1976. The conflict created when the will of an individual opposes the will of the majority is the recurring theme of many novels, plays, and essays. Select the work of an essayist who is in opposition to his or her society; or from a work of recognized literary merit, select a fictional character who is in opposition to his or her society. In a critical essay, analyze the conflict and discuss the moral and ethical implications for both the individual and the society. Do not summarize the plot or action of the work you choose.
In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is a character of innocence and purity that has to face the harshes of society and the savagery that his opponent Jack creates on the island. Jack’s authority as a hunter creates havoc and chaos on the island, forcing the boy to lose their sense of unity and loss of innocence. The boys fail to coexist, and Ralph’s failure to create a civilized society causes the boy’s to lose their loss of innocence and face rivalry and hatred amongst each other.
When the boys land on the island alone, they create a unity amongst each other and agree to cooperate in order to escape the island and be rescued. When Jack steps up to claim power, the boys blindly follow in his footsteps and do as they are told. Ralph is in a conflict with the way Jack runs the island with his morals and guidelines. Jack acts like a savage; he believes that hunting pigs, doing dances around a fire and talking to dead creatures with save him and the island. Ralph is startled by Jack’s immaturity and refuses to listen to the way Jack’s orders. In this respect, Ralph is rebelling and wants to create a civilized system with the boys.
Ralph wants order; he wants people to be assigned a specific job and work together equally amongst each other. Jack wants to show that his clan is the best, and that the hunters should have more respect due to the fact that they provide food to the other boys. When the boys go hunting, Jack kills a pig, this act of killing creates a dark side in him and forces him to believe that he is able to do anything, including killing his peers. When things get out of hand and Jack turns against anyone who opposes him, he orders his clan to kill them. In this respect, each character slowly but surely loses their innocence. Due to these experiences, the boys do not react in remorse but rather in a cocky and defiant manner. Ralph and his friend Piggy can only truly see the beast that is manifested within them.
Ralph’s rebellion towards the rest of the uncivilized society on the island shows how he morally makes right decisions and turns away from immature actions and deeds. His morality and faith come into question when Jack opposes his every move and challenges him to become savage-like. Although Ralph is tempted, he turns away and continues to control the beast that lives within them as he slowly watches his peers become more beastly and irrational in their actions.
For the introduction,a little more of a general statement might be a good idea, to ease the reader into your writing.
ReplyDeleteFor the thesis, make sure you hit on the specific points of moral and ethical implications for individual and society. You should point them out explicitly. I had trouble locating those ponts exactly
Your organization is logical, and it flows. It makes reading it a lot easier, and the audience can follow your thought process quite well.
Your conclusion is great, and is just what I was looking for: a concise attempt at conveying the message of your essay to your reader.
Nice job.
When writing your thesis statement make sure that you clearly answer the question and set up a wide backdrop for the rest of your essay. You did a good job of connecting the “moral and ethnic implications” into your essay. I thought you could have focused a little more on the specific things that Ralph did to rebel against society. When you discussed the loss of innocence of the boys was that your hidden “so what” question because it doesn’t directly deal with the prompt? Overall I thought you did a good job.
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