcasting talked about a little kid with special needs was walking out of school and was targeted because he was different from the other kids. This just shows that no matter what scenario it is, different isn’t always. The people who are different are usually treated poorly through abuse and punishment like how in the book the Lord of the flies. Piggy was an outcast that had a lot of problems and no one would listen to him and would only push him around.

In our society today, people try and use symbol to indicate power. This shows that in order to get power, a symbol is needed to represent it and drive the meaning of power home towards others. Throughout history, symbol and power have been hand in hand with each other. Martin Luther King Jr., for example, stood up for people during the Civil Rights Movement. He didn’t use any physical symbols but his speeches that he wrote were emotional and vocal symbols. His speeches gave the Black communities. He gave them hope that things were going to be better. Martin Luther King Jr. never used violence or abuse to make people to believe him. He made people feel safe and comfortable. He was a great leader and very peaceful. When comparing Martin Luther King Jr. to the LotF leader, Jack, it is evident that they were two different types of leaders. Jack was similar to a dictator and used fear and cruelty to gain power.

Another example from the book showed that power ultimately lied with the individual, not the object itself. At the end of the book, the boys have no other hope in getting off of the island so they started to hunt one another and went against people, slowly killing the people that did not obey the leader. This happened until the officer came to rescue the boys from the island.

During the rescue, the boys reflected on what happened on the island and what they did was wrong. When approached by the officer, “Ralph shook his head. The officer looked past him to the group of painted boys. ‘Who’s boss here?’ ‘I am,’ said Ralph loudly.” (201) After everything that happened on the island, the boys left still wanting to gain the power that everyone so ruthlessly fought for. This shows that the kids to want to have power, even though they could be able to go back home and that they already lost two innocent lives, Simon and Piggy.

While Ralph was answering the officer’s question, he didn’t use the conch to speak. This signified the loss of the need for a symbol and power. Ralph was just glad to have this be over and that everything that happened started to sink in along with the guilt. Ralph had a greed of power and wanted to answer the questions about the island. He could not really answer to them because the only person who know the answers to the questions was Piggy, who was killed by Roger. Jack started to cry while the answering the question, “ He gave himself up to them now for the first time on island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body.” (202) Jack and the other boys finally understood what they did to Simon and Piggy was wrong and there's nothing they can do to fix it. This made Ralph forget about having his power back and made him focus on how he lost true and wise friend, Piggy.

Overall, the  Lord of the Flies demonstrated that power and greed cannot be represented by a symbol but by the popularity status and normalcy of a person. In the end, readers saw that symbols mean nothing without the leader. In the book, the boys only realized that after two deaths and a rescue.


Works Cited:

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


Seymour, Chloe. Martin Luther King Jr. -- a symbol of courage. Communication Report. January 21, 2016. <http://www.tacomlcmccommunityreport.com/features/1.16featureMLKremarks.aspx>


WOIO.Family says boy with special needs was assaulted at Shaker Middle School. March 23rd 2017. Cleveland 19 Digital Team. <http://www.cleveland19.com/story/34982953/family-says-boy-with-special-needs-was-assaulted-at-shaker-middle-school>


The Reason People Don't Kill Each Other

What keeps people from stealing, murdering, raping, and other actions that most people find disgusting?  If asked this question, almost everyone would say they do not behave that way because it goes against their religious or moral code of ethics.  In other words, they just consider this type of behavior innately wrong. But, is that the real reason?  In a civilized world, these offenses are deemed crimes.  The government says they're wrong, and makes it against the law to commit any of these acts.  Members of society know that if they do something against the law, they will be punished.  This prevailing concept is what keeps civilizations running smoothly.  But, what if there were no laws or no government or ruling power to enforce laws?  Would people still have moral integrity?

In the book, “Lord of the Flies,” by William Golding, a large group of boys no older than twelve years old crash land on an island and have to survive by themselves. Without having a ruling power to oversee their actions, they start to misbehave.  When they first realize they are stranded on the island they state "We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages…(42)” The boys are trying to create some form of society that they are familiar with. They even go as far as saying they're not savages, acknowledging that only savages live in a ruleless society. They realize the importance of laws and law enforcers and elect a leader to create a form of ruling power, or government, to determine what is right and wrong in the island society. The leader acts almost as an adult, keeping the kids under control, but not restricting them completely. The leadership quickly falls apart due to disagreements, which causes cracks in the leadership. Trouble begins from the start. When they were voting for a leader, Jack stated, "I ought to be chief," right before another one of the boys, Ralph, got voted to be chief of the island society. These cracks cause the leadership to fall apart, leading to a constant struggle for power among the other boys. The lack of leadership allows for bigger crimes to be committed without consequences.  Because the boys do not have to accept responsibility for what they have done, their crimes become more frequent and more violent the longer they stay on the lawless island.

Throughout the book, the boys demonstrate less and less moral integrity and more insanity.  This is because there is nothing stopping the boys from running away from their morals and not taking responsibility for their actions. Since the boys are losing connection with a society, they are also losing connection to the power society plays in forcing its members to adhere to a moral code. When Jack, one of the boys that crashed on the island, starts hunting for pigs, he starts turning into more of a savage. The first time he hunts, he is unable to kill the pig.  The quote, “they knew very well why because the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh (31)…”  describes that Jack, though eager to hunt, was unable to kill the pig.  However, after a short time of living in a lawless society, Jack undergoes a drastic transformation. The book states, ¨The madness came into his eyes again,¨ before he proclaims,  "I thought I might kill." This quote exemplifies that he has changed from the boy he was when he first arrived on the island. Jack starts off trying to be a productive member of society, providing food for himself and the other boys.  The time Jack spends hunting causes, even more, separation between his previous life and his new life on the island. He has become more in contact with his natural survival instinct, something that is frowned upon in society.

Jack and the other boys’ descent into savagery isn’t just a fictional story William Golding made up. There have been documented cases of the same thing happening to people in real life. Pitcairn Island is a small island in the Atlantic Ocean.  In 1970 a group of Polynesian people were stranded on the island after their boat sank while they were trying to escape an attack. While on the island they started a small civilization.  Like the boys in the book, the society on Pitcairn Island quickly fell apart.  The stranded people suffered a very similar fate to the boys in “Lord of the Flies.”  They resorted to committing murder, thievery and rape.  After the people were found, they were tried on 91 counts of murder, thievery and sexual assault. This clearly demonstrates that people lose what makes them civil when they are separated from society.  

The men and women on this island and the boys in “Lord of The Flies” are one and the same. Both groups start as law-abiding members of society.  Both groups get stranded on an island that quickly becomes ruleless.  As the rules disappear, the stranded people become more savage.  They start acting less like civilized people and more like animals, exhibiting a “kill or be killed” mentality. This is proof that, contrary to popular belief, it’s not a person’s internal moral code or an innate sense of what is right and wrong, that guides our behavior. It’s our society, and the laws that are enforced by our society, that keep us civilized.  Without a society, we are no different than the animals we call savage beasts.













Works Cited-


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

Holloway, April. "Real-Life Lord of the Flies: The Strange and Violent History of Pitcairn Island." Ancient Origins. Ancient Origins, 7 Aug. 2015. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.


Jack's Masks - Lord of the Flies

Sarah Berg

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

31 March 2017

William Golding’s Lord of The Flies follows the rise and fall of a civilization created by a plane full of stranded preteen boys. The downfall of the fragile society is when most of the older boys break off into a group of savages. They spin out into stealing, violence, and eventually murder. They completely abandon their values and never think twice about their actions. This is so easy for them to do as they hide behind new identities and painted faces. Their behavior illustrates that it is easy for people to harm others when they are hiding behind a mask because it limits their emotional connection.

This theme is present in the novel. It is introduced in Chapter Four, Painted Faces and Long Hair, when choir leader and aspiring hunter Jack, is frustrated that he has not been successful in catching any pigs. He and Ralph have encountered a pig in the past, however Jack was too timid to kill it. Now, he has the idea to camouflage his face with charcoal, and sneak up on the pigs. Once he paints his face, however, Jack sees his reflection and discovers that the paint is more powerful than just concealment from the pigs. His reaction takes place in front of some of the other choir boys. “He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger. He spilt the water and lept to his feet, laughing excitedly. Beside the pool his sinewy body held up a mask that drew their eyes and appalled them. He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling. He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness (63-64).” This is the beginning of Jack’s transformation into a savage, which I believe is aided by his mask of paint. While he is not using violence against or harming other boys at this point, he exhibits signs of unusual behavior, including his snarling and dancing. This newly discovered mask allows him to do these strange things in front of other boys without feeling insecure; the mask gives him the power to act without thinking realistically about what he is doing.

Once Jack has begun to wear a mask, his personality and actions change harshly. He is successful at hunting pigs, and loves to talk about his strength and fearlessness. “Jack, his face smeared with clays, reached the top first and hailed Ralph excitedly, with lifted spear. ‘Look! We’ve killed a pig-we stole up on them-we got in a circle- (69)’”, and later, “‘Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong-we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat-(91)!’” These situations show his changes before he falls into complete savagery. He is using violence against animals, which is not unusual, however the way he goes about it and discusses it surely is. The next time Jack and his hunters kill a pig, Jack decides to strangely rub the blood of the pig onto one of his hunter’s faces. “Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands. The sow collapsed under them and they were heavy and fulfilled upon her… At last the immediacy of the kill subsided. They boys drew back, and Jack stood up, holding out his hands. ‘Look.’ He giggled and flicked them while the boys laughed at his reeking palms. Then Jack grabbed Maurice and rubbed the stuff over his cheeks (135).” Until that point, Jack has been the only one to wear paints, now his hunters are masked in the literal blood of their prey.

