If the the president was not living in the white house and didn't have the constitution with him and was living in a boat house would you think he was powerful and take him seriously or would you not. Some people say that certain people are powerful by themselves, like the president or our government. But That's not true it what objects they have that define what power they have.

What I mean by that is some objects  hold more power over us than the actual people. For an example think of the conch in Lord of the flies. When anybody on the island had it like ralph they had power to speak and do what they wanted and nobody objected cause they had it. Like the constitution this is what they had that gave them power.

Another object that has a lot of power is the nuclear football. This object is a briefcase filled with papers to authorize a nuclear strike when they are away anywhere. Like the conch people do what it says and nobody objects because the person has the powerful object. This object gives the president power and make people take him seriously. But if he didnt have it he wouldn't be taken as seriously as if he had it.  

As all people know “with great power comes great responsibility.” Well when Eisenhower and his group had power they had to use it  responsibly to help stop a war. But it came at a cost of losing some power. When we used it we had lost power because of what it brought. It brought death which hit hard from eisenhower and us. Which showed what comes from abuse with power. This shows that any objects hold the power and not people like the president.

Iman Ahmed

English 2

March 25, 2019

Lord of the Flies & Presence of Civility

Since the elementary days in school, students have been encouraged to take so much pride in being American. Flags gracefully flapping back and forth, proudly chanting the Pledge of Allegiance. One of the things that Americans are proud of is being part of a very progressed and civilized society. During school, the topic of America’s great heros who founded this country is a recurring topic. Emphasizing how they fought for the freedom that is present today. The question that isn’t asked is if America truly is civilized? It is commonly thought that Americans are very just and civilized people. This might be true when it comes to interacting within the American society. Despite what we are taught, America has a tendency of not treating those who are different with the civility that we preach.

In the beginning of Lord of the Flies, we are introduced to “the fat boy with asthma”, later known as Piggy. As the book continues he becomes Ralph’s loyal companion that always considers other people’s opinions and feelings.Towards the end of the book, he oddly wasn’t the emotional one after Simon’s death: “Coming in the dark - he hadn’t no business crawling like that out of the dark. He was batty. He asked for it.”(157)  Even though Simon was part of the group, Piggy, who is presented as the sensitive smart boy in the beginning of the book, is shown to not showing much concern to killing Simon. When he was responding to Ralph’s claim that they killed Simon, he said that it wasn’t their fault because it was dark and they didn’t even know. Not only did Piggy take responsibility for his killing but he also blamed it on Simon for being “batty” and that he “asked for it”. He justified it because he was doing a foreign dance that he wasn’t familiar with. Brutality killing someone because of doing an unusual dance isn’t civilized. Part of being a moral and civilized person is not only taking responsibility of actions, but also not checking who was just murdered

In America, there are many cases shown of black people experiencing police brutality due to their race. This type of tragedy has a very long-lasting effect on people. They could have an emotional and mental effect. As New York Times said in their article, “Using mental health survey data and a database of police shootings, a team of health researchers concluded that when police officers in the United States kill unarmed black people, it damages the mental health of black Americans living in those states.” This type of negative mental impact is not just because black people have lost someone but it’s also because of the thought “What if I was in that position, what would happen to me? We have similar backgrounds so what would ensure me safety in this type of environment.”This ties in with the idea that Ralph is traumatized by the killing of Simon because he knew that it could have been him. The fear that he had affected how he reacted after he knew Simon died and Piggy also had fear but he expressed it in a different way. It shows that Fear can come from a common place but affect each individual differently.

In the 2nd and 3rd chapter of Lord of the Flies, the boys are having a crucial meeting about how to survive in this island. They were sitting around a fire, discussing set rules to follow while stranded in this island. Then Jack extended his hand for the conch and then said, “I agree with Ralph. After all, we’re not savages. We’ve got to have rules and obey them. We’re the English, and the English are best at everything. So we’ve got to do the right things”(42) This statement is from Jack claiming that he is from an English civilization. When he said “the English are best at everything”, it made me think of how many English people think that their country is so civilized even though there are many known cases of the British treating people from different lands inhumanely. Later on in the book Jack has turned into one of those “savages” that he despised so much. This falls into the idea that “something is only good when I do it because we are the superiors”. Which is not only senseless but also a product of double standars.

In the modern day world, we have progressed to a society that agrees we should all be treated equally no matter one’s gender, race, or color. It’s usually is used to justify acts of cultural appropriation. People would argue that since we’re equal then that we should have equal permissions to do certain things. “In a truly equal world, you wouldn’t have to think about if you have power and privilege over the people you’re borrowing culture from. Unfortunately, that’s not the world we live in. In our world, systems of oppression create power dynamics between different groups of people.” The reason that it’s not civilized is not because it’s not humane but rather because it’s showing the impression that one thinks that they are superior. That’s why they can do this thing from a different culture that is usually not praised and sometimes degraded because they have that authority. Which can connect to what Jack was lie in the book. He claimed that he is British and civilized unlike the “savages” but then does the things that savage people do. For example, when the British went to India to take its rescources. Not only did they steal but the British turned them against each other. Which wasn’t just in anyway, but since they have the higher power then they aren’t held accountable.

We might not be aware of it but we do uncivilized things and claim it to be just. And when we are pointed out for it then we don’t take responsibility for our actions and blame it on another person or group which in it of itself is a “savage” thing to do. And we still very proudly claim that we are civilized people. Which could unconsciously show our superiority over other people.

