Madison Siegel

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

6 April 2018

A Little Bit of Civilization, a Little Bit of Savagery

In William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”, the author portrays the fluctuating identities of a group of boys who are stranded on an island. What makes a person civilized or savage? How do the things that happen to a person affect their actions? Some people think that things happen to them for a reason. Some people wait to see what the future holds and then make their decisions based off of that. In the book, the characters of Ralph and Piggy view the world differently from the way Jack sees the world. That’s why Jack is known as savage and Ralph and Piggy are known as civilized. The environment that these characters were in before they were stranded on the island-shaped their decisions and the other characters in the book. The idea of civilized vs. savage creates many scenarios in both the book and in real life. People who possess normal minded behavior can resort to savage behavior when put into a desperate situation or stay their normal self.

People can be faced with the pathways of choosing a civilized or savage way. It might be better to take the civilized route because then you know you followed the rules, but if you take the savage route it might benefit you more. In an article written by Hamid Dashabi, he points out a quote saying, “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.” Dashabi is explaining that the reader is more likely to choose the person who follows the rules than the person who doesn’t. Something that should be recognized is the fact that even a rule-follower can have some savage traits. This observation fits into the Lord of the Flies because there was a war between the different gangs lead by Jack and Ralph. Readers may support the civilized group with Ralph because they wanted to follow the rules that they were taught. First thing to remember is how Jack came to be identified as a savage. This is a war between a civilized and savage person. Goldingsets the book up so the readers support Ralph more than they support Jack because he wanted Jack to be known as the villain. In the book, the narrator says, “[Jack] tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up. "I went on. I thought, by myself—"The madness came into his eyes again. "I thought I might kill."”(51)  The author shows the struggle Jack has when he is stranded on the island. The readers are able to realize that Jack has some civilized qualities hidden in his savage actions. Based on the quote, the readers see that Jack was doing what he thought was best. He saw that the only way that he can survive is by looking out for himself and bossing everyone else around. This proves that civilization left room for both to happen.

Something that should be considered is that this book was written to demonstrate the problems of society and the sinful nature of each and every person. With that being said, the world was created with good and evil inside everyone. There is a struggle for every human being to tell the difference of what is right from wrong; it depends on personal opinions. They wanted to keep a very order-based community, but they also fought with others and wanted to survive.

Ralph says, “If we have a signal going, they’ll come and take us off. And another thing. We ought to have more rules. Where the conch is that’s a meeting. The same up here as down here.” (42) Without any rules, how would life look like? How would anyone know the difference from right and wrong if the world didn’t have rules? There is no real way to determine what is right and what is wrong. Ralph was pulling from what he knew before he got stranded on the island to try to keep a more civilized community. Ralph was trying to do what he thought was best for not only him, but everyone stuck on that island. People need rules or else everyone would be identified as savage. With that being said, there is a greater chance that people are savage than civilized because even with rules, people can be savage. Ralph still had a little bit of savage in him even though he was identified as civilized.

The identity of civilized against savage nature plays a huge role in the theme of the book. The people in the government are the ones who make the rules. They make the laws that guide each and every human being. Then, there are the people in the government that don’t follow the rules, creating a corrupt society. For example, Donald Trump can definitely be identified as both civilized and savage. He is this country’s president, but yet he can probably relate more to Jack’s morals than to Ralph’s morals. Jack and Ralph can be identified as political parties too. Weebly says, “The formation of two separate groups in Lord of the Flies, Ralph's "followers" and Jack's "followers," leads to the total loss of unity on the island. In The United States' government, there are two main political parties that often struggle against each other: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.” Those two teams are often pitted against each other in today’s society, but they aren’t identified as savage. This creates interest because when two people get into a fight, they are known as being on opposing teams, and are quickly identified as savage. Some people would like to think that there is just a good and a bad, a right and a wrong, and a savage and a civilized, but the truth in the matter is that human beings are in between. In Lord of the Flies, Jack was in between because he thought he was doing the right thing, but he was doing it in a savage way.

Kai Payton

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

April 5, 2018

Fear of The Unknown

The fear of the unknown is a powerful aspect of people’s lives. There are many different forms of fear that a person could experience in their life. People are not aware of the things that cause the fear inside of them, or what fear can do to a person. Most of the time fear lives inside of you and it seems to become a reality. Fear can sometimes control a person to the point that they do not think before taking action. It is something that isn’t controllable. People fear the unknown because they do not know what is going to happen if that fear becomes real.

   In Lord of The Flies, by William Golding is a book that revolves around the idea of fear. Boys are stranded on an island and have to find a way to survive. At the beginning of the story fear wasn’t something influential and important, but as the story went on it can be seen taking over the boy’s minds. A moment in the story occurred where Sam and Eric, the twins, were watching the fire on the island. While doing this they fell asleep and when they woke up they saw a dead man hanging from a parachute. In Chapter 6 the narrator says, “The twins stared at their identical laughter then remembered the darkness and other things and glanced round uneasily.” (97) They saw that man as the “beast” on the island. There was no actual beast, but this still built up fear inside of the boys. The beast started controlling and impacting the way they made a lot of decisions on the island. It influenced the way the leaders made decisions in certain situations. When the twins came back to the rest of the group and told them about the beast, the rest of the group was startled and frightened by their story. The twins along with the other boys have things they fear which in a way brings them back to reality.  The fear continues to grow because there is nobody there to tell them the beast is just in their head and there's nothing to be afraid of. They don’t know what the beast could do to them if they allow it to get them. In addition to that, the boys are only 12 years old or younger. Their imagination is still running wild while it can.

