Was asked to write an essay about the Lord of the Flies, decided to give it a little twist because I was incredibly bored. I'm posting this to get your opinions on it before I submit it, in case I've made some mistakes or something isn't clear. Bear in mind; I pulled this all out of my ass this morning.
Here it goes.
In ?The Lord of the Flies?, we can see vague commonalities with ?The Lord of the Sheep?, who is the shepherd in ?The Book of Enoch?. The Lord of the Sheep promises to lead his people out of Egypt and into the promise land. Eventually many of the sheep become blinded and disobedient, much like the children in The Lord of the Flies.
In the beginning, we find ourselves reading about a crash which has landed many young English boys on an otherwise deserted island. The first boy we?re introduced to is Ralph, who is later seen as one of the stronger boys. From the start, Ralph shows obvious signs of leadership, which we find when he takes another on as his charge; Piggy. Piggy is unable to stand up for himself; he?s the kid who?s always relentlessly picked on and made fun of. Despite being disliked by the more popular boys, Piggy still holds his morals and ethics high, which makes him a great person and a potential ?side-kick?. However, these qualities do not always go hand-in-hand with leadership, thus he is left following the rule of Ralph. On the island, Piggy stumbles across a shell which he and Ralph use as a horn to summon other boys; they call this shell ?the conch?. Little by little, the boys start to arrive at their first meeting place. Immediately, Ralph assumes leadership over these boys of which Piggy looks after. Then we are presented with a pacifist; Simon. Later in the book we find that Simon is symbolical for Jesus himself, though it is done very vaguely and is negligible in turn. Simon is said to be the most innocent and humanly good of all boys; showing no sign of violence or mal-intent. Being a pacifist by nature, Simon becomes another follower of Ralph?s. The last notable character to show us would undoubtedly have to be Jack Merridew. We find Jack to have been the leader of the choir from the school of which he came. He brings his ?battalion? to the meeting place where Ralph and the others have gathered. At first, Jack allows Ralph to rule over their new sort of tribe by means of vote, showing early signs of democracy, which is surprising to see in children, to say the least. They believe that Ralph will lead them to being rescued and having fun in the process. This, however, does not last long.
Soon Jack begins to feel that he should be the one to lead the tribe, for he is the stronger, more dominant figure. He leads a team of hunters, who are in charge of tending to the newly created signal fire, and also to gather food for the others. Jack soon disputes with Ralph and seizes power for himself, in a totalitarian fashion. He feels that the tribe is not capable enough to choose a leader by means of democracy. This feud between Jack and Ralph causes the tribes to split apart; Jack with his hunters and Ralph with the rest, consisting mainly of he, Piggy, Simon and the ?littluns?. Thus, the Lord of the Sheep has lost his herd. Ralph and Piggy continue to work together by building fires using the lens of Piggy?s glasses. Simon and the littluns gather wood for the fire and together they all build huts. Eventually, Jack?s tribe kills and cooks a wild boar that was lurking in the forest. Ralph and the others go to meet up with Jack at his new fortress deemed ?Castle Rock?. Here they find boys with painted faces dancing around the fire they?re using to cook the boar. Ralph and the others, excluding Simon, join in on the dance and re-enactment of the hunt. The boys of the island are presented with an unexplained fear of a ?beasty?; a monster said to live in the forest and hide in the sea during the day. This fear drives some of the boys to a degree of insanity, causing them to attack anything that could be the beast. Simon is off in the forest exploring when he comes across the head of the boar. This ?sow?s head? was undoubtedly placed there on a stick by Jack?s hunters, where it gathers flies, and where observes it from a trance state. The sow's head becomes the Lord of the Flies, and tells a hallucinatory Simon that the beast on the island actually resides inside the boys. "'Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!' said the head." Simon runs back to the camp to share his new found knowledge with the others, who, ironically, assume he?s possessed by the beasty. This, coupled with their misdirected anger, causes them to attack Simon and kill him. The only true innocence on the island washes away in the sea with the glowing fish.
Ralph realizes what they?ve done and severs all ties with Jack?s tribe. He leaves Castle Rock with Piggy and some of the littluns and returns to their original camp. Later, Jack sends his hunters to attack Ralph?s tribe and steal Piggy?s glasses and the conch. They succeed in stealing the glasses, but leave the conch behind. This infuriates Jack because the conch, as Piggy well knows, is a symbol of power; without it, he can?t truly rule. One by one, more of the sheep separate from Ralph?s tribe to join Jack, where there?s food and more power. Ralph has seen his tribe decrease in number. The larger, less civilized tribe of Jack, however, needs to steal from them; Piggy's glasses allow them to light a fire. Piggy and Ralph confront Jack and demand them back, but instead, Piggy is killed when a boy drops a boulder on him. Jack fails to kill Ralph at this meeting, and the next day his tribe tries to hunt him down. In doing this, they set up a forest fire, which is seen by a boat, whose ship's officers come ashore and rescue the boys.