Jack and some of his close friends decide to break away from Ralph’s civilized group. Jack is furious that Ralph has gotten all of the power and attention. He has been shamed from rejection. Jack decides to expand his tribe. “The forest near them burst into uproar. Demoniac figures with faces of white and red and green rushed out howling… Jack ignored him, lifted his spear and began to shout. ‘Listen, all of you. Me and my hunters, we’re living along the beach by a flat rock. We hunt and feast and have fun. If you want to join my tribe come and see us. Perhaps I’ll let you join. Perhaps not.’ He paused and looked round. He was safe from shame or self-consciousness behind the mask of his paint and could look at each of them in turn (140).” The most notable section of the nature of this speech Jack gives is that the author states that Jack is safe behind his mask. And no longer is he safe just from his insecurities about killing animals; he feels safe from the judgement of others. Safe to say and do what he pleases.

Next, Jack and his savages progress from killing animals, to killing humans. “The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face… the beast struggled forward, broke the ring, and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws (152-153).” The death of innocent Simon was aided by the all the boys, however it was led by the savages and would not have happened if they had not started their dance. Later, the death of Piggy is caused by the savage boy Roger, and sparks Jack to attack Ralph. “Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned with all his weight on the lever… The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee… Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea… 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! The conch is gone-’... Viciously, with full intention, he hurled his spear at Ralph (180-181).” Although Jack does not end up actually killing Ralph, he has that intention and acts upon it. Think back upon the Jack who could not kill a pig right in front of him. This is not the same person. His use of the mask has certainly aided his drastic transformation.

This phenomena is also present in the real world. A common occurrence on the internet, mostly through social media, is cyberbullying. The rise of cyberbullying is clear. It has been reported that half of teens have been cyberbullied, 1 in 3 experiencing threats online. According to EndCyberbullying.org, “Cyberbullies hide behind a computer screen and maybe even behind a false identity…giving them a further sense of control over the situation.” Cyberbullying eliminates the face to face contact of traditional bullying. This is part of its appeal and popularity. A bully can even create an anonymous or new identity to hide behind, masking their previous selves like Jack did.

Jack’s use of a mask is prominent throughout Lord of the Flies as it accompanies his descent into violence and savagery. This use of hiding behind a mask while doing harm to others is also an issue in real life, as it is present in cyberbullying.


Works Cited

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

Van Edwards, Vanessa. "Guide to Reading Microexpressions." Science of People. N.p., 14 Dec. 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. ttp://www.scienceofpeople.com/2013/09/guide-reading-microexpressions/


"Cyber Bullying Statistics." Bullying Statistics. N.p., 07 July 2015. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html


"End to Cyber Bullying Organization." End to Cyber Bullying Organization (ETCB). N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://www.endcyberbullying.org






Why Are We Violent?

Marcin Czapla

3/30/17

Why Are We Violent?


What causes violence? Most of the time it is conflict, or maybe even jealousy. Other times violence can be a product of fear, like in the novel “Lord of The Flies.” But is fear really what caused the boys to act out in violence? Maybe it was just the desire to hurt something that drove the boys to beat another human being to death. Humans can often have violent outbursts for many reasons, but it’s usually something small like maybe breaking something or hitting a wall. Small or not, though, these outbursts are still violent, and can be harmful. This raises the question, what causes humans to have the desire to hurt and destroy? Humans naturally have a desire to hurt things because it is in their nature.

The novel “Lord of The Flies” is about a group of boys whose plane has crashed on an isolated island, stranding them there. In Chapter 9, "A view to death", the reader gets to experience the first death so far. Simon goes to explore the mountain and try to find the beast. He finds out it's a human corpse that fell from the sky. The journey is exhausting, he gets very dirty and gets covered in blood from his nose, so when he gets back, the boys think he's the beast. "Now out of the terror rose another desire, thick. urgent, blind. “‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’ Again the blue-white scare jagged above them and the sulfurous explosion beat down. The littluns screamed and blundered about, fleeing from the edge of the forest, and one of them broke the ring of begins in his terror. ‘Him! Him!’ The circle became a horseshoe. A thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly. The still screaming that rose from the beast was like a pain. The beast stumbled into the horseshoe (152).” This scene shows how fear can cause people to change, but is it really fear that did this to the boys? The boys could have run away from the beast or simply captured it since it wasn’t trying to attack them. They, of course, didn’t know that the beast was actually Simon, but still most likely saw that this beast looked awfully similar to a human, unless they were so struck by the fear that they didn’t notice. That doesn’t make sense, though, because when they first saw the beast fall from the sky, they didn’t want to go anywhere that night, or during the day for that matter, because they were so scared. Why didn’t they hurt the beast then or try to find him and hurt him out of fear? It’s because fear isn’t what drove them to attack the beast, but the desire for hurting something was.

In today’s society, we see people being hurt and murdered all the time, but recently the cause of a lot of it has been the police. Police brutality has been a serious issue over the past few years, with many innocent African Americans being murdered in cold blood for no reason. But what is the police’s justification for this you may ask? Fear. They claim they were in fear of losing their lives. They said they were in fear of the suspect being armed. But were they really in any danger? Evidence in most of these cases has proved that the victims were unarmed, and most of the time not even doing anything wrong. An example of this is the murder of David Sal Silva which happened in 2013. David was beaten to death by four policemen that claimed he was drunk and trying to fight them. Witnesses say that this isn’t true and there have been recording posted around the internet. That is exactly what the boys did, they murdered someone in cold blood. They took the life of an unarmed and harmless human being who was no danger to them at all, and why? Because they had the desire and thirst to do so, like animals. That is exactly what they acted like when they murdered Simon, not humans, but animals. Except that they were worse than animals, since animals most of the time kill for food, but what purpose did the boys have for killing Simon? That’s simple, they didn’t have one.

The boys have been showing signs of this desire earlier in the book as well. If we go back to the chapter titled “Painted Faces and Long Hair,” we will see many of them. The specific scene I’m talking about is when the group of hunters comes back from hunting the pigs and describe what they did to Ralph and the others. Jack then steps in and describes what he did to the pig in a sadistic way. “‘I cut the pig's throat,’ said Jack, proudly, and yet twitched as he said it (69).” The twitch that happened makes it seem like there is something wrong with Jack, yet he shows he can process decisions easily throughout the book and be mostly logical about everyday things, so why the twitch? It’s a sign he wants to hurt more and that he liked the feeling of killing the pig. This makes Jack a sadist and proves furthermore that the boys had a hunger for hurting and killing things in the book. If the boys have this lust for hurting that we see in the pig scene, that should be a foreshadowing of the fact that it’s a matter of time before they hurt another human being, like they did to Simon and then Piggy.

It has even been scientifically proven that violence can be caused by many other factors other than fear. Some of the factors that can cause violence are exposure to it, frustration, overcrowding and even heat. There’s also something else that can cause violence, something called “terror management theory” shows us that people tend to act out in violent ways when they feel worthless or unimportant. This can explain why Jack acted out in violence a lot. Early on in the book, he was denied the role of being the leader by the other boys, which made him feel weaker. This could have made him feel the need to savagely hunt the pigs down and kill them. The more he did this the more enjoyable it started to become, and as my earlier example shows, even after the first hunt he already loved the feeling of hurting things. The fact that there was probably lot’s of heat on this tropical island and the human instinct to hurt things, especially when feeling threatened was what made the boys act out in violence and ultimately kill Simon.

The reason the boys killed Simon is not because they thought he was the beast, but because they have a hunger for hurting things and enjoy it. The fact that Jack also felt unimportant made him act out in violence to avoid that feeling. The boys also looked up to Jack, and just like humans naturally have the urge to hurt and hunt, we also have the urge to follow so they listened to Jack like he was their Alpha-male. The reason it is human nature to feel the need to hurt things or kill them is because humans are natural predators. When hurting something our minds can also learn to enjoy it, which is what made the boys kill Simon, the thrill, and joy of hurting something. The only thing that keeps us all peaceful and following the rules are the consequences that are there if we break them.

Works Cited:

Natasha Lennard / Salon. "Police Beat Man to Death With Batons, Confiscate Witness Video." Alternet. N.p., 13 May 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

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

Kirk Schneider / AlterNet. "Why Are Humans Violent? The Psychological Reason We Hurt Each Other." Alternet. N.p., 30 July 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

"Violence." Pardon Our Interruption. American Psychological Association, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

Jack, Ralph, and Thomas Hobbes -- How Lord of the Flies and Leviathan Connect by Jack Sugrue

“Hereby it is manifest, that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in a condition which is called war…” Thomas Hobbes’ concept of bellum omnium contra omnes, or “war of all against all”, states that people will inherently result to war and warlike traits. There is nearly no better model of his ideologies than William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a story about a group of deserted English boys who resort to savagery and brutality. The lack of a strong authority among the boys of Lord of the Flies leads them to make many savage and uncivilized decisions, which model the concepts of Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan.

