Lord of the Flies: Close Analysis

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Lord of the Flies: write a close analysis, with quotations and comments, of the implications in the extract from 'The Shell and the Glasses', starting on p 176: 'He's going to beat Wilfred..' to the end of p178: 'Then if he comes we'll do our, our dance again.'

 

During this extract from ‘The Shell and the Glasses’ we see just to what extent the balance of power on the island has shifted in Jack’s favour. We now see him enjoying himself flexing and abusing his new found power as begins to rule his own savage kingdom. To highlight this, Golding no longer calls Jack by his name but instead calls him ‘Chief’. We are shown that the main element he uses to rule his tribe is fear. He starts having boys punished for no reason. A boy named Wilfred is tied up and beaten for no apparent reason, ‘‘He’s going to beat Wilfred’ ‘What for?’ ‘I don’t know, he didn’t say’’.

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         To further establish his status as the new chief, Jack demonises Ralph and his followers claiming that they are the enemy, ‘They’ll try to spoil things we do’. This parallels the method used by many 20th century dictators of creating a ‘common enemy’ of the state instilling fear and loyalty into its population.

          However the main ‘common enemy’ that Jack uses to control his tribe is of course the Beast. Jack claims that Simon was the beast (disguised) which shows he is implying that the boys have a better grasp of the ...

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