A form of  fear can be as simple as a young child's nightmare that follows people their whole life. It could be that one distinct thing people have been afraid of. Recurring fears are something that makes people feel like they can’t escape. When people go to sleep and have a nightmare they eventually wake up but that fear stays with them. You might go to sleep again and have that same nightmare that fuels your fear to stay and linger within. According to KidsHealth.org nightmares usually, occur for no apparent reason or occur when a child is going through a time of stress or change. With the young age of these boys, they’re going through a lot of changes since they’re still growing up. Seeing as though the boys are stressed with the constant fear of the beast they’re in a living nightmare. Along with that they have built up stress from the fact that their stranded on an island with no adult figure for reassurance.

   Essentially fear is in your head you make yourself scared of things or the people around you give you reasons to fear. With fear people have to think of a way to overcome it because it’s not something, people deal with easily. With the boys on the island, some people were doubtful of the idea of the beast towards the beginning. Then as time went on and things related to the beast started to happen more and more of the boys began to believe that the beast was a real. Just like many other fears, it was just in their heads and it’s not real. When kids are that age they usually have someone to tell them everything will be okay when dealing with fears. Sadly for this group of boys, the only ones who could be of any authority showed fear of this beast too which only strengthens the idea of it. Referring to KidsHealth.org again it states that parents should encourage nice dreams during this time. No one is telling the boys the beast is actually a nice guy and won’t hurt them.

   At one point in the book, some of the boys kill what they believe is the beast. When doing this they had no remorse for it and didn’t stop until it was lying lifeless and still. Once this happened the fear of the beast was alleviated in some way. They carried themselves in a different way after the “death” of the beast. They no longer had as strong of a fear following them while on the island. They felt as if the beast was able to come back they would be able to kill it again since they did it before. Killing the beast brought the boys a form of closure in this situation. This killing of the beast was a way of having a parent tell a child everything will be okay when having nightmares. The points of closure to a person's fear is what destroys the fear piece by piece.

   Fear has a strong effect on many people's lives. The beast influenced many of the boy's choices because they didn’t know what it could do to them. Children fear their nightmares because they never know when they’ll happen or what they’ll see when they have them. People don’t like the feeling of fear because it causes problems outside of it. With nightmares, it can cause a loss of sleep and with the beast, it can cause you to think some things aren’t what they really are.  It affects people in many different ways some stronger than others.

WORK CITED

1. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.

In William Golding’s dystopian novel, The Lord of the Flies, the boys initially celebrate the absence of adult supervision and attempt to create a new civilization.

When they first go to the Island Ralph is there with piggy and Ralph ran down the hill and fell then piggy told him “My auntie told me not to run”(PG.9). After that Ralph says to piggy “Ass-mar”(PG.9). As you can tell but if you can't I will tell you. There are too different people on this Island the ones that want the comfort of a adult like piggy, and the one that is happy of the fact that there are no adults on the island and will have fun more than survive. In this quote there was a meeting and jake had to conch and started to agree with what Ralph was saying “We have got to have rules and obey them. After all, we are not savages. We are english and the english are best at everything. So we have got to do the right things.”(42) This quote by Ralph shows that they were trying to make their own civilization without supervision or guidance from adults. But they do not want to even listen to there themselves  They try to survive so they set a plan to appoint a leader and a group of hunters to get food. However, the leader and the hunters have a argument about what to do and then they separate into two tribes.  

In the book “Lord Of The Flies” by William Golding Piggy, one of the main characters to wake up on a island and one of the first things he said was. “This is an island. At least I think its an island.That's a reef out in the sea. Perhaps there aren't any grownups anywhere” (8). When Piggy said “perhaps there are not any grownups anywhere”, to me I think that he was relieved and yet he was scared because no one was there to supervise him. It seems like today's civilization operates the same thing within the government. Relieved that there are some things that are out of the way and accomplished yet society is scared of what might happen if that “thing”, such as resources, laws, organization, etc. fail that they have. Or they will make work, so to me it seems that they forgot the simple answer to the problem and that then made it more complicated. In a study talking about why teenagers are more impatient than adults. In a paragraph in the article is says that  The structural connections between two key areas activated during decision making are not yet as strong in adolescents as they are in adults. So I think this means that when the kids were on the island they were trying to think of the fastest way off. Instead of trying to survive long enough to think of a good plan off the island. Another way to prove that the kids were have thing a hard time working on there “new Civilization” without parents is, when they were at the meeting about what to do and Ralph tells piggy to shut up and Ralph says the same thing piggy says After that piggy gets angry. “ That's what I said! I said about our meetings and things and then you said shut up-”(PG.43)

Another article that I found talks about why teenagers don't really want to be around their parents     

In the book, “Lord Of The Flies”, by William Golding, kids are not understanding how hard it is to create a civilization. Without any guidance from adults they can not really tell the wrongs from the rights and that's why some of them did not make it off the island in one piece.                

Work Cited

Golding, William. Lord Of The Flies.New York: penguin, 2006

Why Adolescents Are More Impatient than Adults | Max Planck Institute for Human Development, www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en/media/2015/06/why-adolescents-are-more-impatient-than-adults.

