Lord Of The Flies: Churchillian Times

704 Words3 Pages
“Keep calm and carry on!” was a famous slogan used by the British government during the Churchill years. Winston Churchill was one of the world’s greatest leaders because of his outstanding ability to inspire people throughout the toughest of times. Churchill displayed never-ending determination and enthusiasm as he led Britain to victory in the Second World War. Churchillian times were times when the world was in conflict between a democratic rule on one side and a dictatorship on the other. These qualities are also portrayed by some of the characters in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, when a group of young boys find themselves stranded on a deserted, coral island. This reflects the time when Golding was writing Lord of the Flies with the cold war tensions between the democratic West and a totalitarian East. One of the main characters is a charismatic fair haired boy with broad shoulders called Ralph. He is voted ‘chief’ by the boys at their very first…show more content…
He starts to rebel and non compliant and then breaks away from the community as established and sets up his own society which is unruly, dictatorial without reference to the other members of this break away community. This community is one based on Jacks personality and he is a “strong” leader, this is like the personality cults of Russian leaders at the time who were dictatorial and led without real reference to others. In contrast Ralph’s intelligence and good judgement serve him well when he observes Jack’s mortification at not being elected chief. Ralph reacts quickly to keep Jack on side. “Jack’s in charge of the choir.” Unfortunately Jack abuses his position above others. While Ralph uses his power to benefit everyone (e.g. built signal fires and looking out for the littluns), Jack uses it to have people fetch him drinks. Jack uses his power for his own good, not for the good of

    More about Lord Of The Flies: Churchillian Times

      Open Document