In the book Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, there is a group of kids with no adults that get stuck on an island where they get scared of a beast. the only two people that know there's no beast is Piggy and Simon. they do not like them is because of his appearance --  piggy is a chubby boy and he has glasses. Simon knows when to have fun and when to work. You constantly see Ralph and Jack pick on Simon and Piggy because they're different in some way. people treat others differently if they're not the same as them. Like if people are creepy and weird compared to other people that are outgoing and creative they will not get the same treatment.

In the book, Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and Simon are hiding from the beast And thinking of a way to fight it. Jack's told the group that Ralph thinks that they're cowards. At that moment Jack was trying to get them not to trust Ralph so that they will pick Jack to become their chief.“He’s like Piggy, He says things like Piggy. He isn’t a proper chief.” This means two things, he's trying to imply that Peggy is weird and that he doesn't like Piggy. Saying Ralph is like Piggy means that he doesn't like either one of them. Since he said  Ralph is a coward and that he does things like Piggy is basically saying he is a coward. He's using Piggy name in the sentence ever so slightly implying that he doesn't like Piggy too. If people are different and any type of way from the rest of the group. Then no one likes them they try to push them to the side like they're nothing, and because piggy is a fat boy with glasses and is a know it all. but just because they do different things doesn't mean they deserve that punishment.

Right now, Simon is next to the pig’s head and even when the pig is falling apart the flies are still on it.  “Simon’s nose and the blood gushed out they left him alone, preferring the pig's high flavor”, the Lord of the Flies is still hanging on the stick like a black ball. Simon gets up and says, “What else is there to do.”. From the quote, you can see why people think Simon is creepy and weird. He is speaking out loud to a pig head. This quote shows how Simon is different from the other boys. Like he would go off and talk to the pig's head and climbing up mountains to see if a beast is real. At this time Ralph and Piggy were about to join Jack's party and Simon was climbing mountains all by himself to find out if a beast was real. The other kids do not want to be around Simon because they do not believe that the beast is real but Simon does. When he comes back to the group to tell the boys that the beast is harmless they think he is the beast that they didn’t believe in was Simon.

On June 26, 2018, Donald Trump created a Travel ban that affects people from Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. He was afraid of terrorists coming into Our society and messing it up. He wanted to stop terrorism but not all people that come from those countries are terrorists. most people from those countries are trying to just come here to get an education. “Radical Islamic Terrorism must be stopped by whatever means necessary!”, this is saying how he will go through so much just to stop radical Islamic. just because some people in the religion did some bad stuff It doesn't mean you have to prevent everyone from coming to America.  

In this sassy, I talked about how people treat others differently if they're not the same as them. So Donald Trump stopping people from Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. When Jack said to Ralph He’s like Piggy, He says things like Piggy. He isn’t a proper chief. Both of these things are making the people that they're doing this to fill a different way and it's just putting people down. Both of things prove my thesis that people treat people differently if they're not the same as them.

Sources Cited:

Saletan, William, and William Saletan. “Trump Blames Violence on Hate Speech-Just Not When the Perpetrators Are White.” Slate Magazine, Slate, 31 Oct. 2018, slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/10/trump-rhetoric-extremist-violence-response.html.

Cassella, Carly. “Trump's Tweets Are Highly Correlated With Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes, Study Finds.” ScienceAlert, www.sciencealert.com/trump-tweet-islam-highly-correlated-anti-muslim-hate-crime-study.

What factors of conflict do you think cause groups to divide? Personally, I believe, as quoted by Robert Kiyosaki, “Most people have a price. And they have a price because of human emotions named fear and greed.” The fear of instability motivates us to work harder and achieve stability. However, once we get that stability, we think of all the better things that could be had. There, the emotion of greed is installed. No matter how much we chase, we are never satisfied. Most of us even going as far as breaking moral rules to satisfy our greed.

In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, young boys are stranded on an island. The boys have to learn to survive by themselves. First, they chose a leader of the group. Ralph, who is chosen and eventually leads the pack, is one of the oldest in the group. Jack, a leader of a choir group, is fed up with Ralph leading. He says, “Hands up,” said Jack strongly, “whoever wants Ralph not to be chief?” (127) Being a former leader himself, Jack doesn’t sit well with another person leading his group. From this example, we can see that fear and greed are both key emotions. Jack fears that as Ralph leads them more and more, the choir boys he once lead, will only take orders from Ralph. Furthermore, Jack was the leading person for hunting. However, it shows that he was greedy for more power and wanted to ultimately be in control of everything. Because of this, he eventually broke from the group and began his own. The term, “While the rich get richer, the poor get poorer,” exposes the greediness of humans. It shows the growing gap between those who have more and those who have less.

The Korean War was a conflict that claimed 2.5 million people’s lives.  According to The History Channel, on June 25, 1950, some 75,000 soldiers of the North Korean Communist army, advised by the Soviet Union, crossed the 38th parallel and invaded pro-Western Republic South Korea. This conflict would soon be more than a battle between the two Koreas. By July, America had entered the war on behalf of the South. As far as American officials were concerned, this dilemma could have  sparked a third World War. Quickly, America wanted an armistice signed with the North Koreans, scared that this war could trigger WWIII. From this example, we can see that both greed and fear play a role in this situation. First, the North Koreans invaded the South because of greed for power and control of the Korea as an whole. Secondly, America tried to sign an armistice with the North because they feared a greater war.