Thomas Hobbes and his writing strongly advocated for a system of government that involves a strong central figure. His most famous work, Leviathan, speaks in-depth about this. His beliefs involving the state of a group without a leader are informative: “...continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” In Hobbes’ mind, a warlike state comes about easily without authority, and society falls apart. However, a strong power would hypothetically balance this issue, and create a system where people act differently. Hobbes’ belief in this warlike state is exemplified in an isolated system where there is no government, such as that of the island.

The final scene of Lord of the Flies is a hunt of main character Ralph. This hunt is brutal and real, until Ralph finds his way onto the shore, where he and the other boys run into the first adult in the book, who is their ticket off the island. The mood suddenly switches: “The ululation faltered and died away… A semicircle of little boys, their bodies streaked with colored clay, sharp sticks in their hands, were standing on the beach making no noise at all (200).” The juxtaposition between this scene and the previous is strong. Where the previous scene featured an intense chase with the savages and Ralph facing almost near-death scenarios, this scene features all the boys frozen and awkward. The presence of an adult, the only real change in the scene, establishes an aura of authority and peace, while simultaneously forcing each boy to question their actions. This strong power changes the state of each of these boys drastically from that of war to that of peace.

Another important belief of Thomas Hobbes, as seen in Leviathan, is his defense of why people who are not in the presence of a greater power fight amongst themselves: “And therefore if any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies...” This belief not only shows a valid reason for why man will result to a warlike state, but also shows the competitiveness of a group of people. People in contention for the same thing, be it material or otherwise, will immediately spark conflict. This conflict will, in most cases, be single handedly responsible for the warlike state of everyone involved. The connections to Lord of the Flies here run deep.

The largest divide among the boys comes from direct competition between Jack and Ralph over who will become the leader. While Ralph was democratically elected and had his mind set on being rescued, Jack had his mind on hunting and savagery. His envy of Ralph’s leadership is obvious, especially when he finally breaks off from the main group: “‘Hands up,’ said Jack strongly, ‘whoever wants Ralph not to be chief?’ The silence continued, breathless and heavy and full of shame… ‘I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you (127).’” Jack’s constant vying for power creates tension between him and Ralph, the official leader. This fight for leadership is what establishes the main conflicts, and subsequently some of the least humane parts of the book: Simon’s death, Piggy’s death, and so on. Jack and Ralph’s conflict results in the most warlike parts of the entire novel, and affects so many others besides just the two of them.

Much of both Hobbes’ ideals and those of the boys on the island come down to moral code. Hobbes believes, in general, that a moral code is strengthened by an authority figure. The reverse of this is explicitly seen in Lord of the Flies: the morals of each boy fade away as their memories of civilized life do as well. This is, inevitably, what separates Lord of the Flies’ boys from any other group of people:  their distance from civilization. This disparity not only causes them to act the way they do, but also brings out the Hobbesian state of nature. This can prove to humanity that having some tangible sense of civilization is the only way we can avoid Hobbes’ “war of all against all.”



Works Cited

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

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. London: Pelican Classics, 1968. Website.

<https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3207/3207-h/3207-h.htm>.

Can Unity be Defined by a Specific Object or Event?- Aysha Siddiquee


Imagine yourself being stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere with a group of people you’ve never met in your entire life. Trying to keep everyone alive and under control. There is no order on this island since no one listens to anyone, no authority. So what do you do, you find something that gets a hold of everyone's attention. Something that is a collective ideal bringing everyone together. In our society, we have this exact system that is in place, where we use one object or event to bring together a numerous amount of individuals where no one knows anyone. We have multiple groups of people come together in an unknown area only to cooperate with one another based off of a collective belief in the object or event. People are united by a belief, object or idea.

   Another example in the  Lord of the Flies is a story about a group of boys on their way to a choir recital whose plane crashes on an island. The boys were disconnected from civilization and had no option but to provide and take care of themselves. They were not associates of each other and were completely new to one another. So it was very hard for them to communicate with one another. Until they found the conch shell. In this scene where they find the conch shell, it states "By the time Ralph finished blowing the conch the platform was crowded. On his left were most of the choir, on his right the larger boys. Who had not known each other before the evacuation; before him small children squatted in the grass" (32). There are many ways to determine what this quote means. The conch shell was the reason that all the boys came together as one and were united. It was as well the reason they all listened to one another. The power of the conch shell is what brought all the boys together, even though they did not know each other. So the Conch shell was what brought all the boys together as a functioning community.

    The job of the conch shell was to bring the boys together, this is exactly the role that the Olympic Games have themselves, the purpose of the games is to bring everyone together from every corner of the world, every continent. The games have a major role in our world to unite all the continents. Every year we meet in a different place to indulge ourselves in different cultures as well. The Olympics Games are held every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years but two years apart. It is an international event in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. So thousands of people that have never met one another come together due to one event. This is what is represented by the 5 rings and 6 colors of the official symbol of the Olympics. The 5 rings are what symbolize the 5 continents and the 6 colors are what appear on all the national flags of the world at this current moment. In the Olympics,  Africa, Asia, America, Australia and Europe are all the continents that come together from all parts of the world to compete. They have no contact with each other in any way or form, yet they still cooperate with one another and make it together. The Olympics are one of the most popular symbols of unity that exist in our world today.

   Another example of a  clear representation of the impact that the Conch has on the boys is when it breaks.  In this scene, the power of the conch is portrayed through the text in another perspective. The conch plays a different role, the complete opposite of unity, it shows there being separation and chaos. It states “ I got this to say. You’re acting like a crowd of kids. The booing rose and died again as Piggy lifted the white, magic shell.”(180). In other words, when the Conch wasn’t present in the situation there was chaos and there was no unity. But once the Conch was present again, it established order amongst the boys. So the Conch was the power that made everything sane and orderly. But once the Conch broke the bond and unity between the boys was broken. Everything was in chaos due to the loss of the Conch. The flame that is lit for the Olympic games is what symbolizes the beginning of the games and the nations coming together as one. For the Olympics as the flame goes down, the unity dies down just as if there is no use for the Conch the unity dies down amongst the boys. So the Conch is what holds the boys together as a whole, keeping them all together just as the Olympics do.

   In conclusion, in Lord of the Flies, Golding uses the Conch, a symbolic representation, to express the unity of a group of individuals. The Olympics in our present day world is what was represented through the role of the Conch in the Lord of the Flies.  In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses the Conch, a symbolic representation, to express the unity of a group of individuals. But then he also presents how powerful the Conch is based on how once the Conch was broken the individual's bond had broken they too were then separated, everything was in chaos. So the Conch is the symbol of unity for them and the Olympics is the symbol of unity for us. The Olympics are just on a different spectrum for us, since it is on a larger scale.



        Works Cited


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


Ski Jumping: Stoch does the double, as Vogt leaps into history." International Olympic Committee. 27 Mar. 2017. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.


Olympic Games." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Imagine that you are in a school or workplace. Suddenly, a fight takes place and someone goes to break it up. Then what? Where would the people who participated in the fight go?  Your immediate thought may be that they would be brought to talk to a person in a high position of authority. Afterward, a meeting with the teachers or other workers would happen. During these meetings, usually what occurs is a discussion of what happened, the consequences, and what to do to prevent it. People would run to a meeting in hopes to resolve what has happened. This shows that humans think the best way to solve conflict is in groups because a voice and opinion from everyone could be shared and contrasted.

The book “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding is about a group of boys who survived a plane crash and landed on an island. Two boys named Sam and Eric discovered a dead corpse which they described to be a beast. They ran to tell the chief, Ralph, about what they saw. Their distress resulted in a meeting called by Ralph. “They (Sam and Eric) became motionless, gripped in each other’s arms. ‘We saw the beast.’ Ralph peered cautiously around him. ‘Call them to an assembly,’ said Ralph” (98-99). This portrays that immediately after Sam and Eric told Ralph about the problem that they encountered, Ralph wanted to gather the group to make everyone aware of what was happening. So, do meetings always resolve problems? Meetings can sometimes lead to solutions, but in other cases, it just ends up right back to where it started. Whether or not it is solved, having a meeting always makes people aware and feel supported. So, from that quote, I could tell that even though they’re not completely sure what to do, what’s important for them to tell everyone.

Since harsh situations are inevitable to avoid, President Obama would too, have to find a way to discuss things. Although, bad situations do not only have to be ones caused by people, they can to be ones that are caused by nature. For example, when Hurricane Sandy came and destroyed many homes, something had to be done. Where will these families live? Who will pay for the damage? Many more questions will spiral back to back after those. With a need of ideas, President Obama would have to gather a group of people to a meeting in order to discuss what the best thing to do would be. In an article from the White House, it stated, “President Obama and his cabinet discuss ongoing response and recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy and making sure that taxes don’t go up on middle-class families.” Even though the situation is very large and difficult to resolve, just hearing about what everyone’s opinion about the situation is would serve as a sense of support, being the best way to counter the situation.

