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  • Essay / The Role of Power in Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm

    Sylvia Plath, a faith-based poet, once said, “I talk to God but the sky is empty” (Plath 199). When we talk to God, we know he is there, but we do not see him. They ask for help and immediately expect it, which leads to conflicts. Plath is well known for her death from carbon monoxide inhalation, caused by putting her head in an oven while her children slept (Rollyson 7). She had committed suicide due to the invisible effects on her mental and emotional health, including her helpless state. These and other forces have a role in everything. While George Orwell's Animal Farm and William Golding's Lord of the Flies appear to be completely different on the surface, they are both driven by unseen forces. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Scapegoats are an important part of both works, as they take full responsibility for events that neither party wants to accept responsibility for. In Animal Farm, Snowball is blamed for all the misfortunes that occur after being kicked out of the farm and declared an enemy. For example, he is blamed for the ruin of the windmill in chapter six – Napoleon says: “Comrades, do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who came during the night and knocked down our windmill? SNOWBALL!" (Orwell 82). The Piggy from Lord of the Flies is Snowball's human counterpart – but an underlying scapegoat, which is not clearly detectable, would be Piggy's aunt. Piggy constantly complains of one thing or another and refers to his aunt, inadvertently blaming her for his faults. For example, in the early scene where he doesn't run, he says: "'My aunt told me not to. not run,' he explained, 'because of my asthma'" (Golding 7). He often blames his aunt for being the reason he can't do certain things, even though she is. not there to scold or reprimand him. Perhaps it is because he is secretly afraid of her and displeasing her. While a scapegoat is mainly used as someone or something to blame. Fear tactics allow a group to be subjugated by invisible terrors and controlled. Mr. Jones is used more as a scare tactic than as a scapegoat. In Animal Farm, pigs constantly threaten other animals with the return of Jones, their former abusive owner. For example, this argument is constructed by Squealer, master orator: “One false step, and our enemies would be upon us. Surely, comrades, you don't want Jones back? (Orwell 70). In Lord of the Flies, the Beast is used to justify the evil within the boys. He is first mentioned when one of the little boys admits to having seen him. “He says the beast came in the dark. » “Then he couldn't see it! » » (Golding 31). Nevertheless, the boys still begin to believe in the Beast despite Jack and Ralph's attempts to refute the little boy's claims. Collectively, scapegoating and fear tactics can be used to gain power and persuade a group without having to demonstrate anything physical, but are just a few. of a whole range of ways to influence a group. They all use verbal persuasion – most importantly, two of three rhetorical appeals: ethos, or the credibility/reliability of the speaker, and pathos, the appeal to the emotions and/or imagination of the audience. The old animal farm major “was so well-liked on the farm that everyone was willing to lose an hour of sleep to hear what he had to say”(Orwell 25). His speech draws on the horrors of each animal and this is what ultimately drives them to start the revolution. However, as Napoleon took power and revised the seven commandments to his liking, the influence of the Old Major gradually faded. The years since the revolution pass and things change. “There was nothing there [on the barn wall] except one commandment. He said: ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS” (Orwell 133). The conch of the Lord of the Flies has its own power, allowing its wearer to express himself in turn, as we see at the beginning of the story, while there is still order: "'I will give the conch to the next person. talk. He can hold it when he speaks…. And he shall not be interrupted: except by me’” (Golding 29). Like Old Major and his commandments, the effects of the conch quickly fade as Jack's faction dominates the boys. Power can inflate the ego to such an extent that they perceive themselves as God himself, who is never seen but yet is always there. Dictators, including current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, are particularly guilty of this hamartia. This is the case of Napoleon and Jack, respectively the main antagonists of Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies. They are both so wrapped up in the influence they wield that they never put things into perspective, which in turn ruins everything. This is just a human predisposition, or human, in Napoleon's case, — studies show that power fundamentally changes how the brain functions (Benderev 2). Ultimately, the whole situation is ironic, as animals and boys rise up against or flee from dictators (Mr. Jones in Animal Farm; Adolf Hitler in Lord of the Flies), only to become them -same dictators. The two dominant antagonists develop a god complex, which undoubtedly changes the course of both stories. God himself might even be an influential element in both Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies: he is omnipresent and all-powerful. However, the authors of the two books had different religious beliefs and views. Orwell, for his part, “did not like Roman Catholicism” but “seemed unable to put the subject aside,” which is entirely typical and paradoxical of him (Gray 2). “In his mind, religious dogmatics and right-wing dictatorships were indissolubly linked” (4). In short, he thought that religion was only for the convenience of each person; one might thank God for his blessings and then turn to Him as a scapegoat for his supposed shortcomings. On the contrary, Golding believed, based on an interview with his daughter, that "I'm pretty sure he believed in some kind of version of God - but not in an afterlife (at least he hoped he did). there was none). and not in the whole — what you might call the Christian superstructure, doctrine and theology” (Jordison 4). Golding was not fully committed to the Church, but unlike Orwell, who hated Roman Catholicism, he believed somewhat in God. Nevertheless, there are biblical allusions in both stories. God may still be the reason for the events that occur throughout the books, despite the beliefs of Orwell and Golding. Both Orwell and Golding make allusions to the Bible, particularly to the Garden of Eden which, after the expulsion of Adam and Eve, was never seen again. God watched all the time as Adam and Eve frolicked in the garden, not clearly showing His presence, but nonetheless keeping His power over them intact. When the Devil, disguised as a serpent, forced them to bite the forbidden fruit, which directly disobeyed.