Having chosen the leaders at the start of the book, Piggy wanted to help in a task. However, Jack responded with, “We don’t want you,” said Jack, flatly. “Three’s enough.” Prior to saying that, Jack said to Piggy, “You’re no good at a job like this.” Pointing to moments like this, readers can conclude that Jack isn’t like other leaders. Instead of wanting his followers to like him, he insults them. From the start, Jack was greedy for control and insulted a fellow comrade, without valid reasons, to get his foot down. He was eager to consume all the power.  Similar to Jack, the North Koreans didn’t see South Koreans as comrades. Although they lived in the same land, they shared different beliefs. The North Koreans wanted full control of the land and similar ideology to be shared.

According to BBC.com, although an armistice was signed between participants of the Korean War, no peace treaty was ever issued. Therefore, the Korean War hasn’t officially ended. However, there has been an agreement from both sized to build a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) at the 38th parallel to equally divide the two Koreas in half. Despite that, tensions are still high between North and South Korea. Joint military exercises between America and South Korea are still being practiced today. Furthermore, the North Koreans throughout the years have tested countless nuclear missiles and displayed their military might through army parades. With this example, we can conclude that fear is once again a key emotion. America and South Korea have joint military exercises to prepare for any conflict with the north. On the other hand, the North Koreans test nuclear missiles, host parades showing their million man army and artillery in fear that the rest of the world wouldn’t take their isolated country seriously.

Work Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006.

BBC News, Special Reports “BBC NEWS.” BBC News, BBC,

news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/03/the_korean_war/html/default.stm.

Editors, History.com. “Korean War.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009,

www.history.com/topics/korea/korean-war.

Kiyosaki, T, Robert “A Quote from Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” Goodreads, Goodreads,

Around the world, many people’s lives are affected because of stereotypes, beauty standards, and even laws that tell them that they aren’t “good enough” in the eyes of the society they live in. Beauty standards have an immense impact on the way people are viewed and judged in their day to day lives, which can barr them from jobs and even hurt their credibility. This can be clearly seen in Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, through one of the main characters, Piggy. Piggy had a lot to say throughout the novel about him and his peer’s survival, yet he was seldomly taken seriously. Due to the societal beauty standards the boys were groomed to believe, Piggy was not taken seriously through his life on the island because of his weight.

In the beginning, Ralph and Piggy are becoming acquainted with one another after discovering the other on the deserted island. They begin to go over simple things like what their names are and what they are to do when and if they find any boys on the island besides themselves. After having not been given the same initial respect he gave by asking Ralph his name, Piggy sets himself up to give his name by saying, "’I don't care what they call me,’ he said confidentially, ‘so long as they don't call me what they used to call me at school.’"(11) This interests Ralph so he prompts Piggy to tell him more, which lead to Piggy telling him the name and Ralph immediately making a mockery of it by laughing and jumping around. Ralph calls him Piggy from this point on despite being told not to, and even introduces him to the rest of the boys as “Piggy”. Piggy’s weight makes him a target for the other boys’ nitpicking and bullying throughout the entire novel. None of the other boys look like Piggy which makes him stick out and become easier to bother. This contributes to the boys discrediting the things that he says because they see him as the laughing stock of the group and nothing more. Throughout the novel, Piggy displayed great signs of maturity and intelligence that could’ve been immensely beneficial to the boys survival, yet he was continuously pushed to the side since the boys took away from his credibility because of his appearance.

Later on in the novel, Jack was being chastised by the other boys for allowing the fire to burn out when he said he wouldn’t. He tried to save himself from the embarrassment of the situation by saying that he went to hunt because everyone needed food. Piggy stepped in and attempted to hold Jack accountable for his actions like everyone else was. The embarrassment  infuriated Jack and made him say to Piggy, "You would, would you? Fatty!" (71) This is an explicit example of Piggy being discredited, and bullied, for his weight. He was doing the exact same thing all the other boys were doing but Jack only had a problem with and retaliated against Piggy. Piggy’s weight leads to constant attacks by Jack and the others, and it creates friction in the group when he tries to suggest an idea and immediately gets shot down.

Weight discrimination can be seen in many forms through media, laws, beauty standards, and many other things. It is also often times a major source of bullying, especially when it comes to children, teens, and young adults. This is done to make “the fat kid” feel inadequate for looking different when compared to the bully and the audience they have. Bullying ensues when the victim can’t stick up for themselves or when the bully is being encouraged by others. In The Fat Studies Reader, Weinstock and Krehbiel write, “Like hate crimes, bullying sends a message to the victims-- and those who are (or believe they are) similar to these victims-- that they are unacceptable, bad, wrong, inferior, and so forth.” These feelings tend to stick with the victims through their lives when weight discrimination begins to take on different forms as they grow older.

In December 2016, a BBC article explored this topic when talking to Shavonne Patrice Owens. Owens had just been laid off from her job at Comcast and decided to apply for work at a childcare center. After calling back to follow up multiple times, none of her calls were returned and she says, “I had worked in a day care centre before and was qualified for the position, but they told my friend they weren’t going to hire me because I was too big.” This event took place in Huntsville, Alabama where it is completely legal to discriminate against someone for their weight. In fact, it is legal in forty-nine of fifty American states as stated by the NAAFA. Owens was qualified to work in a childcare center having worked in one before, so there was no actual reason for her to be denied the job opportunity. Societal beauty standards have come a long way in recent years, yet the standard of always being “thin” is still lingering around. Anyone opposite of this standard is targeted and slandered relentlessly whether it be in the workplace, like Owens, online through social media, or in societal and friend groups, like Piggy.

