English 2 · Pahomov · C Band Public Feed
Respect the Disrespected- LOTF- Cynthia To
Why do people treat different people unfairly? This usually happens because of miscommunications, misunderstandings, or just plain jealousy because of the different classes, race, and faith of others. In such a social society, being “normal” is the norm for our society and being special is deterring. Special needs people aren’t always treated with the same respect as people considered “normal” are. Special needs people are often looked down upon. In the book the Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, none of the other boys would listen to Piggy when he had the almighty conch in his hand. This behavior shows that symbols are not as powerful as our society wants them to be. This is because the power ultimately lies with the individual and the social status of that individual and not the object itself.
In the chapter,5 , Beast from Water, Ralph set up a meeting about the beast and no one could talk unless they were holding the conch. That was their way for one person to talk at a time, but it didn't really work. When it came time for Piggy to have the conch in his hands, no one wanted to listen to what he had to say even though he had information. The boys treated Piggy like he was different, just because he had specs, ass-mar, and he was a bit heavier than most of the other boys on the island.“‘Sit down!’ ‘Shut up!’ ‘Take the conch!’ ‘Sod you!’ ‘Shut up!’ Ralph shouted. ‘Hear him! He’s got the conch!’” (89) The meaning of the conch is for one person to talk at a time and to show leadership and power. At the time, Ralph was on Piggy’s side and tried to enforce the rule no matter who the hand the conch in their possession. That rule worked until Piggy had the conch and then no one listened. This shows that people would rather listen to the patient with the normal appearance instead of the person with the special needs or different appearance. This shows that people that are similar to Piggy are not being appreciated but ignored.
The book is not the only time that example has happened. This social stigma has also happened in reality. In a middle school in Cleveland, Ohio, Shaker Middle School made it on the news for the wrong reasons. The broadcasting talked about a little kid with special needs was walking out of school and was targeted because he was different from the other kids. This just shows that no matter what scenario it is, different isn’t always. The people who are different are usually treated poorly through abuse and punishment like how in the book the Lord of the flies. Piggy was an outcast that had a lot of problems and no one would listen to him and would only push him around.
In our society today, people try and use symbol to indicate power. This shows that in order to get power, a symbol is needed to represent it and drive the meaning of power home towards others. Throughout history, symbol and power have been hand in hand with each other. Martin Luther King Jr., for example, stood up for people during the Civil Rights Movement. He didn’t use any physical symbols but his speeches that he wrote were emotional and vocal symbols. His speeches gave the Black communities. He gave them hope that things were going to be better. Martin Luther King Jr. never used violence or abuse to make people to believe him. He made people feel safe and comfortable. He was a great leader and very peaceful. When comparing Martin Luther King Jr. to the LotF leader, Jack, it is evident that they were two different types of leaders. Jack was similar to a dictator and used fear and cruelty to gain power.
Another example from the book showed that power ultimately lied with the individual, not the object itself. At the end of the book, the boys have no other hope in getting off of the island so they started to hunt one another and went against people, slowly killing the people that did not obey the leader. This happened until the officer came to rescue the boys from the island.
During the rescue, the boys reflected on what happened on the island and what they did was wrong. When approached by the officer, “Ralph shook his head. The officer looked past him to the group of painted boys. ‘Who’s boss here?’ ‘I am,’ said Ralph loudly.” (201) After everything that happened on the island, the boys left still wanting to gain the power that everyone so ruthlessly fought for. This shows that the kids to want to have power, even though they could be able to go back home and that they already lost two innocent lives, Simon and Piggy.
While Ralph was answering the officer’s question, he didn’t use the conch to speak. This signified the loss of the need for a symbol and power. Ralph was just glad to have this be over and that everything that happened started to sink in along with the guilt. Ralph had a greed of power and wanted to answer the questions about the island. He could not really answer to them because the only person who know the answers to the questions was Piggy, who was killed by Roger. Jack started to cry while the answering the question, “ He gave himself up to them now for the first time on island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body.” (202) Jack and the other boys finally understood what they did to Simon and Piggy was wrong and there's nothing they can do to fix it. This made Ralph forget about having his power back and made him focus on how he lost true and wise friend, Piggy.
Overall, the Lord of the Flies demonstrated that power and greed cannot be represented by a symbol but by the popularity status and normalcy of a person. In the end, readers saw that symbols mean nothing without the leader. In the book, the boys only realized that after two deaths and a rescue.
Works Cited:
Golding, William. Lord Of The Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.
Seymour, Chloe. Martin Luther King Jr. -- a symbol of courage. Communication Report. January 21, 2016. <http://www.tacomlcmccommunityreport.com/features/1.16featureMLKremarks.aspx>
WOIO.Family says boy with special needs was assaulted at Shaker Middle School. March 23rd 2017. Cleveland 19 Digital Team. <http://www.cleveland19.com/story/34982953/family-says-boy-with-special-needs-was-assaulted-at-shaker-middle-school>
Change in Structure, Change in Us
Why Did They Stay?
Jowon Dorbor
English
Pahomov
Why Did They Stay?
Authority is a big role to many societies that leads to fear in others. Authority can be given to others by vote or agreement and can be snatched without notices, but what gives someone automatic authority in any situation? Maybe it’s the way someone looks, their appearance or is it because of the fear we have or what might happen if we disobey. People give authority to others because they are afraid of what they would do to them.