Similar to the situation of gathering a group of people, in the beginning of the book, the boys wanted to choose a leader of their group. ”’We’re having a meeting. Come and join in. Let’s have a vote. Vote for the chief’ said Ralph” (20-22). From that, we could see that just because someone thought that there should be a leader, one wasn’t randomly chosen by one person. Instead, Ralph called a group meeting to discuss and choose who would be the best fit. So, many situations require a meeting to happen, especially ones where a choice would have to be made. This could connect to the situation with Obama and his cabinet discussing what to do after Hurricane Sandy because they were in a troubling situation. This scene in the book is similar because everyone shares the same confusion of the question, who should be the leader? The question would have to be answered by gathering everyone and asking for their opinions to finally make that choice.

Even if there is not a conflict, the purpose of a meeting is to also give support. To pinpoint onto one situation, there is a whole website created by teachers who are trying to share a good classroom practice. They would call it a classroom circle where all of the students would sit and have a conversation. Even though there was no problem, having this would decrease the chance of one happening. According to the website, having daily classroom meetings would “promote community, acceptance, and belonging in a safe environment the works at strengthening relationships and repairing them”. What the teacher is saying is that this would make everyone feel more comfortable and more open to talking to one another. So, from that I could imply that they think the best way to resolve and prevent problems are to speak in a group to hear everyone’s opinion.

   In conclusion, meetings are one of the main automatic responses when it comes to learning what others’ are thinking, discussing a bad situation, finding out what to do next, spreading information, or just to check up on one another. There are many different variations of meetings and it one can take place almost everywhere. Since meetings keep occurring, doesn’t it meant that it is doing something right? The fact that so many people would rely on a group discussion and think of it as a solution, shows that it is seen as one of the best conflict resolving techniques. Just to get a sense of what everyone else is thinking leads up to new ideas.





Works Cited:

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

  • Slack, Megan. "President Obama Holds a Cabinet Meeting." National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration, 28 Apr. 2012. Web.

          https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2012/11/28/president-obama-holds-cabinet-meeting

  • Lister, Christopher, and Suzanne Bartel. "Philosophy Of Restorative Practices." Restorative Classroom Practices - Philosophy Of Restorative Practices. N.p., 4 Dec. 2011. Web.    

          https://restorativeclassroomcircles.wikispaces.com/home







Rules to Downfall, James Adams

From Rules to Anarchy


Are all societies based upon the need of a leader? Or can they exist without one? More importantly, what happens when a society goes from having rules to being one where rules are non-existent? The answer to these questions could simply be that humans biologically require a form of leadership, if that is true then does that justify that humans need a leader and a set of rules to follow in order to keep them in line. Otherwise, they resort to acts of violence

In the novel Lord of The Flies by William Golding, a group of kids gets stranded on an island because their plane crashed. In the book, they have to go through the struggles of founding a society and they try to work together to survive. In the beginning of Chapter 2, the boys start to create a society with rules. This is directly after Ralph called all the boys with the conch after he was declared a leader. In the quote, the boys become really excited at the prospect of rules and they have a minute of cheering because of it. ”’That’s what this shell’s called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking’... ‘We’ll have rules! He cried excitedly. Lots of rules!’”(32). The reader could gather from this quote that the first things humans lean towards in a society are rules and order, but it could also be considered the first step to its downfall. Rules have to be there before a downfall because for their to be a society there has to be rules in the first place. It is also interesting to look at how excited the boys were to make rules and how fast they did it, but they still ended up breaking them later on, turning their society to rubble.

Early in the book, two boys are coming back from a hunt, and they come out of the forest wanting to take a swim in the ocean, and as they head towards the water, they kick down all of the sand castles the smallest kids on the island made. “Roger led the way straight through the castles kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones...In his past life he and Maurice received chastisement for filling a younger eye with sand. Now though there was no parent to let fall a heavy hand,”(60). This shows the beginning of people trying to break the rules, while it might not have been a rule to be nice to people it should be common sense. The most important part of the quote is the last part, which states that Maurice wouldn’t have done it if there was a parent around. The example shown in the book can be related to the conflict that happened in Somalia during the 1990s because the people in Somalia also lost rules and leadership, leading them to have increased harassment.

According to “The Daily Sabah” (a Somali news website), Somalia even after the war is still faced with the lack of a functional society and leader. Currently, in Somalia, there are millions of people who are displaced and 70,000 kids at the risk of death. The situation that arose in Somalia wasn't because of natural occurrences, but instead was caused by human action. It was a perpetual cycle of having no food and killing to get it so there was no one that produces food. What happened was a prime example of human nature at work. To the reader of the novel, it might seem like the things that Maurice and Roger do aren’t as severe as this but the problem in Somalia is just a scaled up version of the one that took place in the book.  The fact of the matter is that no matter what type of violence happened these are both still examples of humans losing control of reason when society crumbles.

In Chapter 11 Jack and his tribe start to hunt the other boys who are Ralph and Piggy. Their fight turns into something that is very real and no longer the fun and games that occurred before. In a previous chapter there was a catapult and in this scene, they ended up using it. Jack hit Piggy in the head with a rock and Piggy fell down into the ocean with the conch. “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore!”(181). This is Jack's reaction to Piggy dying, he shows no remorse and instead ridicules Jack. Unlike the other quote that is somewhat excusable, this one is not, Jack legitimately meant to kill Piggy for the purpose of furthering his goal. Even after Jack killed Piggy he tried to kill another when he threw a spear straight at Ralph “Viciously with full intention, he hurled his spear at Ralph”(181). If Jack was truly sorry about Piggy he wouldn't have tried to kill another person right after, and because he did it without repercussions the first time he had no problem doing it again if he wasn't going to get punished. This situation of crime can be comparable to the crime rate in Somalia.

The Somali crime and safety report states that the Somali average crime rate is high above the US national average. There are many differences between the US and Somalia but the main one is the lack of leadership. With a lack of leadership, violent crimes are commonplace in Somalia and the infrastructure of the country has fallen into ruin. With no society and leader the criminals, there have no repercussions. Just like Jack in the book people with no rules will continue to perform these violent acts.

Human nature strives for leadership, and when it's not there humans strive and lean towards violence and crime. Even if it seems like humans want rules at first when there is no ruler with support from the people, society will eventually collapse. When society does collapse people will act out violent acts for whatever reason when there is no punishment later on. But why is human nature like this, is it reinforcement from society or something ingrained within our DNA?














Works Cited


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


Paksoy, Yunus. "Scars of Civil War, Terrorism Still Visible in Somalia." DailySabah. N.p., 28 Mar. 2017. Web. 31 Mar. 2017


"Somalia 2016 Crime & Safety Report." Somalia 2016 Crime & Safety Report. N.p., 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.


Do We Benefit From Traumatic Experiences?: LoTF Essay (Amaris Ortiz)

Amaris Ortiz

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

31 March 2017

Do We Benefit From Traumatic Experiences?

In the novel Lord of The Flies by William Golding, Golding tells the reader a story about a group of schoolboys that end up stranded on an island without adults. Throughout their time on the island, the boys must find a way to be rescued. In the real world, some people put their children into this type of situation as a learning experience. William Golding is trying to show the reader that although this experience may have been scarring, it brought the boys knowledge that has helped them mature faster. This suggests that humans benefit from difficult and even traumatic experiences because they begin to have a greater appreciation for life and often have the motivation to act for the benefit of their future and others around them.

At the end of the novel, a naval officer arrives on the island. He begins to question Ralph on who is with him and who is in charge. “And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy (202)”. At this point, Ralph snapped back into reality. He begins to cry because he knows that he is no longer the same 12-year-old boy he was when he got involved in this situation. Ralph associates his time on the island with bad experiences as he thinks about what he has lost rather than the knowledge he has gained. The words used in this scene show Ralph’s distress from the outside mentioning his “filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose.” The word filthy is also used once the naval officer arrives on the island and Ralph becomes “conscious of his filthy appearance (200)” now that there is an adult present.

Similar to the novel, there is an initiation in the Maasai culture of Kenya and Tanzania known as Enkipaata where a large group of boys approaching manhood travel to the woods to camp out. These boys are sent to a village wrapped in a blanket with minimal supplies. The blanket will become filthy throughout their time in the forest so the boys receive a new one at the end of the four months as a symbol of their manhood. They wear white clay on their faces to show that they must fend for themselves, similar to the masks the boys in the novel made. This part of the initiation is not only used as their recovery from the circumcision, but as a way for them to learn how to provide. They must work together to choose a leader, which is considered to be an unfortunate role since they must “shoulder all of his age group’s sins”. One point that stood out to me was the fact that the boys had to approach the situation with the “attitude of a raider.” In Lord of The Flies, their way of acting as a raider was titled as being a savage. For the boys approaching manhood, it was seen as a good thing to make them more prepared, while for the schoolboys, the savage attitude made them seem barbaric.

This human behavior could be seen as barbaric just like the boys from Lord of The Flies. There is a cultural pressure for boys to undergo this possibly life-threatening journey. This stay in the woods is also seen as a break for them to recover from the circumcision, but is it really any better than staying with your tribe while you recover? More than 400,000 boys have been hospitalized for complications throughout their circumcision healing process. Those who have refused to take part in this initiation have been severely beaten or even circumcised by force. This ceremony has even gone as far as ending in death. It was a common occurrence for someone to die of dehydration, blood infections, or heart failure.