A PARENT’S GUIDE TO CPS and the COURTS - SF Superior Court. www.bing.com/cr?IG=0B1EEFDA0B1A44BD92D14EF7EE34B3D3&CID=125909FB71466B7A1B24023370E96A6F&rd=1&h=aeZte1aNkqUHJXzamVkkIBpjys8XmCEhCGJt-1s-aY8&v=1&r=http://www.sfsuperiorcourt.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/2669 ParentsGuide.pdf&p=DevEx.LB.1,5068.1.   

Teyonna Little

English

Ms. Pahomov

April 6, 2018

Leading By Fear and Cruelty

As a leader, what people say, do, and act upon is what others follow. Rather or not it is good or bad doesn't matter, it’s how ineffective or effective people are at being what they claim to be. Leadership qualities and skills are essential when leading a group of people who fully relies on their leaders and what they teach. In today’s society and in the novel, Lord of the flies written by William Golding, there are specific persons in leadership who controls the citizens under them and scare their opponents with intimidation simply because they have the power to do so. Leaders can be most effective by asserting their authority through fear and cruelty. This ability can help them even get power over other leaders.  

In the novel, a group of young boys are stranded on an island and left to fend for themselves. One of the main characters, Jack is a leader upon a part of the group of boys. Throughout the book,  he takes this responsibility for granted by intimidating his followers and opponents. When all of the boys gathered round for an important meeting talking about the beast, everyone shared their ideas for how to deal with this beast. Jack responds to some ideas in rude ways. For example, “And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do… I’m chief! I was chosen!”  The tone of his character is ultimately authoritative, but it is not a take control of the situation, it is a “control” by force situation. He wants to feel rather superior and in doing this he leads through fear. The way he talks to his people is rather scary and this only makes it easier for him to get what he wants. In this particular moment, he uses the phrase “I’m chief” to also remind people who he is. They might already know, but saying this is a demand of remembrance, so they know exactly who to listen to even if other people comes up with ideas or takes the place of a leader for a split second. Leading this way gives him leadway to have controlling power.  

Leading by fear is a common thing among leaders today. After researching examples of leaders who leads through fear, I found the website businessinsider.  This specific article gives 18 influential and well known people who leads by fear and provides specific details of what they had done. Most people that appeared on this website are bosses or someone at a high level of leadership. The one that was surprising the most was Martha Stewart. The report noted,  although she is cheerful, “Martha Stewart can be a very intimidating boss. She’s not great at giving up control either.” Research also shows she “pushed down” 2 CEO’s within a year. Usually in business, when saying “pushed down”, this means making someone want to quit or resign from their position. In this case, 2 other leaders. The connection between Martha Stewart and Jack is clear that they both are very aggressive. They use this to their advantage to get their followers to do what they want how they want it. When it comes to oppressing their opponents, they succeed in getting this fear that their followers have to spread to other leaders.  

Although Jack’s influence is yet effective, his actions can sometimes be intensely unpleasant and cruel. As readers know, Jack as a leader possesses good and bad leadership qualities, one of his worst tactics to rise to power would be cruelty to others. In this case, Jack is attempting to prove his power to the other boys, including Ralph and Piggy, 2 other leaders of the boys. He explicitly shows the transition from just an ordinary school boy in charge of the choir, to an angry boy who lust for power and leadership over everyone and the island. The book reads, “... and the wails of agreement from the hunters drove Jack to violence…  He took a step, and able to last to hit someone, struck his fist into Piggy’s stomach… You would, would you? Fatty! … Jack smacked Piggy’s head.”(71) When leading by fear, there is a strong lust for power, and there are different ways people use to get to that level. Cruelty can be used and expressed for different reasons and different ways. This strategy cannot just be used to put other people down, such as people who do not follow that specific leader, but to gain control over other leaders. And may I remind you, Piggy has the quality of a leader, but is in no shape to be one.

Surely, many should be aware of the presidential election of 2016, and the reputations of the candidates and the series of events leading up to this point. During the campaign, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton go head to head to be president. Everything is out there, when you run for these spots in society. Leading through fear and putting people down can ultimately scare people into being their follower. Research was done to obtain specific details of Trump putting other people down just as Jack belittled Piggy. Here is one example of Donald Trump belittling women indirectly, these were his words, “beauty and elegance, whether in a woman, a building, or a work of art, is not just superficial or something pretty to see.” It is acceptable for a leader to be angry or frustrated, but it is unacceptable when they use this for control. Not only is this cruel treatment, this is cruel treatment to the ones following the leader and the opponents.

There are many tactics that leaders who are not bad, but have bad qualities use to gain control over people and things.  Two of these tactics are to lead by fear and cruelty. These unnecessary, but yet effective skills can help them gain power over other leaders. This is not something people would  want to be acknowledged for, but try to be acknowledged for their good qualities, like confidence and patience. 

Works Cited:

1. Golding, William, Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.

2. Cohen, Claire. “Donald Trump Sexism Tracker: Every Offensive Comment in One Place.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 4 June 2016, www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/donald-trump-sexism-tracker-every-offensive-comment-in-one-place/. I found this source by researching specific leaders who put other people down. I know this source is credible because it contains evidence of each thing listed and backs it up with explanations and it is a timeline. This influenced ,my thinking by drawing certain connections to the book and my thesis statement.

