In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the author tells the story of a group of boys who find themselves stranded on an island and have to learn to defend for themselves. During their time on this island the boys had went through a lot of changes emotionally, physically, and mentally. What am I wondering about is how does the influence of bullying people affect our world today? For some, people might bully people because when they're feeling sad, angry, confused, etc and they need to take it out on someone or something and don’t notice that doing this could be hurting someone. People will bully other people just to see the person at the struggle to get through the day.

The book starts off with Ralph and Piggy  stranded on an island wondering where the rest of the people that was with them go. Ralph and Piggy blows into a conch  when suddenly all of this boys come running out the forest. Later on the boys had a voted Ralph as the leader of the group and a lot of the boys didn’t like that. The boys main objective is trying to escape the island.  In Chapter 2 there is a lot of tension within the civilization between Piggy and Jack. Piggy tries to stay his ideas of what they should do but Jack keeps on hurt piggy’s feelings. Piggy says “ There ain’t nothing we can do. We ought to be more careful. I’m scared----” (45). Jack then yells at him and says “You’re always scared. Yah----Fatty!”(45). What the reader can see is that Piggy is feeling intimidated by Jack because Jack yells at him and keeps on talking about his wait. Also, what the reader can tell is that Jack doesn’t care about Piggy’s feels because he talks about his wait and doesn’t think that piggy can’t say or do say anything because of his weight.

Later on in the book we meet this boy named Roger. Roger is a bad influence on the boys because in chapter four it says “Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life.  Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger's arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins”(87).What the author was showing how roger was bullying one of the littluns because he was throwing rocks at them. But he miss every time he threw one.

What is bullying? Bullying is an “aggressive behavior among school aged children.” There are three types of bulking which is verbal, physically, and social. Bully happens all across the world and it really needs to stop. Like for example in Lord of the Flies when Jack is calling piggy names he is verbally bulking piggy because it is hurt piggy’s feelings. Also, it is very disrespectful and Jack thinks that it is all fun and games. Another example of bulking in the book is when nobody listens to piggy because they don’t care about his ideas on anything there just pushing him to the side. One example of physical bullying is when Roger is fighting piggy and “accidentally” push pigg off a cliff that caused piggy to die. So, this is an issue in the world today and it needs to be stopped.

In my essay I was trying to show how bullying can be really harmful to people. Also this was explaining some of the reason why William Golding put this in the Lord of the Flies book to make this an awareness  it’s around the world.

Fear is an unpleasant feeling triggered by the perception of danger, real or imagined.  When fear comes into play, its strength can affect a person’s willingness to take risks, our choice to pursue the unknown, or even their ability to accomplish a goal. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the schoolboys who are stranded on the island have a fear of not being able to survive without any adults in a new society empty of order and rules. The fear that builds within each of the boys makes them hallucinate and believe a “beast” exists, which is a projection of the their combined fear. This terror motivates the young boys to try their hardest to survive, but, amidst overcoming their fears, their panic overwhelms their ability to make rational decisions.

In the beginning of Lord of the Flies, in fear of having no adults, the boys decide to select a leader from their group. When Ralph becomes leader, he chooses to make a group of hunters. His choice to divide and conquer is in reaction to his yearning for rescue from the island and survival. Ralph pushes through all his fears of the unknown because he, like the other boys, wishes to survive. He masks his fear with his strength to make the boys believe that everyone will overcome their isolation on the island. “That was nightmare,’ said Ralph. ‘He was walking in his sleep.” (85) In this quote Ralph is acting like he is not feared by the horror nightmare that all the boys silenced because of how the vivid dream terrified them. The boys were scared while Ralph acting like he didn’t care at all. To motivate himself as leader, he had to show all bravery and that nothing phased him. In order to show why he is leader, he must overcome his own mind. If the other boys saw him scared, he would have no order or followers.