Before the boys were rescued by the naval officer, there were various ways they reacted to the trauma, which could have been the cause of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This includes hyperarousal, reexperiencing, and avoidance. The boys reacted to the trauma through hyperarousal and being very impulsive or angry. They resulted in violence many times whenever they felt betrayed or like they were in danger. In chapter 11, there was a big argument between the two newly separated tribes. They were arguing over who was the real chief until Roger struck Piggy with a boulder. This caused the conch, their form of unity, to break into a thousand pieces. Because of this, Jack said “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone―(181)”. Jack has felt threatened by Ralph ever since he decided that he wanted to be chief and now that the conch is broken he feels as though Ralph no longer has power over the tribe. Simon in particular, dealt with hallucinations in Chapter 8. As he was sitting across from the pig’s head on a stick, he began to have a “conversation” with the pig, and the pig said “There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast.” This pig symbolizes the power of evil that evokes the way people act. It is often compared to a Satanic figure that brings out the beast in people.

Lastly, after they get past the struggle of trying to make their life the same as it was before the traumatic experience, they have to understand that their mindset is going to be completely different from what it was before. The boys in the Maasai culture learn about this idea of getting over the trauma to be able to begin to have a greater outlook on life and take this as a learning experience. The schoolboys from Lord of the Flies are in a very different predicament because they weren't able to prepare their minds for the plane crash and learning to survive on the island although they still took away many life lessons. As for Ralph and Jack, they took away leadership skills. It may take a while for them to recover but they will know how to provide for their future families if they were ever put in a difficult situation.  

 

Works Cited

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

Gregoire, Carolyn. "The Surprising Benefit Of Going Through Hard Times." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 06 Jan. 2016. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/post-traumatic-growth-creativity_us_568426c0e4b014efe0d9d8e8>.

"Maasai Culture | Ceremonies and Rituals." Maasai Culture | Ceremonies and Rituals. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <http://www.maasai-association.org/ceremonies.html>.

"12 incredible African tribal traditions." CNN. Cable News Network, 05 Dec. 2016. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/05/africa/incredible-tribal-traditions-africa/>.

Fogg, Ally. "The death and deformity caused by male circumcision in Africa can't be ignored | Ally Fogg." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 25 Aug. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/25/male-circumcision-ceremonies-death-deformity-africa>.



Do We Benefit From Traumatic Experiences?: LoTF Essay (Amaris Ortiz)

Amaris Ortiz

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

31 March 2017

Do We Benefit From Traumatic Experiences?

In the novel Lord of The Flies by William Golding, Golding tells the reader a story about a group of schoolboys that end up stranded on an island without adults. Throughout their time on the island, the boys must find a way to be rescued. In the real world, some people put their children into this type of situation as a learning experience. William Golding is trying to show the reader that although this experience may have been scarring, it brought the boys knowledge that has helped them mature faster. This suggests that humans benefit from difficult and even traumatic experiences because they begin to have a greater appreciation for life and often have the motivation to act for the benefit of their future and others around them.

At the end of the novel, a naval officer arrives on the island. He begins to question Ralph on who is with him and who is in charge. “And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy (202)”. At this point, Ralph snapped back into reality. He begins to cry because he knows that he is no longer the same 12-year-old boy he was when he got involved in this situation. Ralph associates his time on the island with bad experiences as he thinks about what he has lost rather than the knowledge he has gained. The words used in this scene show Ralph’s distress from the outside mentioning his “filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose.” The word filthy is also used once the naval officer arrives on the island and Ralph becomes “conscious of his filthy appearance (200)” now that there is an adult present.

Similar to the novel, there is an initiation in the Maasai culture of Kenya and Tanzania known as Enkipaata where a large group of boys approaching manhood travel to the woods to camp out. These boys are sent to a village wrapped in a blanket with minimal supplies. The blanket will become filthy throughout their time in the forest so the boys receive a new one at the end of the four months as a symbol of their manhood. They wear white clay on their faces to show that they must fend for themselves, similar to the masks the boys in the novel made. This part of the initiation is not only used as their recovery from the circumcision, but as a way for them to learn how to provide. They must work together to choose a leader, which is considered to be an unfortunate role since they must “shoulder all of his age group’s sins”. One point that stood out to me was the fact that the boys had to approach the situation with the “attitude of a raider.” In Lord of The Flies, their way of acting as a raider was titled as being a savage. For the boys approaching manhood, it was seen as a good thing to make them more prepared, while for the schoolboys, the savage attitude made them seem barbaric.

This human behavior could be seen as barbaric just like the boys from Lord of The Flies. There is a cultural pressure for boys to undergo this possibly life-threatening journey. This stay in the woods is also seen as a break for them to recover from the circumcision, but is it really any better than staying with your tribe while you recover? More than 400,000 boys have been hospitalized for complications throughout their circumcision healing process. Those who have refused to take part in this initiation have been severely beaten or even circumcised by force. This ceremony has even gone as far as ending in death. It was a common occurrence for someone to die of dehydration, blood infections, or heart failure.

Before the boys were rescued by the naval officer, there were various ways they reacted to the trauma, which could have been the cause of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This includes hyperarousal, reexperiencing, and avoidance. The boys reacted to the trauma through hyperarousal and being very impulsive or angry. They resulted in violence many times whenever they felt betrayed or like they were in danger. In chapter 11, there was a big argument between the two newly separated tribes. They were arguing over who was the real chief until Roger struck Piggy with a boulder. This caused the conch, their form of unity, to break into a thousand pieces. Because of this, Jack said “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone―(181)”. Jack has felt threatened by Ralph ever since he decided that he wanted to be chief and now that the conch is broken he feels as though Ralph no longer has power over the tribe. Simon in particular, dealt with hallucinations in Chapter 8. As he was sitting across from the pig’s head on a stick, he began to have a “conversation” with the pig, and the pig said “There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast.” This pig symbolizes the power of evil that evokes the way people act. It is often compared to a Satanic figure that brings out the beast in people.

Lastly, after they get past the struggle of trying to make their life the same as it was before the traumatic experience, they have to understand that their mindset is going to be completely different from what it was before. The boys in the Maasai culture learn about this idea of getting over the trauma to be able to begin to have a greater outlook on life and take this as a learning experience. The schoolboys from Lord of the Flies are in a very different predicament because they weren't able to prepare their minds for the plane crash and learning to survive on the island although they still took away many life lessons. As for Ralph and Jack, they took away leadership skills. It may take a while for them to recover but they will know how to provide for their future families if they were ever put in a difficult situation.   

Works Cited

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

Gregoire, Carolyn. "The Surprising Benefit Of Going Through Hard Times." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 06 Jan. 2016. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/post-traumatic-growth-creativity_us_568426c0e4b014efe0d9d8e8>.

"Maasai Culture | Ceremonies and Rituals." Maasai Culture | Ceremonies and Rituals. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <http://www.maasai-association.org/ceremonies.html>.

"12 incredible African tribal traditions." CNN. Cable News Network, 05 Dec. 2016. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/05/africa/incredible-tribal-traditions-africa/>.

Fogg, Ally. "The death and deformity caused by male circumcision in Africa can't be ignored | Ally Fogg." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 25 Aug. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/25/male-circumcision-ceremonies-death-deformity-africa>.



To be alone (Lord of the flies essay)

Are humans naturally extroverted? Do they crave to be with people even if they claim they want to be alone? When you are left alone and you're just sitting with nothing but your thoughts. That feels like human nature to want to be alone but being alone has been proven to drive people mad. It's uncanny to be left alone just with your thoughts. The show samurai jack revolves around him being all alone and stuck with his thoughts. Truly man's greatest fear is to be alone and hunted.


Comparing the scene in Lord of the Flies where Piggy dies and Ralph is kind of kicked out of the group and left all alone. In the new series of Samurai Jack (Season 5) it picks up where Jack left off trying to find a way to a portal back home except since the evil Aku rules the world in the future and wants Jack dead. So Aku sends assassins to kill Jack but Jack usually finds a way to defeat them. I’m comparing this to the scene where Ralph is hiding from the boys and says “He jerked his head off the ground and listened...He knew he had heard it before, somewhere but had no time to remember.”(196)


In the novel, during this encounter, Ralph is scrambling around running away from Jack’s evil possible because they are trying to kill him. While he’s hiding and trying not to get caught, the boys still look for him. The reason why this part is so very intense is because it shows how alone Ralph is and how scared he is, in this point in time. He’s all alone and no one can help him, everyone is against him and there is nothing he can do about it. It’s very interesting how things changed to when everyone was on at least ok terms and the next thing you know Ralph is running for his life filled with fear that he’s going to end up like Piggy and Simon. What are you supposed to do if everyone you know is trying to kill you? Just like animals, when people are cornered they’ll do anything to get out.


Many other characters from different stories and movies go through this kind of thing where everyone is trying to kill them. Mostly with strong characters like John Wick, who is being hunted by all the assassins in the area, or as I said Samurai Jack who’s being hunted and he’s seen as a criminal and no one is on his side. It’s a very interesting change of pace when you don’t have a person who can take out millions of people or is virtually untouchable, and you replace him with a small child, who has never fought a day in his life, is physically average for his age, then send a bunch of people to hunt him.