3. Nisen, Max. “18 Executives Who Lead By Fear.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 12 Sept. 2012, www.businessinsider.com/18-executives-who-lead-by-fear-2012-9#film-and-theater-producer-scott-rudin-7.  I found this source by researching people who leads by fear and how they do. I think this source of credible because it gave several leaders and well-known people and descriptions of what they done to lead by fear.

People imagine all kinds of possibilities for their life like for example what their dream job will be, what kind of house they’ll live in, and what their future family would look like. But when it comes to fear, our imagination tends to wander and over exaggerates what is currently happening from a small incident to a big life threatening risk. People repeatedly conceptualize potentiality however when it comes to fears or concerns our imagination tends to roam and overestimate what is presently happening from a minimal circumstance to a serious life threatening incident.

The boys on the island over exaggerated a mighty beast out of fear and believed there was on the island and their imaginations included what the beast looked like and where it came from. Their imagination made them believed one of their own friends and the corpse of a fallen soldier was the beast without confirmation that what they saw was real. In the real world the world sees this similarly with police officers on a case at night and they imagine their suspect is armed with a gun when their suspect is actually not armed and they shoot without hesitation because they imagine their lives are at risk.

In Chapter 5 of “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, the survivors stranded on the island fear of a beast roaming on the Island based on talk of the little children. While this is happening they also start to act uncivilized in many ways. After seeing these Issues Ralph calls an assembly to address these issues and then ends it with trying to debunk the talk and fear of the beast. “You! What were you mucking about in the dark for?” (pg 85). This shows that the fear in the little children about a beast was there imagination and that what they thought was a beast was actually Simon as he was walking around at night. When Simon went out

In an article made by Shaun King about Police Brutality. This article relates to my thesis as it talks about how Police are trained to shoot the imagined possibilities instead of waiting for confirmation and reality of the danger. This connects to the children as the police images the danger of each case while the children image the danger of a beast roaming around on the island which lead to them to fear that their lives are coming to a close end.

Later on in the book the boys are more split than ever with Jack leading the Hunters as savages. During a thunderstorm, after discovering the corpse of a dead soldier that crashed on the island Simon grabs the parachute off the corpse to tell the others of his discovery. After finding the boys he is quickly mistaken as the imaginary beast they believed was real and then assaulted by the savages and died in the water. “Softly, surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations, Simon’s dead body moved out toward the open sea” (pg 154). This shows how powerful imagination has on people’s speculation and quick actions without any real proof their thoughts are real and not false images. Being far from the fire and with the lightning behind Simon all the boys saw from him was just his darkened figure with the parachute in hand so the others believed Simon was the beast out of fear and because they had no logic to proof that it was Simon because all they saw was shadows and their imagination took over their true senses.

In an article on LA Times talks about a police shooting that happened not too long ago that caused a whole commotion. The police involved in this article were on a case about somebody breaking windows and running through people’s backyards. They had a police copter flying over and saw the guy they were about to shoot and lead the officers as the guy was running and ended stopping in his grandmother’s backyard where the police caught up to him. On the article there is a video from the body camera of the officers and then one of them say something similar to “He’s got a gun!” and then they shot about 20 shots at the guy. What the officers thought was a gun was actually the guy’s phone.

Imagination has lead us to our entertainment but the darker side of imagination lead us to fear inanimate objects or fear ourselves and those around us. Imagination also is what makes us believe something is something more deadly. This is a problem we see in our own life from police on duty, and in “Lord of the Flies” with the boys at night.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.

Winton, Richard, et al. “Stephon Clark Shooting: How Police Opened Fire on an Unarmed Black Man Holding a Cellphone.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2018, www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-stephon-clark-shooting-sacramento-explainer-20180323-story.html.

The Projection of Fear

Projection is a natural occurrence where humans press their feelings and emotions on to other people or sometimes even imaginary things. Humans project their emotions into theoretical things because they want to try and make their fears less scary by including them in reality. Many would identify projections as a hallucination, but does this justify the irrational or violent actions that can be caused by them?  The savage behavior displayed by those who project their emotions could be completely avoided if the fears were never instilled in their heads. For some people there is nothing more frightening than the unknown. When humans allow these fearful projections to take over, they engage in violent and other unsafe behavior.

In the book, The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of young boys survive a plane crash on a deserted island and are left to fend for themselves. This causes them to begin to hallucinate and project their greatest fears into something they call “the beast.” One of the boys, Simon, has had the most encounters with the so called “beast,” even having a conversation with it at one point. Later, the beast is renamed as “The Lord of the Flies” and appears to Simon as a talking pig’s head on a stick. “‘Pig’s head on a stick.’ ‘Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!’ said the head.”(143) One of Simon’s greatest fears, along with almost all of the other boys on the island, was this so called “beast.” Due to this fear, Simon hallucinated, or projected, this onto the pigs head to include the beast as a part of his reality. As the reader sees in this scene of the book, Simon thinks that he is speaking with the “beast” in the form of a pig’s head, when really, this “beast” is just a projection of his fear. Simon’s withdraw from the real world and adults, causes him to fear the things he has never had to do himself. His fears of starvation, dehydration, and death, are the ones who cause him to project his emotions into the beast.