An example of this behavior also took place when the Cold War happened. The Cold War was a war used to end international affairs. This was right after the World War II. A senator named Joseph McCarthy, he made the citizens feel discomfort. This is a connection to the book because the boys felt discomfort and were terrified and McCarthy made the people of America feared. The people were in fear of something that they weren’t even sure was that real, they were scared of the discomfort of the new senator, the war, the way things were being handled. This related to the book because the books feared everything of being alone without any adults and the leadership they were under was just someone who knew not much more than them and they had no control. This also relates to the idea of power and civilization. Over all, the presence of fear impacts or overpowers human beings’ ability to make decisions and find comfort in encountering the unknown.

In the novel, Jack, of the boys stuck on the island, was a kid who tried to overthrow Ralph for his power of the leader. Jack is power hungry and tries to get the boys to abandon Ralph. Jack calls for a meeting, and he tells everyone that there is a beast. Ralph doesn’t know what to say so Jack suggests that the boys come with him. He creates a hierarchy by gathering his new group and just naming himself the leader. “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.” To avoid any problem or life threats, the younger boys bowed to Jack’s needs. The beast was the first thing they all shared, as Jack became more violent, he was the new chief. In a way, he was becoming the very monster they once ran from. He was no longer just a 12 year old boy, he was the ruler of fear.

In conclusion, the feeling of fear has ability to be the controlling or the controlled. There is fear in every one of the boys’ hearts. They have been torn of their innocence, and rational mentality becomes the irrational. When approached with a life threatening experience, it makes people motivated to do whatever is possible to survive. Survival at all cost, even if it means savagery and loss of order.

Whether it’s a friendly nickname that people may have for someone or an insult to describe people they hate the most, nicknames can have a lasting  effect on the person. Majority of the time when people have nicknames each other it signifies a close bond between the individuals. As oppose to insults which obviously indicates a strain of tension between them. Sometimes nicknames aren’t even accepted. In some cases names are given to people based on their physical appearances 0r personal issues that they deal with. Nicknames become harmful when The victim in the situation never addresses the issue and it eventually becomes what they are known as.  

In Chapter 1 of “ Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, Ralph and Piggy have just encountered each other on a deserted island and Piggy who is a rather heavy boy shares  personal experiences of being teased with Ralph. “Ralph was faintly interested. ‘What was that?’. The fat boy glanced over his shoulder, and then leaned toward Ralph. He whispered. ‘They used to call me ‘Piggy’’”-Pg. 11. In this quote Piggy is explaining to Ralph what he used to be called back at his school. Because of his size and weight the name was Piggy. Although he has shared this with Ralph he just wants it to be between the two of them. Furthermore in the story Ralph and Piggy find a conch (a fancy seashell) on the beach. They blow through the conch to alert anyone else who may be on the island. After a numerous amount of  attempts other boys their age slowly start to show up. These boys along with Ralph and Piggy begin to assist each other in surviving on the island. As the boys are introducing themselves to each other Ralph accidentally tells the others Piggy’s name. Piggy is extremely outraged and goes off on Ralph.

This situation connects to many more in today’s society. For example the nicknames that people have made for the infamous president of the United States. According Billboard Names such as Cheeto, Agent Orange, and The Angry Creamsicle all come at his short temperance, insanity, and orange hair. Does he deserve to be called these names? Very likely, but regardless of what the person has done bullying or assault shouldn’t be the only the option.

Works Cited (MLA format)

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

2. “Donald Trump Is a 'Desperate Cheeto' in Hilariouus 'Despacito' Parody.” Billboard, www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin/7997614/donald-trump-desperate-cheeto-despacito-parody-video.

What qualities make a good leader? People have different leadership styles and some people respond well to only specific leadership styles. Human beings look to work alongside and under leaders in whom they have faith. Leaders they are comfortable with will make them feel safe. However, what do people look for when their leader is losing their leadership power? Typically with humans, if somebody is afraid of their own actions they choose or make up something else to scapegoat. To them they believe that their scapegoat justifies the action. The Lord of the Flies demonstrates that in society, people will often not take responsibility for their destructive actions and blame it on something else.