You see this in the hunger games when you have a moment where Katniss is hiding from Cato just after she blows up their stockpile with mines. In that moment where Katniss is just watching this unnamed character get yelled at and then killed for something he didn’t do, I can compare this to how Ralph felt like when he was all alone, and watching the boys run around looking for him with their sticks sharpened at both ends. In general there are a lot of parallels between the hunger games (the part with the actual fighting) and the events where Ralph is running and hiding from the boys. Even Katniss in the first part of the hunger games struggles with the idea being alone, when she first starts and is sleeping in a tree, she has to find her own way. The thought of her being alone scares her but she does it anyway because what other choice does she have if she want to survive.


“Someone cried out Ralph Jerked his cheek off the ground and looked into the dull light”(198). I think this is an excellent moment because it adds to the fact that Ralph doesn't even have time to inspect who cried out or lift his face off the ground softly he just gets up and books it, he’s in instinct mode and what I think why he’s in such a panicked mode is just apart how humans react in general to dangerous situations. For instance back when there was early man there was no reason or talking you either fought or ran away.


A real life example of people panicking because they feel alone and the world has betrayed them. A case study in 1989 talks about how they had two young adults put in a room, no windows, no people, just a bed and what happens was the 2nd patient after nine hours he started to experience hyperventilation, and starting acting violent in contrast to his cool demeanor at the start of the experiment “It’s been a day now let me out!” a quote he says when it's been in the 9th hour. They let him out early and is surprised to see that it hasn’t been the full 9 hours yet. “I’ve never been alone for that long in my life, I started to panic thinking I would never get to see society again”. This proves my point even more in the novel during the last chapter Ralph starts to get more desperate and is at a showdown on page 198 when he is debating what should he should do. The quote is “What could they do?, beat him? So what? Kill him?”. You can tell how broken a character is, if they are debating to kill them by the end of the book.


At the end of the day, no one truly wants to be alone forever no matter what they say. Sure brakes are needed from time to time with people, but if you are the last person around and there is no one to talk to or challenge you or anything what's the point of living. Also, humans seem to be able to go one-hundred percent when they are alone and being hunted. My reasoning for this is because they either have nothing to lose or you have so much to lose. Like Ralph if he were to die on the island he would lose his family and hope. In Samurai Jack, our protagonist Jack talks to himself a lot and thinks everything would be easier if he was dead, but he realizes that if not him, who else will stop Aku.

Work cited

Golding,William, Lord of the flies. New york: Penguin 2006.


Tartakovsky,Genndy “Jack is back”  Tonami: 2017. http://www.adultswim.com/videos/samurai-jack/


Collins, Suzanne “The Hunger Games” New york, Scholastic 2010: https://www.scholastic.com/thehungergames/media/TheHungerGamesExcerpt_Ch1-2.pdf

What Aggression Can Do

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

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

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

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

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

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


Works Cited

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


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


"'Drug dealers, criminals, rapists': What Trump thinks of Mexicans." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37230916

The Power of Savagery


Power is an inevitable element in society. People’s need to have such power in order to control or influence others is a natural human instinct. The need for power always changes the actions of people. It can either alter one’s morals or feed to their fear of distrust. The way one deals with power shows how people deal with situations they don’t understand. The world has seen their share of lack of leadership, and their share of leaders who many should stand up to. These communities all deal with that change in different ways, whether it’s savage or civilized. A savage reaction would be acts of violence and no control. Civilized points to organized control. Overall in systems with unidentified rules, people act in savage ways when they don’t understand a situation, hold the want for continuous power, or are told to from a leader.

William Golding tackles these ideas in his novel Lord Of The Flies, where a group of young British boys crash on an island without any adult supervision. Ralph, one of the boys, gets everyone together by blowing into a conch shell, leading all of the boys to meet on the beach. The first thing the boys take action on is deciding who will be their leader, as an act for the need to have someone to look towards. This vote is concluded, “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).” Without the obvious power being in adults, since there are no adults, the first instinct of the boys was to figure out who would take that place. This action plays into the idea that people feel the need for a leader to look to for guidance. When the idea of leadership and power arises, then someone will come out and proclaim leadership. This is much like how Jack immediately said that he should be leader before the boys voted, “I ought to be chief, (22).” This is a want to have someone to look to in order to have control and order within a group.

After the boys decide on Ralph as leader, they set up camp and build a signal fire. A few days into their survival, two of the boys come back to the camp claiming to have seen a beast. The other boys react to this discovery, “The circle of boys shrank away in horror. Johnny, yawning still, burst into noisy tears and was slapped by Bill till he choked on them... “This’ll be a real hunt! Who’ll come?” (100-101).” The boy’s reaction to the discovery of the beast is of extreme shock and horror. This is one of the main fears that the boys deal with throughout the novel. They seem to not know how to approach it until Jack takes the lead on going to hunt “the beast,” and presents his idea as bigger and better than the rest. This action of hunting represents how we, as humans, attack things we don’t understand, and follow the lead of whoever steps up, even if it is savage in nature. After Jack receives backlash for his idea, he attacks those going against him by saying, “You’re always scared (101),” and “This is a hunter’s job (102).” This was the beginning of the power struggle between Jack and Ralph. It comes to show how Jack’s belief in holding power is to push down others in order to put down their stance on their own power. His power changes him to begin taking steps of savagery. The attack on the others in the group by Jack is a result of his own fear of the beast and losing power.

We see his savagery as a result of power come to life when he gets most of the boys to join his tribe of hunters. The group with Jack is continuously very frightened of the beast and sees the reaction to the situation as automatically killing it. When they kill pigs for food, they chase and chant around them. This ritual continues when they find “the beast” in their eyes, or Simon in ours as the readers. They overlook the appearance of “the beast” as Jack’s fear takes the lead in immediately reacting to this unknown creature. “”Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” Now out of terror rose another desire, thick, urgent, blind (152).” Jack’s fear of losing power has led him to act in savage ways and immediately react to everything with violence. This role of leadership also leads those under him into savagery. He forces them to kill, kill, kill, and they follow since they look to him for guidance. The boys are scared of the beast almost as much as Jack is of losing power, therefore they listen when the savage acts come to be Jack’s decision.

These themes of leadership and savagery can be seen in the real world by looking into the situation in Myanmar. Following a military coup, the rule of law was eliminated almost entirely. Burmese women were mistreated and abused on a wide scale. Small militarized enforcement began to occur where the “law enforcers” of certain districts abused their power and took over the people, telling them what to do and enforcing rules that were never legally put in place. People looked to these people of leadership for guidance despite their savage ways, which then led to a population of violence. These people in power then reacted to a small group they didn’t fully understand, a muslim minority. The militarized enforcement abused, raped, and tortured people of the Muslim minority. These savage acts were based off of the want to marginalize people in cruel and unjust ways, and was held because of a government who hasn’t had a democratic leader until recently. This situation is representative of how the savagery was enforced by power, promoted by fear, and spread by other’s fear looking to the position of power.

By looking into savagery as a result of leadership in Lord of The Flies, as well as Myanmar, we see how people look to positions of power for guidance, and follow the savagery. When people fear something, they immediately look to and follow whoever gives a solution that is informed as the most powerful. One in power may use savagery as a form of showing this power, as a result of their own fear of losing it. When savagery is promoted, there is a constant battle of more power between the people. This fear with savagery also turns to things we don’t fully understand. This comes to light when people’s immediate reaction to the unknown is to attack, much in the way the boys attacked the unknown beast.


Works cited


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

"Stanley Milgram: Obedience to Authority Or Just Conformity?" PsyBlog. N.p., 18 Dec. 2011. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/02/stanley-milgram-obedience-to-authority.php

"No Rule of Law." No Rule of Law | Social Watch. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. http://www.socialwatch.org/node/10920

Fisher, Jonah. "Myanmar Muslim Minority Subject to Horrific Torture, UN Says." BBC News. BBC, 10 Mar. 2017. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-39218105

Kill or Survive: Mindy Saw LoTF Essay

Kill or Survive


What does survival mean to you? In some cases people turn against each other, no matter how little or large they have of each other. There are many ways one can survive, but there are often situations where one doesn’t try and takes the easy way out. How does one survive with a group of people? Given a moment in certain situations, some may act civilized while others may not. Some may think about themselves only. While others who often has interactions with other people such as family, have a habit of caring for and thinking of others as well. Just like in the novel Lord of The Flies, many scenarios are given when the boys have choices among survival. Even so, when it comes down to survival in any case, the killings of other living things do not really come to mind because of the crave that they have for their own survival.  


Survival being a huge deal to many people, people often do anything humanly possible for survival, even if it means killing other living things. In China, the Chinese people engage in killing and eating dogs. These dogs are either kept as pets that are torn apart from their owners or they are strays that roam around the streets. They call this tradition. They beat the dogs, they let it bleed out, and they use the blood for meat. “Dog meat is considered a delicacy in China, and traders deliberately kill them in the most painful ways possibly so the animals die filled with adrenaline; the Mirror noted”. They cage up the dogs allowing it to lack dehydration and exposure which led to kill hundreds of them at each killings. Although some may buy dogs not to eat but to keep as pets to campaign the cruelty towards animals, they are often taken from owners when food becomes desperate. After the death of the dogs, they are slaughtered, some even boiled alive, and then taken to markets to be sold. Some markets would take them alive and kill them in front of the people at the market when the buyers come to buy them. At first they claimed that the dogs were “emergency food” for when food becomes scarce, but over time this tradition of killing and eating dogs got out of control. Calling these happenings a tradition, they enjoy the flesh, bones, and blood of dogs. They believe it is a tradition for the survival of their lives dated back from years ago when food was actually scarce. But now they enjoy the killing and slaughterings of the dogs to soon eat for their survival. It turned into such a common thing that the majority of the Chinese people no longer cared about the lives of the poor living things.  