Weight discrimination is a big problem in our society that has severe consequences. In the case of Lord of the Flies, Piggy tragically died because no one took him seriously and they were more concerned with their childish bickering than they were listening to logical reasoning that could’ve kept them all alive. This is an issue everyone is involved in, whether you are the victim, the aggressor, or just a mere bystander. So, what are we to do to fix it?

How do people react to incidents and tragic events? Most would mourn, others would try to put the blame on others. In the story, Lord of the Flies, this theme is brought up repeatedly throughout the book. When the boys end up stranded, they initially rejoice and think of it as a good thing, however, tragedies overtime can begin to break down a person's morals and values.

Towards the beginning of the story when the boys first end up on the island they immediately begin to think about their new found freedom and who should be in charge of the island. "Shut up," said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch. "Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things." "A chief! A chief!" "I ought to be chief," said Jack with simple arrogance, "because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp."(100). An example of this same type of mindset is when the tragic 9/11 attacks occurred. Many had mourned and wanted revenge so there was many injustices to people who were of the Islamic faith. History.com says, FBI Director Robert Mueller said, “vigilante attacks and threats against Arab-Americans will not be tolerated.”  When something as tragic as 9/11 occurred people were quick to want to retaliate, but the director and others wanted to keep the peace and make sure that there was still order in this time. He could’ve acted irrationally and justified the harm that was being done to the Muslim people, but he knew morally that it was wrong and decided to protect those who were being targeted.

During the feast that Jack threw after killing the pig, the boys had killed Simon, because they were afraid of the beast and thought that he was the beast. When it happened Piggy and Ralph were talking to each other about it and they both realized that they were afraid and it caused them to act so irrationally and impulsive, “I know there isn't no beast—not with claws and all that, I mean—but I know there isn't no fear, either."Piggy paused."Unless—" Ralph moved restlessly."Unless what?" "Unless we get frightened of people.” The boys said that they were afraid and admitted to it killing Simon, because they were afraid. During World War 2, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President. Franklin Roosevelt started to force Japanese-American people out of their homes and into internment camps. USHistory.com says, “Over 127,000 United States citizens were imprisoned during World War II. Their crime? Being of Japanese ancestry.” American officials and American people had said that they were afraid of the Japanese turning on them in and being loyal to the Japanese government and military. In both examples both sides, Piggy and Ralph and the American people and government were afraid and acted on it and caused for someone to get hurt.

When Simon was initially killed and everyone ran back to their shelter Ralph and Piggy had a conversation about it, Piggy had tried to brush it off and make excuses for their actions saying it was dark and such, while Ralph was taking the blame and said that what they had did was murder and they acted like savages. ”It was dark. There was that- that bloody dance. There was lighting and thunder and rain. We was scared!’ ‘I wasn’t scared,’ said Ralph slowly, ‘I was I don’t know what I was.’ We was scared!’ said Piggy excitedly. ‘Anything might have happened. It wasn’t what you said.”(156) Piggy justifies the brutal killing by saying that it wasn’t their fault they were dark and afraid and he shouldn’t have been there. While, Ralph owns up to his mistake saying that it their fault and they had intentionally murdered him and just acted without thinking.

When the boys made it to the island there was a lot of bickering over whether someone should be chief or not, but Ralph was more focused on using his power for creating signal fires to be rescued, but Jack wasn’t all too interested in this. Jack apologizes to Ralph for burning out the fire saying that what he had done was wrong. Jack says, “I’m sorry. About the fire, I mean. There I-’ He drew himself up. ‘I apologize.” (72) Jack had made the others upset and had tried to sincerely apologize to the others for causing the disturbance in the lighting of the fire. The fire was an important aspect throughout the story and told the reader a lot about the types of people Ralph and Jack were, Ralph was the one who tried to stay more civilized through the awful situation that they were put in. While, Jack had tried to use this situation as a way to gain power and was the less civilized one and convinced the other hunters to act like monsters.

        All throughout the book we see how the boys have acted either inhumanely or civilized when a major event had occurred. Throughout U.S. history we see how we’ve either acted unjustly or justly towards another group of people when we’ve felt threatened by them, when these injustices happen there is usually people who stand up for what is right and don’t stand with those who do wrong to other people.

Sources Cited:

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006.

“Japanese-American Internment.” Ushistory.org, Independence Hall Association, www.ushistory.org/us/51e.asp.

Editors, History.com. “Reaction to 9/11.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 13 Aug. 2010, www.history.com/topics/21st-century/reaction-to-9-11.

Tayah Brunson

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

March 22, 2019

Is there ever an excuse for violence? People all over the world have seen how violence can be justified with hatred. In connection with real world events, readers have seen negative reactions to change within pages of a novel. Novels such as, Lord of The Flies by William Golding, puts more emphasis on the negative reactions given forth by groups. In either circumstances whether on page or in the reality, when leaders attempt to make change the citizens who are affected by this change often respond with violence. Leaders that promote change in society similarly face opposition, resistance, and even hatred from those who do not want it.