In the novel The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of British school boys are stranded on an island. The boys, who have never been alone in the wild before decide to come together in order to survive and work together to find a way for them to be rescued. The leader of the hunters breaks off and slowly it goes from the rest of the hunters going him to most of the boys joining him. By Chapter one the original leader, Ralph is on his own. By exposing readers to Ralph’s betrayal, William Golding emphasizes how contexts, particularly those that are isolating, influence how people treat one another. Despite Ralph’s strong relationship to the other boys in the beginning of the narrative, he is betrayed because his leadership approach is ineffective. This is a challenge that people come across in their lives and sometimes some people’s betrayal is larger than others. Ralph gradually loses his grip on his fellow boys after a while, forcing him  to lose his power in leadership. The team members begin to dislodge themselves from the team before Ralph even knows it.

Jack does not agree with Ralph’s plans for the fire - to just leave the beast alone. Jack feels insulted by Ralph and believes that Ralph is not a fit leader - Jack doesn’t want to play their games - he runs off and builds his own fire - Ralph notices that there are few bigger kids in his tribe and so the hunters and big kids abandon him.

An example from the book where they refuse to take responsibility was when Jack, Maurice, and Robert steal fire from Ralph’s tribe. After this occurs Ralph and his tribe refuse to take responsibility for their fighting because they are ashamed that they inflicted harm on each other for their blindness in the dark; they are afraid of themselves (for their unspeakable actions). Like with Ralph and his tribe, people in society bring harm upon themselves, but in the end they refuse to admit their flaws and apologize because they believe they will only embarrass or further harm themselves. After Jack, Maurice, and Roger decide to attack Ralph’s tribe Ralph wakes up to noises and other people fill into his hut. “Ralph twisted sideways on top of a writhing body and felt hot breath on his cheek. He began to pound the mouth below him, using his fist as a hammer… A knee jerked up between legs and fell sideways… “I got my knee up,” said Eric with simple pride, “and I hit him in the pills. You should have heard him holler!... (after the fight) Ralph moved suddenly in the dark; but then he heard Eric working his mouth. “What’s the matter?” “Jus’ a tooth loose.” (pgs 167-168) After this the boys realize that they were actually fighting themselves rather than attacking Jack and his team mates.

Sides of A Leader.

What do humans value in a leader? Do Humans want somebody strong or weak? Does their character plays a role? The idea of a good leader varies from person to person. This was expressed in  William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. The main characters, Ralph and Jack, get into many arguments  about which of them are the better leader. They are polar opposites and butt head on every issue till the end of the book. Even though the leader has loyalty and control of their followers leaders will use force and fear to make other people change to their side because they cannot turn off the need to conquer everything.

In the book, a group of english boys crash land on an island where they are the only people there but island has plenty of fruit and pigs for them to eat. After evaluating their circumstances they elected Ralph for leader of the group. Jack did not like this, believing that he should be leader thus starting off the rivalry between Jack and Ralph. To accommodate Jacks uneasiness with not being leader Ralph made Jack captain of the hunters. This kept little balance. While Ralph was in charge, the boys didn’t do much work or keep up on the island. It was mainly Ralph and Piggy ( a nice kid who stood by Ralph since the beginning) doing work, building huts for the littluns, and keeping up the signal fire so they can signal any ships passing by so they could be rescued. Most of the boys were focused on a “monster.” There was no real monster, it just a personification of the boys imagination and fear. Jack decides making the monster top priority and needs to be hunted down. The believers of the monster join his crusade leaving Ralph who isn’t really worried about the monster and just wants to get off the island. Eventually all the kids have been persuaded or tortured to join Jack's tribe leaving Ralph and Piggy to survive on their own.

When the kids left Ralph to follow Jack in his savage ways it lead to the idea of switching sides and what makes people want to switch sides. After doing research, an article about switching sides came up. Most of theses ideas came from a book called “Nudges” by Richard H. Thaler, PhD, and Cass R. Sunstein, JD.The authors study behavioral science. The article says that two main tactics for switching one’s side is lying or torturing. Lying is like persuading. It's a way to convince people that they have what they want or joining they side is at their best interest. Torture is more of a force. They use tactic to force them onto their side. Making fear and pain their persuaders.