This same action is done in the scene where the boys kill the pig and felt the proudness and excitement from doing so, especially Jack. He took the the twins with him to go kill the pig and led them back as they carry the pig that has been killed to eat. As he explains to Ralph how intense when the boys begin to chant “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.” In moments of this scene when Jack and the twins brought the pig to Ralph’s presence, Jack grows in excitement for his achievement, in a constant matter. Quoted in this moment of the scene, “Jack checked, vaguely irritated by this irrelevance but too happy to let it worry him.”We can light the fire again. You should have been with us Ralph. We had a smashing time. The twins got knocked over-” I cut the pig’s throat,” said Jack, proudly, and yet twitched as he said it” (69). From this quote, the cause of excitement that falls on Jack in this moment comes from his desire of being “big and proud.” He felt irritated when Ralph commented on his success and instead of giving any mind to it, he continued to brag upon his success of killing the pig for food. As British schoolboys, they do not ideally kill animals on the daily as a necessity. In this situation, Jack believes that he has the ability to do so with no adults to take matter into their hands. Given the fact that he brags about the killing in excitement makes him think that it was okay to kill a living animal since it was for their survival’s sake. He no longer gave any care to the animal. He describes how the killing went down to Ralph and for a moment he seemed to be uncomfortable being a British schoolboy, “I cut the pig’s throat,” said Jack, proudly, yet twitched as he said it.” This specific line from the previous quote expresses how he may have been uncomfortable killing the pig when he twitched as he spoke, yet still proud for the actions he’s done.


In China there are annual festivals to celebrate “dog meat”. At this festival, they kill over about 10,000 dogs, slaughtered, boiled, beaten, and bled out. This is no longer the fight for scarce food. It is now profound as enjoyment. To declare a whole festival where dogs are killed in front of cheering crowds is no longer a fight for survival. It is seen more as just enjoyment for the celebration they are not being stopped from. To the Chinese people the killings of dogs are found normal, but in certain scenes of the novel, killing pigs or attempting to are not normal nor realistic to happen for British schoolboys. Jack mentions how the pig squealed as the the boys crept up on her to then kill her. The chant that they made “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.” This chant brought the most similarity to the wrongdoings of the Chinese dog killing traditions. “Kill the pig.” They wanted the pig dead under any circumstances. “Cut her throat.” They wanted the pig killed in a humanly way. “Spill her blood.” They wanted the pig to suffer and bleed out to watch it be tortured. Relating back to the Chinese people standing in crowds to watch the dogs being killed and tortured so that they would soon be able to eat them in celebration. The inhumanly cruelty that both the characters in the book and the Chinese people have are because of their carelessness towards the living animals. They believe it is more important for them to survive. The only difference falls upon them when the the characters of Lord of The Flies had no choice, but to kill and eat the pig whereas the Chinese people had choices not to do so.


Survival. To survive is to do what it takes to keep living even if it means killing other living things. In Lord of The Flies, Jack and the boys kill the pig in excitement having done that, as in killing a live animal, for the first time. In real life, people in China kill, torture, slaughter, and boil dogs almost on the daily. Both scenarios started out as the fight for survival, then it turned into advantages, advantages for an easier life, for an enjoyable life. After the death of the pig, their characters become more fierce throughout the book in having to kill other living things. Also after the killings of the dogs, the Chinese took advantage of not being stopped to do so and started up a whole tradition and festival like celebration for the killing and eating of dog meat. In doing so, these people did not have empathy for the living animals anymore.



Works Cited

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


Francis, Nathan. "Dog Boiled Alive: Shocking Video From China Shows Greyhound Being Slaughtered Before Cheering Crowd At Public Market." The Inquisitr News. The Inquisitr News, 07 Sept. 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://www.inquisitr.com/3491289/dog-boiled-alive-shocking-video-from-china-shows-greyhound-being-slaughtered-before-cheering-crowd-at-public-market/


Cooper, Rob. "Dogs Destined for the Table: Horrific Images Show Animals Being Killed, Cooked and Served up as a Meal in Chinese Tradition." Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 25 June 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2164353/Horrific-images-dogs-killed-cooked-served-meal-sick-Chinese-tradition.html


Civilization vs Savagery: LoTF Essay by Ariana Flores

What makes an individual or a culture uncivilized? Some people may say lack of order, while others could say not socially advanced. However, what does someone consider to be savage? Stripping families from their home lands? Not allowing the conservation of one's culture? Physically abusing others? They all can be seen as unacceptable acts by those in the “civilized” world, and yet they are all acts that were perpetrated by supposedly “civilized” colonists as they [describe what they did]. However, killing for no reason and screaming threatening chants are no great deeds either. Readers of Lord of the Flies by William Golding, view the boys on the island the same way colonists view the “savages” they colonized.

In the scene where the boys on the island portray the killing of a pig, the “beast” emerges from the forest. This beast is no beast at all, but fear disguising Simon as a monster. "At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, no movements but the tearing of the teeth and claws (153)."  Here, the reenactment has turned into an execution of the "beast". The boys do not try to make peaceful contact or communication with the foreign living being in front of them. The vulnerability of the "beast" as it comes out of the forest is not taken into account by the boys, that maybe the "beast" has feelings and is scared. The adjectives get more intense as the scene goes on, using words like demented, dark, blind, urgent, unbearable. The intensity of the adjectives reaches a climax right before the “beast” is killed and when the boys turn into animals. Their fear blinded their better judgment, and enabled them to look further than the rumors of the beast. This caused them to kill one of their own, who was on his way to them to clear the air about the suspicions of the beast in the first place.

This behavior in the novel also happens in the real world. European pioneers encountered Native Americans, and much like the boys on the island killing the beast, almost destroyed all of the Native Americans. “[...],European conquest shattered many Native communities through forced relocation, warfare, broken treaties and foreign-brought diseases. Most Native communities were completely wiped out,” says Indian Youth.org. Europeans came into a new territory, claiming it as their own without thinking of the lives already present there. With this mindset, they did everything in their power to get rid of anyone who didn't look like them or embrace their culture while degrading them in the process.

Savage was a term used to describe the Native Americans. It is a word that was also incorporated into Lord of the Flies. In this scene, Ralph is furiously trying to avoid being caught by Jack’s tribe. “A smallish savage was standing between him and the rest of the forest, a savage striped red and white, and carrying a spear (195).” This depiction of a feral, small mammal of some sort is a complete one eighty compared to the seemingly innocent boys who crash landed on the island. Jack’s society has turned into a group of boys who smear the blood of animals on their faces, kill for sport, and who kill anyone who doesn’t agree with their ways. In other words, being brought up civilized does not mean that children stay civilized without the guidance of an adult at an age where they're malleable. The “savage” nature will be forced away when the children would be brought back to society. However, the after effects would still be traumatic and possibly cause the children to question what's right and what's wrong after Roger mercilessly killed Piggy in front of many witnesses, who did not necessarily protest, because Piggy did not agree with the conceptions of the new tribe under the leadership of Jack.

This representation of a savage correlates with the European perspective of Native Americans. National Humanities Center.org encourages students to watch 1990 Academy Award winner, Dances with Wolves as opposed to 1992 adaption of James Fenimore Cooper’s 1826 novel Last of the Mohicans. The novel was based on the earliest meetings of Europeans and Native Americans. “Besides a sympathetic white hero in line with Cooper’s own Natty Bumppo, it starkly contrasts “good” Indians (the ever-so-noble Lakotas) and “bad” Indians (the villainous Pawnees, with their roach-cuts and face paint making them look like English “punks” on a rampage).” The painting of faces, and spears are something commonly associated with the “savage”/ “bad” Indians. Familiarity struck with this portrayal, which fit the description of Jack’s tribe. However, the Iroquois Confederacy is what the current Democratic Republic is based off of here in the United States. European philosophical ideas that Locke and Rousseau published were established from Native American ideas. The Europeans called Native Americans savages while they were the ones who published Native Americans ideals, captured Native American land, and took Native American lives?

Overall, biased information can change lives. Decisions based on prejudice won’t necessarily benefit the human race as a whole. Claiming things that aren’t your own, also does not benefit one or more groups in the situation. This is something learned since childhood. However, sometimes it takes people a long time to learn one lesson, and they often have to learn it the hard way.


Works Cited

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

  2. Dippie, Brian W. "American Indians: The Image of the Indian, Nature Transformed, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center." American Indians: The Image of the Indian, Nature Transformed, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center. National Humanities Center, May 2008. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. <http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nattrans/ntecoindian/essays/indimage.htm>

  3. "Chp 4: Ennobling `Savages', Native America in European natural-rights philosophy, "Exemplar Of Liberty"." Chp 4: Ennobling `Savages', Native America in European natural-rights philosophy, "Exemplar Of Liberty". N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. <https://ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/EoL/chp4.html>

  4. "Traditions & Culture." Traditions & Culture | Running Strong. N.p., 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. <http://indianyouth.org/american-indian-life/traditions-culture>

Why Did They Stay?

