223 lines
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223 lines
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ARRoGANT CoURiERS WiTH ESSaYS
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Grade Level: Type of Work Subject/Topic is on:
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[ ]6-8 [ ]Class Notes [Essay on William Golding]
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[ ]9-10 [ ]Cliff Notes ['s Novel Lord of the ]
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[x]11-12 [x]Essay/Report [Flies ]
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[ ]College [ ]Misc [ ]
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Dizzed: o4/95 # of Words:2303 School: ? State: ?
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<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>>Chop Here><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
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In his first novel, William Golding used a group of boys stranded on a
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tropical island to illustrate the malicious nature of mankind. Lord of the
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Flies dealt with changes that the boys underwent as they gradually adapted
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to the isolated freedom from society. Three main characters depicted
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different effects on certain individuals under those circumstances. Jack
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Merridew began as the arrogant and self-righteous leader of a choir. The
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freedom of the island allowed him to further develop the darker side of his
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personality as the Chief of a savage tribe. Ralph started as a
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self-assured boy whose confidence in himself came from the acceptance of
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his peers. He had a fair nature as he was willing to listen to Piggy. He
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became increasingly dependent on Piggy's wisdom and became lost in the
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confusion around him. Towards the end of the story his rejection from
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their society of savage boys forced him to fend for himself. Piggy was an
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educated boy who had grown up as an outcast. Due to his academic
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childhood, he was more mature than the others and retained his civilized
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behaviour. But his experiences on the island gave him a more realistic
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understanding of the cruelty possessed by some people. The ordeals of the
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three boys on the island made them more aware of the evil inside themselves
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and in some cases, made the false politeness that had clothed them
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dissipate. However, the changes experienced by one boy differed from those
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endured by another. This is attributable to the physical and mental
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dissimilarities between them.
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Jack was first described with an ugly sense of cruelty that made him
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naturally unlikeable. As leader of the choir and one of the tallest boys
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on the island, Jack's physical height and authority matched his arrogant
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personality. His desire to be Chief was clearly evident in his first
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appearance. When the idea of having a Chief was mentioned Jack spoke out
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immediately. "I ought to be chief," said Jack with simple arrogance,
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"because I'm chapter chorister and head boy." He led his choir by
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administering much discipline resulting in forced obedience from the
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cloaked boys. His ill- nature was well expressed through his impoliteness
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of saying, "Shut up, Fatty." at Piggy. (p. 23) However, despite his
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unpleasant personality, his lack of courage and his conscience prevented
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him from killing the first pig they encountered. "They knew very well why
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he hadn't: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into
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living flesh; because of the unbearable blood." (p. 34) Even at the
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meetings, Jack was able to contain himself under the leadership of Ralph.
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He had even suggested the implementation of rules to regulate themselves.
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This was a Jack who was proud to be British, and who was shaped and still
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bound by the laws of a civilized society. The freedom offered to him by
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the island allowed Jack to express the darker sides of his personality that
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he hid from the ideals of his past environment. Without adults as a
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superior and responsible authority, he began to lose his fear of being
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punished for improper actions and behaviours. This freedom coupled with
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his malicious and arrogant personality made it possible for him to quickly
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degenerate into a savage. He put on paint, first to camouflage himself
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from the pigs. But he discovered that the paint allowed him to hide the
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forbidden thoughts in his mind that his facial expressions would otherwise
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betray. "The mask was a thing on its own behind which Jack hid, liberated
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from shame and self-consciousness." (p. 69) Through hunting, Jack lost his
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fear of blood and of killing living animals. He reached a point where he
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actually enjoyed the sensation of hunting a prey afraid of his spear and
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knife. His natural desire for blood and violence was brought out by his
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hunting of pigs. As Ralph became lost in his own confusion, Jack began to
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assert himself as chief. The boys realizing that Jack was a stronger and
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more self-assured leader gave in easily to the freedom of Jack's savagery.