In chapter 8, the boys divides into two groups. Jack was leader of one of these groups and he ruled with an iron fist. He left Ralph because they had completely different views on how they should survive on the Island. He gets tired of Ralph’s ways, he says,” I’m not going to be apart of Ralphs lot-- I’m going off by myself. He can catch pigs on his own. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too.”(27) His group started off with just the kids from choir and a few others but it grew. The boys started to realize that Jacks way was more prosperous and more fun. What he said  before he stormed off was a way persuasive talking. To the other boys he’s the only one who knows how to actually hunt. He also gave them a choice. When they first came to the island they made Ralph leader and that was it, now they can choose Ralph or Jack. Choice gives people a sense of power so now they may follow him because of the things that Jack has to offer. It was up to them to choose their own path and leader. After he gives them the choice, those who didn’t join over time were forced to join. There was a point in chapter 11 where all the boys joined Jack's tribe except a few including Ralph and Piggy. The tribe took Piggy’s glasses to make fire leaving poor Piggy blind. So for Piggy and to make their own fire the remaining members of team Ralph travel up to Castle Rock to retrieve Piggy’s glasses. When they get there the Tribe is hostile and Jack and Ralph get into an argument that turns into a fist fight in the midst of it Piggy gets pushed off a cliff side by a boulder and dies. Ralph runs for his life and those of team Ralph who stayed were tortured into joining the tribe, “ You got to Join the tribe.”(182) Now they are using force and fear. This tactic is used when words don’t influence others. Jack has all the boys that were easily persuaded now he needs the ones who need a nudge to join his side. A leader who has used fear in the past is Ivan the Terrible. He was a darranged leader. A wiki site described him as “intelligent and devout, yet given to rages and prone to episodic outbreaks of mental instability”. The fact that one minute Ivan was chill and sensible and the next he could be angry and sentence his followers to death scared people. As a servant to Ivan they would never know where they stood. That’s a scary thought knowing that one slip up could be your life. So in fear the people, of Moscow kept quiet and followed Ivan without question. This shows that fear is a strong controlling factor and leaders use it to control followers and demand loyalty amongst them.

When Ralph was leader, this wasn’t the case. Ralph was chosen to be leader because he had charisma and a plan. Ralph came out the plan barking orders. It was Ralph’s idea to blow a conch that would signal to the boys for them to meet up. Ralph wasn’t good leader just because of his ideas he also had charisma. Charisma is compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others. But after reading that definition it can be said that he had limited charisma because he could only get a few boys to actually do work and after a while he lost the boys devotion and they changed sides. As time went on Ralph no longer had what the boys wanted in their leader.

That’s the thing with leadership. The moment the leader no longer has or is what his followers want, his people want a change and sometimes that means a new leader. Jack went on his own because he believed that he would make a better chief. A better leader. He convinced  and forced the boys to join him and prove that his leadership is the best. The boys fell for the two main ways of coaxing one's thoughts. Persuading and force. They were young so it was easier. If they were older, more force would have been involved. So what makes people switch sides  is a change their mindset or an overwhelming force that's more controlling than their mindset. If the leader can scare them into the other side, fear of the leader will make that side the better choice, against their better judgement. A great way to control a group is by using fear, but it is not always the best way. Lord of The Flies was a great example of what fear can do to a person.

Citations:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_the_Terrible

• Wikipedia

• Ivan the Terrible

• April 06, 2018

2. http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/12/cover-coaxing.aspx

• Monitor on Psychology

• April 07, 2018

3. http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/05/charismatic-leaders.aspx

• American Psychological Association

• April 07, 2018

Diamond Wallace

English 2

Pahomov

April 6, 2018

The Innocence of maturity

Although most people would like to avoid having consequences for their actions, the presence of those consequences brings structure to people’s lives. Society thrives because of the idea that it is unacceptable to demonstrate atrocious and uncontrollable behavior. Most of the time, when there is a lack of structure in someone's life, they tend to mature faster than expected.   In the novel, The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the boys did not have a sense of structure. Their innocence was stripped away from them when they realized they had to survive on their own.

With all structure comes authority. People with authority usually have the power to shape and create respectful, and obedient people. But what happens when there is no authority?  According to an Article by Andrew Rondell, ¨Those who grow up without authority tend to act out of character or mature faster than what they should.¨ Sometimes the rapid growth of these adolescents makes their mindset very problematic. The themes of authority, innocence and consequences connects with the world we live in now.