John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy were two political leaders in the 1950’s-60’s. John F. Kennedy in fact being the 35th president of the U.S. The brothers were also advocates for the civil rights movement and believed in the fare treatment of African-Americans. There position as leaders allowed them to push for many changes to be made to the United States. During this era segregation was made possible by the leaders of the country. Laws that kept white people surperior had to be changed, this causes problems for the governmental heads that saw change was needed. Racist citizens,stuck in their bias ways,were against Kennedy’s support of the civil rights movement. After interviewing the man who murdered John F. Kennedy, investigator Gerald Posner stated “What he did hate was the system and what Kennedy stood for. He despised America. He despised capitalism. When he eventually had the opportunity to strike against Kennedy, it was that symbol of the system that he was going after,” (History.com Editors ). The words Posner describes reveal how many white people felt in America. White people under the assumption the world would go to trash if the black were given equality. There were others that thought if African-Americans were treated as humans there would be no more order in society. Oswald’s words exemplify that when a person stands for a movement that is unpopular, it ultimately leads to hatred  Kennedy was targeted and assassinated by Harvey Oswald, (add information about who oswald was here) because of the equality he stood for and for his support if the black community in America. Oswalds hate is what pushed him to commit such a vile offence.

This relates to William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. It relates because in the novel  a group of people turn on their leaders that wanted to regulate their soceity and make change for the better. While the characters in the book were stranded on an island, conflict arose. Many of the boys started to turn savage. The former leader of the boys, Ralph, was shunned by the savages. He spoke up with the intentions of bringing the boys together and forming a unity that was based on humanity. A group of them then revolted against Ralph, shortly they formed a hostility towards him. Their hatred made them turn him into a castaway. Soon after being turned into an outcast, he was singled out by the leader of the savages, Jack, the antagonist. “They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you... They’re going to hunt you tomorrow,” (Golding  188). The word hunt in the quote can lead to the inference their minds no longer saw Ralph as the model leader. Ralph went from the person that all the boys followed willfully to public enemy. With every step taken by Ralph he ran the risk of being killed by the boys he used to comfort and govern. Warned by one the boys who were forced to be savage. Ralph a leader who wanted to cling on to humanity was now being viewed as the problem with their society on the island. Jack wanting to exterminate Ralph as seen in the quote had nothing more to justify it but hatred. In the eyes of the people who opposed Ralph he is an enemy of the public. He is a problem in which must be resolved. Jack wished ill-will upon Ralph when all he wanted was to lessen the chaos that would happen if the boys began to act freely. .

John F. Kennedy’s brother, Robert Kennedy, was another supporter of the civil rights movement. Five years after his brother’s death Robert Kennedy started his democratic presidential campaign. During his campaigning Robert was assassinated. During Robert’s funeral his little brother’s, brothers name, eulogy sounded through America. He stated  “A good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.” These words shined light on the character of a man that only wanted to fight the injustice of America. He fought for the rights of others and lended his hand to help mend a split society. His life tragically ended just as his brother’s did because of the  the whitemans fear of change to an equal.

Piggy, a protagonist, like the kenedy brothers was also assassinated in Lord of The flies. He was not the head of a movement promoting change, but he was a leader who supported it. Piggy tried his hardest to be a problem solver and to bring the groups of savage and civilized together during their time on the island. “Which is better-to be a pack of painted Indians like you are or sensible like Ralph is?” (Golding 180) Piggy’s words  exhibit his character describe characteristics and his true feelings towards the behavior of the boys . He had only the intentions to put an end to the division of the boys on the island. Yet, even with his intentions of cultivating peace, Piggy was killed. Piggy saw that there was no other way to live than undivided and civilized.

As individuals in society may see, the distaste for a cause can lead to the loathing of the leader behind the cause or those who publicly endorse it. This negative view on progressing change can turn into violence towards the leaders who support it.  By analyzing the similarities between say something like the lord of the flies groups and real peopleit is obvious to see that leaders throughout both fictional or realistic have had examples made out of them by the people that felt change would affect them negatively.

Works Cited

Ayton Mel. “Why Was Robert F. Kennedy Assassinated?”. History. Accessed in March, 2019

https://www.historyonthenet.com/robert-f-kennedy-assassinated

History.com Editors. “Assassination of John F. Kennedy”. History. 2018.

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/jfk-assassination

History.com Editors. “Robert Kennedy”. History.  2018

https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/robert-f-kennedy

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. “November 22, 1963: Death Of The President”.

History. Accessed in March, 2018.

https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/november-22-1963-death-of-the-president

William Golding. Lord of The Flies. The Penguin Group. 2006.

At the root of all change is controversy. In both Lord of the Flies, and in the division of the Black Power Movement, the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, there are clear examples of a difference in opinions being the cause of some sort of change. For change to occur there must be controversy. Where there is controversy, there is conversation or action which is how a change is sparked.

It was a time of racial disputes. There was a heap of police brutality. Officers who would abuse their power and harm and/or violate Black people. A young boy was confronted by a police officer. Alongside some other Panthers, Huey P. Newton witnessed this. They addressed the situation by watching with their guns out and making sure the police officer didn’t do anything he wasn’t supposed to. The Black Panther Party is known for their presence. On Socialist Alternative, members of the panthers wrote, “The gun had a huge psychological effect, both on the Black community and the police. For the police, it reversed the fear that they so enjoyed creating in others. But for the Black community, it fired their imagination, people felt empowered by seeing Black brothers and sisters protecting their interests.” As stated, many people sided with the panthers because of the way they stood up for the community. However, since their ideas were so radical many others thought that the image the Black Panthers put out was militaristic and therefore not helpful to the movement. I think often times it is a variety of different things that help create a successful movement. It is the different expressions and routes people take to get a common goal is what inevitably allows for change. The action that was taken by Huey P Newton, and a great sum of others went about fighting for civil rights their own way. Becoming the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, and using their own tactics, which are much more head on.