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Placed in a position of power and with his followers sharing his crazed
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hunger for violence, Jack gained encouragement to commit the vile acts of
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thievery and murder. Freed from the conditions of a regulated society,
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Jack gradually became more violent and the rules and proper behaviour by
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which he was brought up were forgotten. The freedom given to him unveiled
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his true self under the clothing worn by civilized people to hide his
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darker characteristics.
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Ralph was introduced as a fair and likeable boy whose self-assured mad
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him feel secure even on the island without any adults. His interaction
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with Piggy demonstrated his pleasant nature as he did not call him names
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with hateful intent as Jack had. His good physique allowed him to be well
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accepted among his peers, and this gave him enough confidence to speak out
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readily in public. His handsome features and the conch as a symbol of
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power and order pointed him out from the crowd of boys and proclaimed him
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Chief. "There was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out:
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there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most
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powerful, there was the conch." (p. 24) From the quick decisions he made
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as Chief near the beginning of the novel, it could be seen that Ralph was
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well-organized. But even so, Ralph began repeatedly to long and daydream
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of his civilized and regular past. Gradually, Ralph became confused and
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began to lose clarity in his thoughts and speeches. "Ralph was puzzled by
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the shutter that flickered in his brain. There was something he wanted to
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say; then the shutter had come down." (p. 156) He started to feel lost in
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their new environment as the boys, with the exception of Piggy began to
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change and adapt to their freedom. As he did not lose his sense of
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responsibility, his viewpoints and priorities began to differ from the
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savages'. He was more influenced by Piggy than by Jack, who in a way could
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be viewed as a source of evil. Even though the significance of the fire as
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a rescue signal was slowly dismissed, Ralph continued to stress the
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importance of the fire at the mountaintop. He also tried to reestablish
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the organization that had helped to keep the island clean and free of
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potential fire hazards. This difference made most of the boys less
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convinced of the integrity of Ralph. As his supporters became fewer and
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Jack's insistence on being chief grew, his strength as a leader diminished.
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But even though Ralph had retained much of his past social conditioning, he
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too was not spared from the evil released by the freedom from rules and
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adults. During the play-fight after their unsuccessful hunt in the course
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of their search for the beast, Ralph for the first time, had an opportunity
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to join the hunters and share their desire for violence. "Ralph too was
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fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh.
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The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering." (p. 126) Without rules
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to limit them, they were free to make their game as real as they wanted.
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Ralph did not understand the hatred Jack had for him, nor did he fully
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comprehend why their small and simple society deteriorated. This confusion
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removed his self-confidence and made him more dependent on Piggy's
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judgement, until Piggy began prompting him on what needed to be said and
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done. Towards the end of the novel, Ralph was forced into independence
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when he lost all his followers to Jack's savagery, and when Piggy and the
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conch were smashed by Roger's boulder. He was forced to determine how to
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avoid Jack's savage hunters alone. Ralph's more responsible behaviour set
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him apart from the other savage boys and made it difficult for him to
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accept and realize the changes they were undergoing. Becoming lost in his
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exposure to their inherent evil, Ralph's confusion brought about the
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deterioration of his initial self-assurance and ordered temperament,
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allowing him to experience brief outbursts of his beastly self.
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Piggy was an educated boy rejected by the kids of his age group on
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account of his being overweight. It was his academic background and his
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isolation from the savage boys that had allowed him to remain mostly
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unchanged from his primitive experiences on the island. His unattractive
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attributes segregated him from the other boys on the island. He was not
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welcomed on their first exploratory trip of the island. "We don't want
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you," Jack had said to Piggy. (p. 26) Piggy was like an observer learning
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from the actions of others. His status in their society allowed him to
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look at the boys from an outsider's perspective. He could learn of the
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hatred being brought out of the boys without having to experience the
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thirst for blood that Ralph was exposed to. Although he was easily
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intimidated by the other boys, especially by Jack, he did not lack the
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self-confidence to protest or speak out against the indignities from the
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boys as the shy former choirboy Simon did. This self-confidence differed
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from that of Ralph's as it did not come from his acceptance by their peers
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nor did it come from the authority and power Jack had grown accustomed to.