One of my real world connections is Miley Cyrus growing from Hannah Montana. When first starting her career at Disney, Miley seemed as if she had been molded to fit with her standard. Just as many people do, she grew up and realized that Disney controlled her. So, as most Disney Stars do, she left and lost a sense of authority in her life. Miley began to reinvent herself, entering the “Can’t Be Tamed” era just after the series finale of “Hannah Montana” happened. Afterward came the “Wrecking Ball” era and “Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz” eras, which Miley has most been scrutinized for.

In The Lord of The Flies, the three older boys; Piggy, Jack, and Ralph, wanted to be incharge, or be the leader. They were molded into thinking that there always had to be a sense of jurisdiction, because society shapes us into following the laws and government.  Once the boys accepted the fact that they were stranded, they knew they had to enhance their maturity. They had to play the role of an adult, but many of the other boys did not take them seriously considering the minimum age gap. “This is an island. At least I think it’s an island. That’s a reef out in the sea. Perhaps there aren’t any grownups anywhere.” (1.9-11). The boys understand that the ruling order of society that they are used to has disappeared. Children are use to obeying adults, not children who are practically their age. That is why there was little control over the boys on the island.

When children realize they can get away with little things because there is no dominant leader penalizing you for your wrong, they think they can get away with murder. They do not fear acting out of the ordinary because they do not have any repercussions behind their actions. In the novel, the boys acted out of fear numerous times, two in which resulted in murder. ¨The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went […]. Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it has been killed. (11.209) The conch explodes, marking the end of law and order on the island. As the law ceases to exist, so does Piggy.  Piggy was not the first boy to be killed on the island. After the incident that occured with Simon, the boys understood that there would be no punishment after it. This time when they killed a boy, they had no remorse for their actions.

During an interview with Miley Cyrus, the interviewer said, ¨Your art makes people uncomfortable sometimes!¨ In response to this comment, Miley took matters into her own hands explaining her actions. ¨That's what punk is all about. If you don't piss somebody off, then that's not punk rock, I guess. But I wish people wouldn't be pissed off. There are so many real, true, problems in the world. If people would take their angst and their opinions and actually do something besides worry about what I'm doing.¨

In recent months, Miley has reflected and taken ownership over many of her actions. One of the most important decisions she has made is taking ownership of her past issues with drugs and alcohol. She shared her journey to sobriety with the rest of the country. In an interview with Billboard Magazine in May, she opened up about why she decided to get sober. She explained that it is important it is important for her to hang out with people who she could trust, and correct her when she was wrong. She wanted to surround herself with positive people that only wanted to see her survive and excel. When she was an addict, the people who she was surrounded with had no intentions on growing mentally, they were stuck in a state of comfort.

The ownership of actions between the boys in the Lord of the Flies, and Miley Cyrus is very different. Miley Cyrus reflected on her wrongs and did everything she could to correct them. Although you cannot correct murder, the boys did not take ownership of their actions, nor did they show repentance. Miley Cyrus began changing her image once she broke away from the control of Disney. She began to understand why discipline, and structure was important, and that is why she shifted her attitude. The boys in the Lord of the Flies realized there were no dominate figures who had the power to punish, so they never learned from their actions, only repeating the same mistake again.

The rapid maturity of the youth sometimes depends on the exposure that children experience alone while growing. The lack of self control can also come from the lack of authority in their lives. It is very important to understand how humans act based on the possible idea of retribution when there is, or is not rule and order.

1. “The Evolution of Miley Cyrus and Why It Matters.” Study Breaks, 13 Nov. 2017, studybreaks.com/culture/miley-cyrus-evolution-matters/.