In the book, Lord of the Flies, Jack does something similar. Jack calls a meeting following the rules the boys on the island worked together to create.  He uses the conch and opposing the state of their priorities, he attempts to be elected as the official leader. “‘I’m going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too’” (Golding pg 127). As controversy arises within the boys, Jack decides to take action. Rather than making rescue and shelter top priorities as Ralph thought best, Jack thought food was the most important. Both of their goals survival. This controversy clouds the island and splits the boys apart. None of the boys stood by Jack when he had called for the vote. Afterwards, many end up following him.  

As Jack did with the boys on the island, Stokely Carmichael brought a different vision to the Black  Panther Parties agenda. Carmichael says “‘Whites who come into the black community with ideas of change seem to want to absolve the power structure of its responsibility for what it is doing, and say that change can only come through black unity, which is the worst kind of paternalism..... If we are to proceed toward true liberation, we must cut ourselves off from white people..... [otherwise] we will find ourselves entwined in the tentacles of the white power complex that controls this country.’” Instead of having white allies, as the Party did initially; using these white allies  to help their vision, Stokely Carmichael thought that the Black Power movement wouldn’t do any good if they had these white allies by their side. This is an  extremely controversial statement. Many thought that the only way Black people could have liberation was with the help of White people. Carmichael and many others believed true liberation would come if Black people were separated from Whites. Therefore, any help from white people was unwanted. In another article they say, “Contrasting views on a strategy for Black liberation began to emerge.”

Jack and Ralph had contrasting views on a strategy for survival.

Work Cited

Golding , William. Lord of the Flies . The Penguin Group , 2006.

“The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.” Socialist Alternative, www.socialistalternative.org/panther-black-rebellion/the-black-panther-party-for-self-defense/.

Baggins, Brian. Black Panther Party, www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/.

Duncan, Garrett Albert. “Black Panther Party.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 Dec. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Panther-Party.

Ida McGrath

Ms. Pahomov and Ms. Rymer

English 2

26 March 2019

Impact of Authority Figures on Morals

The morality of humans has been debated since before we can remember. The majority likes to believe that humans are good-natured, and that only very few people are truly evil. Yet both murder and war still often occur. This leaves us to wonder what is really true at all? This idea lies at the center of the novel “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. The allegorical story follows a group of boys from the ages of 7 to 12 as they struggle to keep in touch with their humanity while stranded on an island. The book sparked a massive debate on the psychology behind one's morals, but the idea behind it has been around for centuries. Many have questioned just how far one can be pushed before their morals kick in, which brings up the factor of authoritative pressures. The guidance of authoritative figures has a massive impact on one's' morality and their ability to inflict harm on others.

The theory that authoritative pressures play a role in someone’s morality is a major part of the plot of “Lord of The Flies.” The group of boys are left without any supervision on the island, so they voted for a chief, choosing between two of the older boys, Ralph and Jack. Ralph wins the election by a landslide and Jack is quite upset by it. Further into the book, Jack split off from the group after an intense quarrel with Chief Ralph. He invited others to join his rebellion, which the majority of the boys did. He ruled the new group with an iron fist by using their fear as a tactic to control them. Even before they had officially deemed him as their leader he was doing it. In the begining of the book during an assembly, Ralph tried to tell the rest of the boys that the beast isn’t real, Jack assured them that it is real as he knewhe could use it to his benifit, “He gave a wild whoop and leapt down to the pale sand. At once the platform was full of noise and excitement, scramblings, screams and laughter. The assembly shredded away and became a discursive and random scatter from the palms to the water and away along the beach, beyond night-sight.”(Golding 70) Jack knew that the beast wasn’t real, he had admitted it just moments before. But, as he saw the assembly start to become dissorganized, and the other boys’ lack of respect for Ralph’s rules, he took advantage of his opportunity. He knew that the destruction of the current system they had built could create a new opportunity for him to be leader. This shows the reader once again that he puts his own desires before the actual good of the group and their basic survival. This pattern of Jack maniplulating the other boys continues throughout the book and adds to the pressures he continues to put on them to do what he says.

After WWI and WWII the idea that average citizens were capable of committing such henious acts was terrifying to people. So the idea that they were simply taking orders was brought up. Which then produced one question, could any person be pushed to this extreme under the right conditions? A psychologist at Yale University named Stanley Milgram decided to study this. He designed an experiment with a range of 40 males aged from 20 to 50. Those men were sent into a room with two actors, one playing a "learner" and the other the "experimenter". The men being tested were to be a “teacher”, placed on the opposite side of a wall as the actors and were to ask the learner a series of questions. If the learner got a question wrong, they were to administer a shock with an increasing level of volts each time. There were 30 different levels, the lowest being 15 volts, a slight shock, and the highest being 450 volts, which is a dangerous amount. If the teacher refused to do it, the experimenter had a series of 4 commands to get them to continue. “Please continue’, ‘The experiment requires you to continue, ‘It is absolutely essential that you continue’ and ‘You have no other choice but to continue.” (SimplyPsychology) By using language like this, it added the threat that if something went wrong it would be their fault and that this was something that needed to be completed. Even if the men had no relation to this man giving them instructions, the respect we are told to have for authority figures compelled the men to believe the Experimenter and do what they were told, even if it was against what they believed in. At the end of the experiment, two-thirds of the men went all the way to 450 volts and every single one of them went up to at least 300 volts. This showed Milgram the shocking results that, your everyday, run of the mill people are able to follow orders of an authority figure even to the extent of killing someone.