In the novel of the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the author was telling the readers what things the littluns did around the island and also things they had to deal with without the help of the biguns helping them or giving sympathy. The book states, “They obeyed the summons of the conch, partly because Ralph blew it, and he was big enough to be linked with the adult world of authority…”(59). In the novel, littluns are the kids that are smaller and can’t depend themselves. In the eyes of the littluns, the bigun were considered adults and “obeyed” them because they were “big enough”. They were big enough to punish the littluns if they didn’t obey them. The littluns have a negative focus on in the quote because they are looking up to savages who doesn’t care about them only to control them. The littluns are stuck there to fend for themselves.
A nonprofit & activism group made a video called Private Violence Presents: Why We Stayed. In the video, some of the complex reasons women who have experienced domestic violence tell us why they stayed in their abusive relationships. A lady named Kit Gruelle told them her story. She stated “Well people asked me ‘Why didn’t you leave? Why didn’t you leave?’... He told me if I left he would hunt me down and kill me. That’s why I didn’t leave.” She was obviously afraid of what the man was capable of. She stayed with him for her own safety and gave him complete control over her by staying there with him.
Jack was watching Piggy and Ralph while ordering others around to do things for him. “Jack spoke. ‘Give me a drink.’ Henry brought him a shell and he drank, watching Piggy and Ralph over the jagged rim. Power lay in the brown swell of his forearms: authority sat on his shoulder and chattered in his ear like an ape.” (150) The littluns give the biguns authority and power over them because they are afraid of what they will do if they don’t give them this. To be more specific Jack has so much control over almost everyone on the island that Henry didn’t hesitate to get him a drink. Jack doesn’t only have that control over Henry, but over all the littluns
The littluns are afraid of what the biguns would do to them so they give the authority and power over them in the Lord of the Flies. Authority is given to others because of the fear they have of what they’ll do when they aren’t given that power and control.
Changing It Up- LoTF Essay- Autumn Lor
In the novel, Lord of the Flies, a group of boys became wild and aggressive when being left alone without adult supervision. Would being alone create a person to go insane? Personalities changes the heart of the human because of the heart and the brain are connected to each other and makes new choices. William Golding tries to make the characters go against each other, where they end up killing each other. People can see their “correct” actions as a good idea but can be an act of darkness. Their behavior shows that humans cannot have a set personality and can change based on those around them.
There are two teams on the island and each team represents hunters and those who wants to go home. The people on the island has to pick a team of who they want to be and what best suits their personality. In the beginning of the story, most went to Ralph’s side, who wanted to find a way home, but there is fear present were all the children changed sides to Jack, the hunters. They were not forced physically but mentally threaten where the children thought Jack was the better team. Two boys named Sam and Eric traded sides but still showed affection towards their former leader. “Memory of their new and shameful loyalty came to them. Eric was silent but Sam tried to do his duty. You got to go, Ralph. You go away now” (187). What this shows is how people will go against their side to help those that are not on their team. They understand that it’s not right to help the wanted opponent, but they knew that helping was better than killing them. Darkness can be a dangerous place but will have a better outcome for at least on side of the party.
Looking out into the real world, people have conducted experiments that were similar to the plot line in the Lord of the Flies, where they have two teams. Philip Zimbardo created an experiment called the Stanford Prison Experiment, having two teams; prisoners and officers. The experiment was created to show how fast people would react to living their new lifestyles. Explorable.com explained, “Social and ideological factor also determined how both groups behaved, with individuals acting in a way that they thought was required rather than using their own judgment.” The purpose of this was how people expect to look one way, but doesn’t turn out being the same due the the change in enrollment. The moral values start to be forgotten, but there are a few people who made it out with the same personality just with a different mind set. Being in the a new environment, it can cause people come to desperate times. Although they didn’t make the correct decisions, it helped them in that point in time.
As the darkness is rising to the surface of the skin, there are ways to bring it down and only shine like the sun. In the middle of the novel, Simon went out of his way to find the thing that everyone feared. People hid from the bad and let the fear roam. Some could say it’s okay to run from fear but better to stand up. Simon came into this new environment scared, yet he was the only one to find the power to go find their unknown fear. “‘You shut up, young Simon! Why couldn’t you say there wasn’t a beast?’..’I been in bed so much i done some thinking… He can’t hurt you; but if you stand out of the way he’s hurt the next thing,” (93). Simon used to be a very shy boy, but the fear has changed him, not becoming into a careless person but to someone could help. The upsetting part is the group disagreeing to go alone with his plan. People around them can affect the final outcome of the choice as a whole group. Their choice of not following Simon’s idea lead them to killing one of their best men.
Killing your own men can lead to vulnerability. Risking a life instead of staying together with more power creates more possibilities of things going wrong. Amy Novotney from American Psychological Association wrote an article about avoiding malpractice and vulnerable. Method #4 is about covering up the vulnerability that is there. She states, “There are many things that can go wrong very quickly with these patients, leaving psychologists who work with them more vulnerable to board complaints and malpractice claims.” The thought of a doctor saying this can be difficult because of several reasons, knowing that things can go wrong at any giving time. Nothing can ever be for sure. These type of experiences can change people. One day, a person could enjoy him or herself. The next, that same person could completely hate being themselves.
Things change, nothing stays the same for as long as it lives or exists. The same is true for humans. People change as they experience new things or learn new things. People reaction when they realize that they might be wrong and need to change their ways. Personality is affected by this new experience and information. Humans, then, do not have a set personality and can change their ways based on events and people.
Works Cited:
Golding, William. Lord Of The Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.
Martyn Shuttleworth. “Stanford Prison Experiment.” Roles Define Your Behavior. Jun 22, 2008.
<https://explorable.com/stanford-prison-experiment>