Too Threatened To Speak Out

Why do people follow leaders with whom they do not agree? Some people fear they are not heard, so they think they are perceived as weak and, consequently, lash out to make themselves feel stronger or face defeat. We live in an era were opinions matter to other people, but our vulnerabilities empower us to follow decisions with which some people may disagree momentarily. We  give other human beings power when our need for harmony among group members overpowers our understanding of what is right or wrong. Some people feel compelled to disregard their responsibilities and adopt the behaviors of their peers.a plane crashes, boys are stranded and try to find ways to get off the island. The author, William Golding exposes this behavior in his novel, Lord of the flies when his characters, such as the littluns, choose to ignore Piggy’s direction and follow Jack despite his irrational decision-making. Though our society has a history of questioning or attacking other peoples’ views in momentary disagreements, the groupthink phenomenon, which shows that people avoid controversial issues to maintain “group cohesiveness,” continues to exist. Golding demonstrates that groupthink overpowers human beings’ rational decision-making skills by exposing how the boys follow. The story shows that  groupthink occurs when humans choose strongest side to strive for group harmony and not be seen differently.

In the beginning of “Lord of The flies” by William Golding, the two boys Ralph and Piggy encounter each other after the plane crash. Once they met each other, they decide to look around the island for resources and people. While doing so, they found a conch and started to use it to lure boys from the crash. After all the boys are found, they decided to elect a leader with an unfair election. “Yeah let's vote for chief. Him with the conch Ralph he should be chief.” Ralph raised his hand for silence “All right, who want Jack for chief, with dreary obedience the choir raised their hands. Who wants me, every hand outside the choir except for piggy then piggy too raised his hand grudgingly into the air” (Pg 22-23). This quote shows how the theory of  groupthink works because as stated earlier, “occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressure.” It shows how groupthink works because if all the boys but the choir didn't raise their hand for Ralph, then Ralph would make fun of him because he was the odd boy out. It resembles groupthink because when the election occurred Piggy was under pressure and was afraid to express any argument or opinion so he just voted without any ethical thinking. This connects to reality because people feel pressured when their friends run for anything that contains power against others. People they feel pressured because when you are friends with somebody they would want you to vote or do something for them since you have the friend title.

The example from the lord of the flies closely resembles the “Survivorship bias” in terms of doing anything they say to get off the island. According to the website Mental Floss, it states that individuals would just act without thinking just to get in a position faster. An example from the website would be how everybody wants to be a entrepreneur because it's easy and you get a lot of money not thinking of how many people who failed. This makes the real world seem really unethical because they are acting without any thought of a effect on any move they make whether it's bad or good.  It also show how the boys are young minded because they only act without purpose and most kids who are 8 to 12 act without any motive.

Later in the novel two the boys decided to make plans, first plan was to make a fire and to get rescued earlier then they were. During this moment, hunger made the boys more anxious causing the boys to be easily irritated with Piggy because he wanted to keep a group near the fire and the choir can go out to hunt. Piggy lost his temper. “I got the conch I got the right to speak. Now look the first thing we ought to have made was shelters down there by the beach Piggy said to Ralph.  Shut up Jack said you didn't even count the littluns like ralph said.” (45 / 46) This quote demonstrates how groupthink overpowers an individual like Piggy because Jack showed ignorances towards Piggy which made him feel awful when all he was trying to do was make shelters to sleep in. It also didn't involve Jack it was him and Ralph. When reading the quote and readers can understand how Piggy felt during that moment because sometimes when people are trying to be a step further then others to help out or in the case they make shelters and get double teamed, it makes us feel awful.  While researching and reading over chapter 2 the word single minded came to the reader's mind. The word “single minded” came to the reader's mind because in the scene the boys aren't listening to Piggy’s idea they are just focusing on building a fire rather building shelter. This also connects to the real world because most people aren't heard in group activities it's mostly one person who has all their ideas spoken on and given through which isn't beneficial.

In the real world, the bandwagon effect plays a huge role with disagreeing and insulting. It plays a big role with how insults are created with group thinking because when researching a source for the bandwagon effect  it states “psychological phenomenon in which people do something primarily because other people are doing it, regardless of their own beliefs, which they may ignore or override.” This connects to group thinking because most people will start believing what others think or do because it is popular and they don't wanna be an outsider. The bandwagon can be seen as  negative or positive. The audience can see it as a negative viewpoint because individuals copy other people actions because they don't wanna be judged or made fun of. It can also be seen as a positive viewpoint because people like having someone to look up to based on style or personality. This connects back to the novel “Lord of The Flies” because jack made a situation that didn't involve him his business telling piggy to shut up and putting him down by telling him he can't even do his own part.  This example connects to the bandwagon effect because the bandwagon effect can be two or more people, in this case Jack decide to insult piggy and decline his suggestion because he wanted to be like Ralph in control.