In a later scene of the novel, Simon makes it back to the camp where the boys were living and things take a turn for the worst. The other boys believe that Simon is connected to the “beast” and end up murdering him for what they think is their own safety. “With the running of the blood Simon’s fit passed into the weariness of sleep. He lay in the mat of creepers while the evening advanced and the cannon continued to play.”(145) The boys projection of fear lead them to go as far as killing one of their own allies. This so called “beast” triggers them to do irrational things, such as killing one of their own allies who they believe the beast is connected to. This is a prime example of how the projection of emotions can lead to atrocious and deadly actions.

Although the book is fictional, the world sees situations like this happen all of the time in the real world. For example, in 2014 two teenage girls attempted to murder their friend because they were convinced that if they did not a fictional character called “the Slenderman” would kill their families. People create unrealistic scenarios in their heads because they are unable to live with their fears, and this can sometimes can cause the person themselves to become the one to fear. In a article about the case from the LA Times, it states, “The two girls came to believe internet folklore about Slender Man so strongly that they thought he would kill them or their families if they didn’t attack.” This is a prime example of how projection can lead people to commit outrageous acts and sometimes even go mad themselves. The girls who tried to commit the murder are now both serving time in mental facilities and will be there for 20 plus years.

Much like the girls in real life, the character’s in the book were fearing the unknown. The boys in the book greatest fears being  starvation, death, and dehydration, while the girl’s fears being the death or harm of their loved ones. These fears can lead some to try and commit fatal actions, but others could be lead to actually committing them. The fear of not having control over something is enough to drive people mad, so people are willing to do anything to conquer this fear and feel like they are the ones in control of the situation. When people fear things they tend to let it take over them, but with projection, people push that fear on to other things, rather than themselves. For many this is a way of coping. But does that justify irrational or even violent actions that may come along with that? This debate continues in real life, as the sentencing of the two girls did not go how many thought it would. Many people disagree with the fact that the girls are serving their time in a mental facility instead of an actual jail.

The projection of fear can lead to crazy things. Humans see this in real life, and in fiction everyday. Some people blame fictional characters as to why people may do bad things, others would just blame the mental health of those responsible for the actions. Looking through a sympathetic point of view, one could think that the girls in real life, and the characters in the book only have the mental health of themselves to blame. They both allowed their projection of fear to take over and this lead to their violent and semi-fatal actions. Although their actions were wrong, because of their state of mind, one could argue that they could not help their own actions. All of these savage actions could have been avoided if the fears had never been planted. If everything is presented as the way it is created to be, then then there would be no fear to project.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of The Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.

Cosgrove, Jaclyn. “The Story behind 'Slender Man' and How Fear of This Fictional Character Nearly Ended in Murder.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 22 Dec. 2017, www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-slenderman-sentencing-20171222-htmlstory.html.

“Psychological Projection.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Apr. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection.

There are different types of friendship, such as the ones that have known each other for years and consider themselves "Best Friends", and those who just met. Friendship is a strong thing to keep, with that power, you and your friend could discover new things. Sometimes friendships can be destroyed by the people and the things around them, while others friendships can be very influential, and last very long . Someone’s surroundings is the most important things towards friendships because it can cause either a tremendous downfall or an increased rate of gaining friendships.  The environment around someone is the most important factor in the strength of a friendship.

In the 20th century, there were two valuable British authors. These authors went by the names of  “J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis”, their art was very beautiful, and was able to allow their readers to personally connect to their writing, or just enjoy their style of writing on just a reading level. They were not just regular authors, they were authors that had their own styles, and was able to target people who don't even speak their language. As you may think that even though they were very creative authors, they didn't really have a great relationship at first. The people around them made them think that they wouldn't be able to work together. Tolkien met Lewis at Merton college, just like others, it wasn't ¨friendship at first site¨. They didn't have any problems with one another, Lewis actually described Tolkien as a ¨smooth Pale. After they found out that they both shared an interest in Norse mythology, their bond began to grow them together like some type of magnetic force. Throughout the years that they shared in college together, they found more interest such as Writing books together. The ¨The pair agreed the fantasy and science-fiction genres, while enticing in their promise, lacked entries they actually wanted to read. That quote shows that they both felt as though that authors in their timeline were not doing their job, which was to entertain their readers through there writing. They both understood that they were not ordinary Writers, they both agreed that they enjoyed caring about stories that no one else cared about. That is very important because that is one of there most valuable moments, they understood that they were different. So they did what any upcoming potential authors would do, they Began to work on their own ¨Book¨. ¨Tolkien¨ was very excited about his work, so he decided to show ¨Lewis¨ what he had so far, And Lewis as a ¨Great Friend¨ told Tolkien to keep writing and too never give up. If we look back towards My Topic Sentences, you can tell that everything that they are doing, is just being translated into words. Both of the Authors known their surroundings, because they were able to interpret their surroundings on a higher level than others, they were able to use that which allowed them not to influenced into different directions which would have to spit them up.