This can be seen as a direct reflection of Jack’s relationship with the other boys. They of course, compared to the men in the experiment, are in a far more extreme situation. The boy's lives are potentially on the line, and can also see the direct effect of their actions play out in front of them. Contrary to the Milgram Experiment, where they were shielded behind a wall, only hearing the screams of the men they were hurting. But before any of this starts, we can already see the pressure that Jack holds above the boys and how he wields it. Without even being fully introduced to his character we start to get a sense of the way he interacts with others. During the election of their leader, Jack believed he should be in charge solely based off of the fact that he is, as he put it plainly, "Chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp."(Golding 17) Except for the choir boys, none of the boys had seen Jack represent any form of leadership so when it came down to the vote, Ralph won. “All right. Who wants Jack for chief?" With dreary obedience, the choir raised their hands.” (Golding 17) The reader watches as the non-choir boys all leaned towards voting for Ralph, as an internal battle took place in the Choir Boys. It seemed as though they too wanted to vote for Ralph, but felt the underlying pressure from Jack to vote for him. They ended up complying later on. This can be seen as a sneak peek into his methods of leadership as later on in the book, most of his followers simply follow him as they feel pushed to.

This is shown again towards the end of the book. After the boys had split up into two main groups the readers watch as the boys in Jack’s group tied up Wilfred for what seemed to be no apparent reason. "He's going to beat Wilfred.’ ‘What for?’ Robert shook his head doubtfully. ‘I don't know. He didn't say. He got angry and made us tie Wilfred up. He's been’ --he giggled excitedly-- ‘he's been tied for hours, waiting--’ ‘But didn't the chief say why?’ ‘I never heard him.” (Golding 124) We see as the boys have become so conditioned to simply follow orders that they don’t even question the reason behind their actions anymore. Similar to the men involved in the experiment, the boys are willing to inflict pain on the others even though they may have experienced something similar. We even see Robert, a boy who had just recently been faced with being the prey of the group's antics, now giggling about the similar situation he had just put Wilfred in. Which truly proves how numb they’ve become to the whole situation and concept of causing harm on another individual.

Milgram came to the conclusion that people have two different states of mind in social situations, the Autonomous State and Agentic State. The Autonomous State meaning, they take control and responsibility for their actions and the result of those actions. And the Agentic State meaning, they allow others to control them and then pass off the responsibility of the effects of their actions to the person who gave them the orders. During the experiment, one can watch the men participating going through the stages of each of these states. One man, after shocking a man with 180 vaults and hearing the actor cry out, says, “I can't stand it, I'm not gonna kill that man."(Vimeo) But that changes after the Experimenter tells him, that he as the Experimenter, takes full responsiblity if anything happens to the Student being shocked. It only takes him one more time for him to confirm this and for the man to remove all the guilt from his back, before then continuing on with the experiment. He even goes as far to continue to shock the Student while they are crying out to “get them out of here” with only slight hesitation. The man only completely stops once again once he reaches the 450 vaults, protesting that he thinks the Student has been hurt. Showing once again that even just with the slightest pressure from an authority figure or displacement of responsiblity a person is able to easily defy their personal morals.

The reader can see this theory clearly reflected through the different ways Piggy and Ralph react and cope with the death of Simon. The two boys had gotten caught up into acting out the ritual of killing the pig. All the boys had danced around chanting, “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding 128) During the frenzy of it all Simon returned from finding the “parachute man”, and the boys suddenly attacked him. He ends up being killed and the next morning Piggy and Simon sat on the beach trying to cope with their actions. Simon says, "Piggy.’ ‘Uh?’ ‘That was Simon.’ ‘You said that before.’ ‘Piggy.’ ‘Uh?’ ‘That was murder.’ ‘You stop it!’ said Piggy, shrilly. ‘What good're you doing talking like that?’ He jumped to his feet and stood over Ralph. ‘It was dark. There was that--that bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain. We was scared!"(Golding 120) While Ralph tries to deal with the responsiblity of his actions and blames himself, representing the Autonmous State. Piggy on the other hand represents the Agentic State. The reader watches as Piggy trys to rationalize the situation, seeking to find anything and anyone to blame other then himself, much like the man in the experiment.

The idea behind Milgram’s experiment was highly inspired by war criminals defending their actions by simply saying they were only taking orders from their superiors. The idea behind simply giving soldiers consequences for their actions was suddenly made far more complicated then orignally perceived when the idea of free will was brought up. This can also be brought up when questioning the boys behavior and potential consiquences for their actions. “Lord of The Flies” ends with the boys being rescued by a group of Naval Sailors, leaving the aftermath up to interpretation. Will the boys tell what they did? Will their actions be excused?  It all comes back to the same basic question of how far one can be pushed.

Works Cited

matt. “The Milgram Experiment (Full Film).” YouTube, YouTube, 23 Dec. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdUu3u9Web4.