Jowon Dorbor
English
Pahomov
Why Did They Stay?
Authority is a big role to many societies that leads to fear in others. Authority can be given to others by vote or agreement and can be snatched without notices, but what gives someone automatic authority in any situation? Maybe it’s the way someone looks, their appearance or is it because of the fear we have or what might happen if we disobey. People give authority to others because they are afraid of what they would do to them.

In the novel of the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the author was telling the readers what things the littluns did around the island and also things they had to deal with without the help of the biguns helping them or giving sympathy. The book states, “They obeyed the summons of the conch, partly because Ralph blew it, and he was big enough to be linked with the adult world of authority…”(59). In the novel, littluns are the kids that are smaller and can’t depend themselves. In the eyes of the littluns, the bigun were considered adults and “obeyed” them because they were “big enough”. They were big enough to punish the littluns if they didn’t obey them. The littluns have a negative focus on in the quote because they are looking up to savages who doesn’t care about them only to control them. The littluns are stuck there to fend for themselves. 

A nonprofit & activism group made a video called Private Violence Presents: Why We Stayed. In the video, some of the complex reasons women who have experienced domestic violence tell us why they stayed in their abusive relationships. A lady named Kit Gruelle told them her story. She stated “Well people asked me ‘Why didn’t you leave? Why didn’t you leave?’... He told me if I left he would hunt me down and kill me. That’s why I didn’t leave.” She was obviously afraid of what the man was capable of. She stayed with him for her own safety and gave him complete control over her by staying there with him. 

Jack was watching Piggy and Ralph while ordering others around to do things for him. “Jack spoke. ‘Give me a drink.’ Henry brought him a shell and he drank, watching Piggy and Ralph over the jagged rim. Power lay in the brown swell of his forearms: authority sat on his shoulder and chattered in his ear like an ape.” (150) The littluns give the biguns authority and power over them because they are afraid of what they will do if they don’t give them this. To be more specific Jack has so much control over almost everyone on the island that Henry didn’t hesitate to get him a drink. Jack doesn’t only have that control over Henry, but over all the littluns 

The littluns are afraid of what the biguns would do to them so they give the authority and power over them in the Lord of the Flies. Authority is given to others because of the fear they have of  what they’ll do when they aren’t given that power and control. 


Changing It Up- LoTF Essay- Autumn Lor

In the novel, Lord of the Flies, a  group of boys became wild and aggressive when being left alone without adult supervision. Would being alone create a person to go insane? Personalities changes the heart of the human because of the heart and the brain are connected to each other and makes new choices. William Golding tries to make the characters go against each other, where they end up killing each other. People can see their “correct” actions as a good idea but can be an act of darkness. Their behavior shows that humans cannot have a set personality and can change based on those around them.

There are two teams on the island and each team represents hunters and those who wants to go home. The people on the island has to pick a team of who they want to be and what best suits their personality. In the beginning of the story, most went to Ralph’s side, who wanted to find a way home, but there is fear present were all the children changed sides to Jack, the hunters. They were not forced physically but mentally threaten where the children thought Jack was the better team. Two boys named Sam and Eric traded sides but still showed affection towards their former leader. “Memory of their new and shameful loyalty came to them. Eric was silent but Sam tried to do his duty. You got to go, Ralph. You go away now” (187). What this shows is how people will go against their side to help those that are not on their team. They understand that it’s not right to help the wanted opponent, but they knew that helping was better than killing them. Darkness can be a dangerous place but will have a better outcome for at least on side of the party.

Looking out into the real world, people have conducted experiments that were similar to the plot line in the Lord of the Flies, where they have two teams. Philip Zimbardo created an experiment called the Stanford Prison Experiment, having two teams; prisoners and officers. The experiment was created to show how fast people would react to living their new lifestyles. Explorable.com explained, “Social and ideological factor also determined how both groups behaved, with individuals acting in a way that they thought was required rather than using their own judgment.” The purpose of this was how people expect to look one way, but doesn’t turn out being the same due the the change in enrollment. The moral values start to be forgotten, but there are a few people who made it out with the same personality just with a different mind set. Being in the a new environment, it can cause people come to desperate times. Although they didn’t make the correct decisions, it helped them in that point in time.  

As the darkness is rising to the surface of the skin, there are ways to bring it down and only shine like the sun. In the middle of the novel, Simon went out of his way to find the thing that everyone feared. People hid from the bad and let the fear roam. Some could say it’s okay to run from fear but better to stand up. Simon came into this new environment scared, yet he was the only one to find the power to go find their unknown fear. “‘You shut up, young Simon! Why couldn’t you say there wasn’t a beast?’..’I been in bed so much i done some thinking… He can’t hurt you; but if you stand out of the way he’s hurt the next thing,” (93). Simon used to be a very shy boy, but the fear has changed him, not becoming into a careless person but to someone could help. The upsetting part is the group disagreeing to go alone with his plan. People around them can affect the final outcome of the choice as a whole group. Their choice of not following Simon’s idea lead them to killing one of their best men.

Killing your own men can lead to vulnerability. Risking a life instead of staying together with more power creates more possibilities of things going wrong. Amy Novotney from American Psychological Association wrote an article about avoiding malpractice and vulnerable. Method #4 is about covering up the vulnerability that is there. She states, “There are many things that can go wrong very quickly with these patients, leaving psychologists who work with them more vulnerable to board complaints and malpractice claims.” The thought of a doctor saying this can be difficult because of several reasons, knowing that things can go wrong at any giving time. Nothing can ever be for sure. These type of experiences can change people. One day, a person could enjoy him or herself. The next, that same person could completely hate being themselves.

Things change, nothing stays the same for as long as it lives or exists. The same is true for humans. People change as they experience new things or learn new things. People reaction when they realize that they might be wrong and need to change their ways. Personality is affected by this new experience and information. Humans, then, do not have a set personality and can change their ways based on events and people.


Works Cited:


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


Martyn Shuttleworth. “Stanford Prison Experiment.” Roles Define Your Behavior. Jun 22, 2008.

<https://explorable.com/stanford-prison-experiment>




Raymond's Mural


Raymond Rochester

Spanish

Mrs. Hernandez

March 20, 2017



Esta es mi pared que haría mi arte público. Está un poco lejos de mi casa. Todavía está en North philly pero no exactamente el "Hood".



This is what I would put in on the wall for my arte público with great reason but there's a lot of connections that need to be made. North Philly along with some other parts of philly is thought as the hood. The hood is thought as of where thugs and gangsters like to hang and just live. Tupac was a thug, but he took it a step farther. This man is an inspiration and he knew the true meaning of being a thug. But not only that he was such a smart, intelligent, brilliant man. And a lot of people who weren't exactly cool with him or what he stood for missed that because of his thug mentality. The missed the scholar within him and it wasn't something all that easy to miss. He died way before his time and he deserves some commemoration.

Esto es lo que pondría en la pared para mi arte público con gran razón, pero hay un montón de conexiones que deben hacerse. El norte de Philly junto con algunas otras partes de philly se piensa como la capilla. La capilla se piensa de donde los matones y los gángsters tienen gusto de colgar y apenas vivir.Tupac era un matón, pero dio un paso más. Este hombre es una inspiración y conocía el verdadero significado de ser un matón. Pero no sólo que era un hombre inteligente, inteligente y brillante.

Y un montón de gente que no era exactamente genial con él o lo que él representaba perdieron eso debido a su mentalidad de matón. El perdió al erudito dentro de él y no era algo fácil de perderse. Murió mucho antes de su tiempo y merece un poco de conmemoración.




Vivo en el norte de Filadelfia. Se conoce como la capilla y el gueto, pero primero quiero empezar diciendo que me gusta donde crezco. Viví en el norte de Filadelfia toda mi vida y creo que es un gran lugar para el amor. Ahora sí, es peligroso, y las inyecciones de armas son bastante comunes, y hay algunos ins de ruptura, asaltos, robos, cabezas de crack, borrachos, y otras cosas como eso, pero creo que crecer en lo que se ve como la capucha es una buena cosa. Pero honestamente, ¿qué lugar no tiene ningún crimen? ¿Qué puedes considerar un "lugar seguro" para vivir


Creo que puede ser un buen pensar para crecer alrededor. Le hace consciente de su entorno y darse cuenta de lo que son algunas de las cosas que pueden suceder a usted por ahí. La gente llama a esto la campana debido a las cosas malas que suceden por ahí, pero no hay en cualquier lugar que esto no sucede. La gente allí es gente agradable en donde vivo y no puede ser la gente no tan agradable aquí como en cualquier otro lugar. Casi todo el mundo habla cuando su chillin justo y la gente camina por. Norte de Filadelfia o ¨la capilla¨ no es tan malo como la gente lo hace basarse en estereotipos.


En mi opinión tengo una bonita casa con un montón de espacio. Es sólo mi tío, mi mamá, mi hermana, y yo y yo hemos estado allí toda mi vida. Esa casa es donde me criaron toda mi vida. Lo curioso es que el Contar la historia es hace años y años que se utiliza para ser una oficina de médicos para el público. Entonces era una casa para una madre familia antes de que fuera una casa para nosotros cuando mi tío la trajo.