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It came from the pride in having accumulated the wisdom that was obviously
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greater than that of most of the other kids at his age. Piggy not only
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knew what the rules were, as all the other boys did, but he also had the
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patience to at least wonder why the rules existed. This intuition made
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Piggy not only more aware of why the rules were imposed, thereby ensuring
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that he would abide by them even when they were not enforced. When the
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boys flocked to the mountaintop to build their fire, Piggy shouted after
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them, "Acting like a crowd of kids!" (p. 42) Piggy was a very liable
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person who could look ahead and plan carefully of the future. He shouted
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at the boys' immature recklessness, "The first thing we ought to have made
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was shelters down there by the beach... Then when you get here you build a
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bonfire that isn't no use. Now you been and set the whole island on fire."
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(p. 50) Like Ralph, his sense of responsibility set him apart from the
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other boys. The author used the image of long hair to illustrate Piggy's
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sustenance of his civilized behaviour. "He was the only boy on the island
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whose hair never seemed to grow." (p. 70) The author's description of his
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baldness also presented an image of old age and made Piggy seem to lack the
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strength of youth. The increasing injustice Piggy endured towards the end
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of the novel was far greater than any that he had encountered previously.
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In his fit of anger, Piggy cried out, "I don't ask for my glasses back, not
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as a favour. I don't ask you to be a sport, I'll say, not because you're
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strong, but because what's right's right." (p. 189) This new standard of
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harshness brought tears out of him as the suffering became intolerable.
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For a brief moment, Piggy's anger at the unfairness and his helplessness
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robbed him of his usual logical reasoning, which returned when he was
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confronted with his fear of the savages. Piggy was an intelligent boy with
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a good understanding of their situation on the island. He was able to
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think clearly and plan ahead with caution so that even in the freedom of
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their unregulated world, his wisdom and his isolation from the savage boys
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kept him from giving into the evil that had so easily consumed Jack and his
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followers. The resulting cruelty Jack inflicted upon him taught Piggy how
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much more pain there was in the world.
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Lord of the flies used changes experienced by boys on an uninhabited
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island to show the evil nature of man. By using different characters the
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author was able to portray various types of people found in our society.
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Their true selves were revealed in the freedom from the laws and punishment
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of a world with adults. Under the power and regulations of their former
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society, Jack's inner evil was suppressed. But when the rules no longer
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existed, he was free to do what malice he desired. Ralph had grown so used
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to the regularity of a civilized world, that the changes they underwent
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were difficult for him to comprehend. He became confused and less capable
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of thinking clearly and independently. Although he too had experienced the
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urge for violence that had driven Jack and the hunters to momentary peaks
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of madness, his more sensitive personality and his sense of obligation
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saved him from complete savagery. These two traits also helped to keep
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Piggy from becoming primitive in behaviour. He was made an outcast by his
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undesirable physique and his superior intelligence. This isolation and
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wisdom also helped Piggy to retain his civilized behaviour. As well, he
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was made painfully more aware of the great amount of injustice in the
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world. From these three characters, it could be seen that under the same
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circumstances, different individuals can develop in different ways
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depending on the factors within themselves and how they interacted with
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each other. Their personalities and what they knew can determine how they
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would interpret and adapt to a new environment such as the tropical island.
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Not everyone has so much malevolence hidden inside themselves as to become
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complete savages when released from the boundaries of our society. Some
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people will, because of the ways they were conditioned, remember and abide
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by the rules they had depended on for social organization and security.
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Endnotes
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Essay on
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DIFFERENT CHANGES IN DIFFERENT
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CHARACTERS Of
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Lord of the Flies
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