“Milgram Experiment.” Vimeo, Vimeo, 26 Mar. 2019, vimeo.com/93599024.

Mcleod, Saul. “The Milgram Experiment.” Milgram Experiment | Simply Psychology, Simply Psychology, 5 Feb. 2017, www.simplypsychology.org/milgram.html.

“Milgram Experiment - Will People Do Anything If Ordered?” Milgram Experiment - Will People Do Anything If Ordered?, Explorable, explorable.com/stanley-milgram-experiment.

Justine Koffi

Ms. Pahomov & Ms. Rhymer

English 2

26 March 2019

The Devil or You?

Why do people do bad things? Do they know those things are wrong when they do it? In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there is a group of boys that get stuck on an island after a plane crash. The boys quickly change and start to do things they wouldn’t do back home. The boys know some of the things they do is wrong, which causes them to justify it by blaming it on a beast, who they all fear. A lot of times, when people are not willing to admit their wrong doings, they blame it on non existent creatures or spirits. Often times now, people blame the devil for everything evil. There has never been a sighting of the devil and no one knows if it is real, but it is something many people believe in because it’s hard to believe that people will just do horrible things by their own will. Similarly, in the book, the boys fear the idea of the beast and even blame the beast for the killing of one of them. It becomes clear that the beast is not real just as demons and the devil are not real in the real world.

In the summer of 1976, infamous serial killer David Berkowitz, a.k.a Son of Sam,  killed six people and injured seven others in New York. Once he was caught, he blamed the dog of his neighbor who he claimed was possessing him to kill those people. Years later in an interview, he says, “As far as I’m concerned, that was not me. That was not me. Even the name, I hate that name, I despise the name.” It was only when he was caught and held responsible that he began to blame it on other beings. He says it was not him because people can’t handle the fact that they do things on their own accord. Even after all the years he spent in jail, he is still focused on forgetting because he can’t take accountability for what he did.

Furthermore, very early in the book, there is mention of the beast that some of the boys fear. Later on in the book, it becomes clear that the beat is one of the reasons the boys start to act savage. While they’re speaking about the best, Simon says “maybe there is a beast… what I mean is, maybe it’s only us.” Golding then provides some insight into what Simon may mean by stating, “Simon became inarticulate in an effort to express mankind's essential illness” (89). Simon is saying that there is a beast, but it doesn’t have claws and sharp teeth like many of them believe. Instead, he’s bringing up the idea that the beast may be one of them. Many of them begin to disregard their morals very quickly as they get on the island which is when the beast started to come up. The boys conjured up a beast to blame very early in their time on the island and Simon realized that. People will always change into their natural selves when they are put into a position like the boys and that is what the author described as mankind’s essential illness. It is their ability to do things that they know is wrong and have no remorse or hold themselves accountable.

In the case of the Son of Sam, he claims to have found God and believed that what he did was wrong and yet continued to say that the shootings  “were a break from reality.” He continues, “I thought I was doing something to appease the devil.” He has yet to take responsibility for the shootings. Finding religion may have made it easier for him to blame creatures like the devil because it says that the devil is the root of all evil. That saying gives many people an excuse which is why he still does not want to take accountability for his actions. He even says that he believes he deserves the sentence that he received. To say something like that, you have to believe that it was you who did it and it should be you who suffered the consequences. Still, he refuses to say it aloud.

Later on in the book, Simon starts to believe in a beast. Golding uses an encounter that Simon has with the beast to show the nature of the beast. The beast asks Simo, “ You knew didn’t you?  I’m a part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are the way they are?” (143). Although Simon still doesn’t believe in a literal beast, he still blames the inner beast for the boys’ problems. The author reveals to the audience that there is no beast, and that he is imagining the conversation believing that he is speaking to a beast when it is actually just a large parachute. To Simon, he is talking to the beast who is admitting that he is the reason the boys start to divide and act savage. Simon starts to understand that it is the beast and not the boys themselves that are causing the divides and change in the boys. Simon, and many of the other boys may not understand why all of these things are happening so they need to blame something else.

In conclusion, people do usually have a sense of right and wrong and consciously chose to do the wrong thing. Then they must find something out of this world to explain it because otherwise, it would just mean people do bad things just because they can or want to. People blame non-existent creatures like the devil and the beast because they need to believe that people aren’t all bad. Blaming something else may have given the boys hope that they weren’t losing all of their innocence and morals because it was a choice, but because the beast called them to have to learn to protect themselves and kill. Just like the Son of Sam may feel better knowing that he didn’t just kill that many people, but it was the possessed dog who made him do it. That other beings are at fault for human savagery because no one can truly admit what “mankind's essential illness” is.

Work Cited

Editors, History.com. “Son of Sam Arrested.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Feb.

2010, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/son-of-sam-arrested.

Sitzer , Carly. “‘Son of Sam’ Killer David Berkowitz Speaks: ‘I Was Just Very Lost and

Confused.’” “Son of Sam” Killer David Berkowitz Speaks: “I Was Just Very Lost and Confused,” In Touch Weekly , 13 June 2018, www.intouchweekly.com/posts/son-of-sam-david-berkowitz-interview-138931/.

WIlliam Golding. Lord of The Flies. Penguin Books, 2006.  

Worthen, Meredith. “David Berkowitz.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 16 Jan. 2019,

www.biography.com/people/david-berkowitz-9209372.