     In the book Lord of the flies by William Golding, the characters go through several different events that pull them together. The events Allowed them to express who they really are. The reason why this is a good thing is that as I stated before, it formed a friendship. Today we won't really need to focus on 1,2, characters, but we will focus on all of the characters. Being able to relate to something with someone is very important because it shows that you both had to go through something serious, or just a simple event. Before the children landed on the island, they had no insight of who one another was. Them surviving the plane crash is the thing that allowed them to come together, all of the boys were able to relate to this event because they all went through it together. The environment somewhat influences them to come closer. Even though they didn't really have a way of the island just wet, they knew that they had to work together to survive. All of the boys came together to assign jobs. As I stated before, friendship is when you have respect from another, and that's what the children had during the assembly. They had to give someone an important role in becoming their new leader. The leader wasn't someone who can make someone do something such as get the leader some food but to make sure that everyone is doing there specific task. In chapter 1 “the sound of the shell” the character Piggy has been through a lot.  Piggy feels "intimidated by the uniformed authority and the off-hand superiority in Merridew's voice" and draws closer to Ralph (21). The reason why I chose this quote is that this quote shows how piggy feels towards the character Ralph. Some of the other children were laughing at how the characters name was “Piggy”. As a friend should do, Ralph had Piggy back. He shut down all of the laughter that the other children were doing and explained how piggy was his real name and why it wasn't funny, with that only, you can tell that Ralph was acting like a true friend. The character piggy wasn't too open, or in other words, he wasn't very friendly. He was able to keep things to himself, but while the kids were giggling and making fun him, As any kid would react, piggy began to become angry. Over time, their friendships began to expand, and they became more open with one another. “Piggy was so full of pride in his contribution to the good of society, that he helped to fetch wood." That quote is important because if we look through his perspective from the beginning of the story vs now, you can see how much the other characters allowed him to open up. Before we end off, I want to look at this last quote. “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy. This may be one of the most powerful quotes in the story, it shows that at times the most valuable character is your friend, and sometimes, challenges are things that bring people even closer.  

The characters in “lord of the flies” and  “J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis” share rare similarities. They both had to face one of the most challenging events ever which are the term Friendship. Being a friend comes with huge responsibilities, you have to be there for your friend, go through some many obstacles, but the most important, Never Give up. In the book, the characters went through a lot, but never gave up, in the end, they were able to find their way off the island. That's because they had each other and never gave up. Lastly, “J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis” both went through remarkable obstacles together, and the¥ stayed together, which signifies true friendship.

  Everyone needs a taste of friendship, it allows people to meet new people, and to express their feelings to their friends. Without Friendships, you feel alone, and I know that through experience. Friendships bring people together and learn new things. So that's why friendships are important.

Sources

1 “Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.”  

2- “How C.S. Lewis Helped Encourage Tolkiens Lord of the Rings.” Newsweek, 9 Mar. 2017, www.newsweek.com/men-letters-jrr-tolkien-and-cs-lewiss-bond-563509.

Mamadou Samassa

Mrs. Pahomov

03/31/18

English

Is Pride Always Hidden

In Lord of Flies by, William Golding shares a deep understanding of how much pride a person can maintain within themselves when being cherished by those around them. Sometimes it is hard for people to see their true colors, could it be that they want to be different? There are people that use their pride as a way to get ahead of everyone, others who use it to look bigger than they really are, and this is all the result of being influenced by their own action. This pride people are so daring to try is like a drug one good taste of it and there is no return, it becomes a habit an addiction. Pride is the destroyer of hearts, the grave for the arrogant, the cause of losing someone important. A person becomes a liability when pride barricades them from other people. The author of the novel presents Ralph the main protagonist in the story as having arrogance because he wants to show how pride turns friends into enemies, and how pride leads to guilt.

            An example of this arrogant behavior also took place during 1301 BC. There was a ruler during the  Moses, named Ramses ll, he was the third pharaoh of his dynasty, his father, King Seti the first. Ramses ll lead many expeditions including the Levant and the battle of Kadesh. Ramses led several campaigns south of Cataract to the land of Nubia which was later taken by him. He was a cruel leader which loved to see his people in great agony. According to the Old Testament and the Quran, Ramses ll was the same man who was a contemporary of Moses and the Jews. He was also the one who adopted Moses when he was only a baby. After Ramses ll took the throne at the death of his father he became a very arrogant, prideful, and even calling himself “God” he had possession of all the riches of Egypt, and was the most powerful man of his time. Muslims mention that he was also married to Asiya which was one of the most honored women in Islam, amongst Mary, Khadija, and Fatima (peace be upon them). She was tortured to death because she refused to call her husband Ramses a God, and made sure to discontinue his self-pride. Ramses eventually received a punishment from God after constantly refusing to give the Jews freedom, and saying he is the greatest later dies at the crossing of the Red Sea. According to the Quran Allah (God) says, “So this day We shall deliver your (dead) body (out from the sea) that you may be a sign to those who come after you” (Quran 10:92). Allah ordered the sea to drown the Pharaoh then to spit him out whole, without any decomposition streaking his body so that he may serve as proof to the people who believed in him and to us today. His arrogance put him in a place where he forgot the one with supreme power over all things.The quote can be found true today because if you visit the Museum of Cairo today this man is found in the Royal Mummies Chamber and he is preserved and displayed just like Allah promised. When Allah says “so that he may be a sign for those who come after”, he was speaking of people which act with so much arrogance, and are full of themselves just like the Pharaoh. Arrogance is dangerous because it causes a change in a person, making no longer a person, but trying to become something more superior, and it destroys the friendships and love, the Pharaoh lost his son, his wife and his people because of his arrogance for himself, the Prophet Moses came to him day after day telling him  your Lord orders you to free his people and he refused, he knew the truth, but refused, for what to show people he is strong?