Groupthink and insults  has always been a way for people to get work or solve arguments easier. It something that people will always do because they are scared of what be said if they didn't agree. Groupthink should not acceptable because we as human beings have a mind of our own and if we spoke our minds I think outcomes would be better. We as individuals will also get stronger from insecurities because we are called names and insulted daily.

Fear is an inevitable feeling that everyone gets. It has a strong hold on some people, while for others it can inspire them to take control of a situation. To overcome the idea it is sometimes projected on others. In a child like mind, fear is exemplified because of imagination. Being afraid of an idea, physical thing, or scaring oneself changes behavior and mentality. The experience of being scared can encourage people to act like cowards -- but that fear of looking like a coward can also inspire them to become brave.

In the book Lord of the Flies by WIlliam Golding, a group of boys are stranded on an island. They have no adult figure to lead them, so they are forced to lead themselves. Over time, the boys have to grow together or grow apart. All of them agree on leaders, jobs, and who can speak while holding the conch shell. As living on the island becomes more crucial, the boys need to make harsh decisions. Without these rules and discipline, chaos would occur at a faster pace than it already will. The boys claim to see a flying beast that will kill them all. Some live in fear on the island, while others do not want to believe the beast is real. “Someone's got to go across the island and tell Piggy we'll be back after dark." Bill spoke, unbelieving."Through the forest by himself? --We can't spare more than one." Simon pushed his way to Ralph's elbow." "I'll go if you like. I don't mind, honestly."(124-129). Simon shows no fear of the beast, unlike everyone else. Although he was once scared, he realized it was the the boys scaring themselves. Everyone projected their feelings of fear onto each other, but Simon acted bravely instead. This kind of behavior sparked curiosity in the group, they all questioned why he was not scared of the “flying beast” in the darkness. Over all his own fears, Simon has taken the brave way out to act against everything the group has been believing.

Feelings of fear will coexist with us forever. In many instances, the biggest enemy is oneself. At no point does fear not affect someone, it is how they choose to approach what scares them. When people find their backs against the wall, irrational decisions are made. Humans act this way to handle what their mind is retaining and manage their own anxiety.  "The common thread that weaves violent political movements together is fear. It is not the only motivating factor behind political violence, nor necessarily the most obvious, but it is virtually always there. Whenever we ask why people hate, or why they are willing to kill or die for a cause, the answer is invariably fear." People will to do things beyond the norm as a reaction to fear and anxiety. When approached by the unknown, immediately an individual or group will find something to blame, argue against, or even eliminate.

Also in the novel, the boys have made themselves a ritual. The ritual was for slaughtering a mother pig. In order to survive, they had to hunt and eat whatever they found. It was all terror and hostility. Underlying fear kept hold of everyone, nobody wanted to face the beast. “Maybe […] there is a beast. [...] What I mean is… maybe it's only us.” After a while of debating on what is real or just imagination, the boys began to fight over who to believe and why they should believe them. The title of who is leader and the meaning of a conch shell has decreased. Piggy and Simon believe it is not the Lord of the Flies that the they all should fear. In fact, the biggest obstacles are themselves. They bravely spoke out on the new idea that  true monsters were the boys, it seemed only Simon and Piggy could grasp that concept.

In conclusion, the strongest thing humans have against fear is their own mind. Even the smallest idea built from imagination draws one to fear, causing them act irrationally. When approached by the unknown, everyone finds a different way to cope. The norm is to act cowardly and shy away from what they are afraid of. There are people who do not want to look weak, knowing that everyone else is afraid, that makes them want to be brave. The decision to fight fear with bravery all comes from the mind. The mind can be the closest friend or the worst enemy.

Works Cited:

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

“Fear.” Beyond Intractability, 28 Feb. 2017, www.beyondintractability.org/essay/fear.

“Fear.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/fear.