Authority Figure In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

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An authoritative figure is someone who is respected and obeyed by others because they hold a certain amount of power or knowledge; like a parent, teacher or policeman. They play a critical role in a child's development because they provide structure for safety, proper behavior and self-responsibility. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the absence of authority on the island to express how violence and chaos is destined to take over in an environment without rules and consequences. Golding attempts to prove this point by having the boys linger from their responsibilities, become distracted by the idea of power and allow their violent desires to completely take over. Without an authority figure there is no structure for the boys so they…show more content…
The boys continue to divide and when teams are made, chaos is bound to happen. When Ralph is talking to the boys at a meeting, he tells them what he wants to be done and uses the fact that he is chief as a way to persuade the boys into listening to him. He says, “ I’m the chief...because you chose me! And we are going to keep the fire going. Now you go run after food-” (166). Ralph wants things done his way only and instead of focusing on what has been done he is focusing on what the boys are failing to do. The power of being chief is distracting him from truly helping the boys work together and get things done. Jack becomes consumed with the idea of power as well and he no longer thinks about the boys or rescue but only himself and being a leader. During the feast of his new tribe, Golding writes, “Power lay in the brown swell of his forearms: authority sat on his shoulder and chattered in his ear like an ape,” (165). Jack thinks of himself as an idol, he only wanted to be chief for the power he had been craving. They become self-absorbed to the extent that they do not care about survival but only about power and becoming chief. The boys are all losing their minds because of the absence of authority and not having a designated leader to keep things under
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