It’s time for the election and the boys are deciding on who should be the leader, and who has the capabilities to sustain a healthy living community of survivors, however a leader which will also have no second guess as to what is best for their community. Jack seemed to be the obvious choice for becoming chief, and piggy demonstrated a lot of intelligence. Ralph on the other hand “appeared” very attractive, without even having a stable qualification was deemed to be the leader of all the boys. "Shut up," said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch. "Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things." (22). This quote clearly shows how prideful Ralph was, he was the one which brought forth the idea of even having a supreme leader, as for Jack was arrogant after saying, “ I ought be chief”, but Ralph was self-conceited he said, “It seems to “me” we ought have a chief to decide things” referring to himself, he was showcasing that he was the only one capable of being chief, he didn’t tell the others he had floss when he was spoken good about, and always had something to saying if anything negative was said about him.

Ralph has now been on the island for quite a while starting off when he and his group of survivors first arrived at the island, to know where he is alone. Once upon a time in solitary with Piggy, Simon, and Samneric, now they are no more. He hides in the thick underbrush wondering in isolation how he’ll be able to heal his rib wound, he desperately wants to wash, but there is no guarantee that he won’t risk being caught by Jack and his group of savages. He finally realizes he is the one who caused all this grief and suffering, he is the reason why Piggy no longer is by his side. “And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy. (222). The phrase that shows Ralph was arrogant the whole time was “Ralph wept for the end of innocence” he knew he was never innocent, he knows why he brings the brutal truth after the loss of his closest friends. The darkness in his heart is due to the regret of not looking out for his people before himself. Sometimes being a chief means the loose joy, it means doing the good for the people over the individual, something he missed interpreted. Ralph wept in despair and regret, just like a sinner who sinned their whole life and felt that sense of repentance after coming back. It had taken him all this time to finally realize, he lost everything, he had forced himself to a place which never belonged to him, he knows what was bad for him, but still stuck to it because it made him feel good. It could be that something which he liked was bad for him, while something which made him feel bad might have been good for him, as there could be some many benefits that come with it. Ralph revoked seeking others aid, while he focused on himself, and anyone that had possession of what he was looking for, which was respect, honor, power, but what use is having all these blessings if those blessings are not shared back?

In conclusion Ralph from the very start, Ralph gave signs of his self-pride which later evolved into arrogance. Ralph became boastful of himself, forgetting the people that cared for him, once he lost those people he learned their worth. In society, the greatest rulers occasionally forget what it means to be a leader it means to be equitable to all the people, audacious whenever and wherever, it means having discretion. Pride is a major reason why relationships no longer share a strong connection, pride is a damning human characteristic.   

Work Cited  (MLA) format

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.

Meaning of the Verse "So This Day We Shall Deliver Your (Dead) Body (out from the Sea)", islamqa.info/en/72516.

https://islamqa.info/en/72516

“Why Pride Is Nothing to Be Proud Of.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/intimacy-path-toward-spirituality/201506/why-pride-is-nothing-be-proud.

Fear; an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause mental or physical pain. People fear different things, some people fear deadlines and dates, some people fear loneliness and isolation, some people fear death, and for children a common fear is a monster underneath their beds waiting to hurt and scare them. This emotion is a plot-driving element in the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Fear is a recurring element that revolves around an image that the boys created known as “the Beast.” The Beast was powerful because of the fact that it was something unknown. The fear of the unknown is something that is much greater than fear of tangible situations because something unknown cannot be expected.

In the novel, the boys on the island are young, aging from ages 12 and under. As children, they have huge imaginations causing ideas to grow out of proportion. The Beast is an unknown creature that terrified the littluns at first until the image formed into something terrifying enough that even the bigguns were scared. Eventually the fear built up to the point that they killed one of the boys named Simon cause they believed he was the beast. Ralph the leader of the boys and Piggy his closest friend and the most intelligent among the boys discuss the situation regarding the beast.“‘But s’pose they don’t make sense? Not here, on this island? Supposing things are watching us and waiting?’ Ralph Shuddered violently and moved closer to Piggy, so that they bumped frighteningly. ‘You stop talking like that! We got enough trouble, Ralph’” (92) Children fear many things when they are young, but what makes the children brave are when their parents reassure them that the fear is just in their head. Most of the time on the island, the boys were not afraid of being stuck on the island or even starving. When some of the bigguns start to believe the Beast, there is no rational person to convince each other that is in their heads. This allows the Beast to become something much scarier than it first was. They had no control of their situation. If the boys had never feared the image of the Beast and if they’d learned to control their fear Simon wouldn't have died.

A similar incident occurred regarding the fear of a unknown or mythical being only this time it was not in a book. In 2014 a 12-year-old girl from Wisconsin was stabbed 19 times by two of her friends. The girl was left for dead, but she had managed to crawl to a sidewalk where she was found by a bicyclist. The girls stated they were trying to impress Slenderman, a fictional character found in horror stories. According to CNN “One of the suspects told the police that Slenderman is the site’s supposed leader, and to climb into his realm, a user must kill someone.” The two girls had attacked their friend out of fear of Slenderman. Slenderman being a very popular figure has had lots of online users create images with him, making him seem more realistic giving the girls more reasons to fear him. After seeing these images and reading the stories online about how he murdered and abducted kids, they hoped that with killing their friend the girls could enter his realm where they could be safe.  In his realm, they would not have to fear being killed or hurt by Slenderman.

There are many ways people attempt to overcome fear. According to the University of Minnesota there are a few key strategies; promoting positivity, find meaning behind the fear, go for a walk, and getting support from others.  A strategy often used with children is finding support and sharing it with an adult. Often parents try to reassure their children that they will protect them and that they should have nothing to fear. However, In Lord of the Flies the children’s fear is made worse with the children repeating the idea of the Beast. At one point the boys even put a pig's head on stake as a tribute to the beast so they would be safe. The support they try to build with each other just made the fear worse, especially with no authority figure telling them that they have nothing to fear and that they will be protected. With the two girls who stabbed their friend, they had no parent or authority figure reassuring them that they were safe because they never tried to get support. Slenderman was seen as an authority figure to them who could protect them if they entered his realm, similar how the boys left the pigs head for the Beast so they would not be attacked.

The Beast was only powerful because the fear of something unknown is worse than the fear of something realistic. Fear is caused by the unknown outcomes and possibilities in life. The Beast was only able to gain control over the boys because they had no reassurance that it was in their heads. Similar to the Slenderman story, the girls had let the monster control them and it led to the attempted murder of their friend. Fear is something very powerful and has the capabilities of controlling people and destroying people. People need to grasp ahold of their fears before they build up and begin to become a practical reality. In both scenarios, following strategies for overcoming fear, especially getting support can prevent these figments from maturing.

Work Cited

1. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.

2. How to Deal with Chronic Fear and Anxiety.” Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing, www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/enhance-your-wellbeing/security/facing-fear/how-deal-chronic-fear-and-anxiety.

3. “Fear.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, www.dictionary.com/browse/fear.

Niya Petty

Miss. Pahomov

English 2

April 4, 2018

How does this voting system work?

In William Golding’s “Lord of The Flies”, there are kids who are stranded on an island at their own survival without adult supervision and with being on their own, they have to take on some responsibility. At a point in the book there was a time that a leader had to be elected for the group. Someone to take charge and be there if things go wrong. So the kids had an election for who would be chief. Everyone picked Ralph. Wondering, what makes Ralph a good leader? Was it  based on intelligence, skills and attractiveness? Comparing this to a real life situation, we as U.S. citizens have to elect a president. We pick a specific person as a leader of the United States. What qualities do people value that makes them vote for a specific person?

In chapter 1, Ralph and Piggy meet the choir boys and Jack. They had assembled to retrieve roles as a pack  and vote on a chief. When chief is heard by Jack he immediately thought it should be him due to the fact that he was already “chief” of the choir boys. “´I ought to be chief ,´ said Jack with simple arrogance, “because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp”(22). In the novel it seems as none of the choir boys wants Jack to be chief but they could not think of a reason for Ralph to be chief. They also look forward to Piggy due to his intelligence. Then they come to a decision that Ralph is attractive and has the conch. “There was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch.”(22)  Of course Jack tried to debate because it was almost obvious the Jack should have been chief since he knew what he was doing. Which bring us to the point when there are rules and priorities are involved and how they are pointless due to the method of voting the boys use to elect chief. It comes down to why he is chief is because he brought them together and since Ralph is chief he gets the conch is very important to the kids. Then again, everyone could see who was voting for who at this point which made people not go with true self towards who they wanted to vote for. Even though Jack wasn’t chief, he was still in charge of the choir boys and their hunting job which sort of made him a chief of something.

In the process of electing a president in the United States of America, americans are to go to a voting poll and vote for who they think shall be America’s next president. There are three requirements for being president in the U.S. given by the Constitution; the citizen must be 35 years of age, a resident of the united states for over 14 years, and a natural born citizen.  But as we get ready to vote, there is a purpose why we choose who we choose to be president. What values do these candidates bring to make people feel a certain way about them and want them president. What qualities should we look for in our given candidates which we elect. Some people look at the was they could manage the presidency. Or if they are great campaigners which could help to people of the United States make a better decision in what they want. Voting itself is a very organized process here in the U.S. knowing that we have an Election day which always falls on the first Tuesday in the month of November. US citizens have the right to vote. Some people use that opportunity  and others don’t. US citizens must be at least the age of 18 in order to vote. The process of voting, voters are put in private voting booths where they are to fill out their ballots. No one is able to see who is voting for who.From there, the vote is counted for whomever is voted for.

In conclusion, The way the voting process works between the novel and the real word is very different. In the novel, children are running an assembly of voting for chief were not everyone is eligible  to to be chief and everyone feels guilty if they do not vote for someone who everyone else's is voting for where in the real world when voting for president, everything is much more private with the citizens vote. Not knowing who voted for who and having to wait for who is the winner of the election. A similar  topic run by two different ages and processing can make a huge difference in results of voting.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.

Dickerson, John. “What Does It Take To Be a Good President? Four Things, Mainly.” Slate Magazine, 26 Sept. 2012, www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/features/2012/how_to_measure_a_president_/what_qualities_should_we_look_for_in_our_presidents_.html.

According to this website, there are some ideas given to what it takes to be a good president.

“To Choose A President.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2012/summer/archivist.html.

This website explains how we choose a president

“Voting in Person on Election Day.” USAGov, www.usa.gov/election-day.

How we as Americans vote in America