In conclusion, we find that Ralph isn?t the real Lord of the Sheep, but it was in fact the sow?s head who held control and dominance over all the children of the island, Simon was the only one to realize that it was all from within, and the knowledge lead to his own demise. I find it?s always best to end with a quote, so I?ll give you this? ?And I saw till the Lord of the sheep came unto them in wrath, and all who saw Him fled, and they all fell ?into His shadow? from before His face.? -- XC. 20-27. Judgement of the Fallen Angels, the Shepherds, and the Apostates.
Thanks for reading, for those of you who did.
Here it goes.
- The Lord of the Sheep
- Essay
- The Lord of the Sheep
In ?The Lord of the Flies?, we can see vague commonalities with ?The Lord of the Sheep?, who is the shepherd in ?The Book of Enoch?. The Lord of the Sheep promises to lead his people out of Egypt and into the promise land. Eventually many of the sheep become blinded and disobedient, much like the children in The Lord of the Flies.
In the beginning, we find ourselves reading about a crash which has landed many young English boys on an otherwise deserted island. The first boy we?re introduced to is Ralph, who is later seen as one of the stronger boys. From the start, Ralph shows obvious signs of leadership, which we find when he takes another on as his charge; Piggy. Piggy is unable to stand up for himself; he?s the kid who?s always relentlessly picked on and made fun of. Despite being disliked by the more popular boys, Piggy still holds his morals and ethics high, which makes him a great person and a potential ?side-kick?. However, these qualities do not always go hand-in-hand with leadership, thus he is left following the rule of Ralph. On the island, Piggy stumbles across a shell which he and Ralph use as a horn to summon other boys; they call this shell ?the conch?. Little by little, the boys start to arrive at their first meeting place. Immediately, Ralph assumes leadership over these boys of which Piggy looks after. Then we are presented with a pacifist; Simon. Later in the book we find that Simon is symbolical for Jesus himself, though it is done very vaguely and is negligible in turn. Simon is said to be the most innocent and humanly good of all boys; showing no sign of violence or mal-intent. Being a pacifist by nature, Simon becomes another follower of Ralph?s. The last notable character to show us would undoubtedly have to be Jack Merridew. We find Jack to have been the leader of the choir from the school of which he came. He brings his ?battalion? to the meeting place where Ralph and the others have gathered. At first, Jack allows Ralph to rule over their new sort of tribe by means of vote, showing early signs of democracy, which is surprising to see in children, to say the least. They believe that Ralph will lead them to being rescued and having fun in the process. This, however, does not last long.
Soon Jack begins to feel that he should be the one to lead the tribe, for he is the stronger, more dominant figure. He leads a team of hunters, who are in charge of tending to the newly created signal fire, and also to gather food for the others. Jack soon disputes with Ralph and seizes power for himself, in a totalitarian fashion. He feels that the tribe is not capable enough to choose a leader by means of democracy. This feud between Jack and Ralph causes the tribes to split apart; Jack with his hunters and Ralph with the rest, consisting mainly of he, Piggy, Simon and the ?littluns?. Thus, the Lord of the Sheep has lost his herd. Ralph and Piggy continue to work together by building fires using the lens of Piggy?s glasses. Simon and the littluns gather wood for the fire and together they all build huts. Eventually, Jack?s tribe kills and cooks a wild boar that was lurking in the forest. Ralph and the others go to meet up with Jack at his new fortress deemed ?Castle Rock?. Here they find boys with painted faces dancing around the fire they?re using to cook the boar. Ralph and the others, excluding Simon, join in on the dance and re-enactment of the hunt. The boys of the island are presented with an unexplained fear of a ?beasty?; a monster said to live in the forest and hide in the sea during the day. This fear drives some of the boys to a degree of insanity, causing them to attack anything that could be the beast. Simon is off in the forest exploring when he comes across the head of the boar. This ?sow?s head? was undoubtedly placed there on a stick by Jack?s hunters, where it gathers flies, and where observes it from a trance state. The sow's head becomes the Lord of the Flies, and tells a hallucinatory Simon that the beast on the island actually resides inside the boys. "'Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!' said the head." Simon runs back to the camp to share his new found knowledge with the others, who, ironically, assume he?s possessed by the beasty. This, coupled with their misdirected anger, causes them to attack Simon and kill him. The only true innocence on the island washes away in the sea with the glowing fish.
Ralph realizes what they?ve done and severs all ties with Jack?s tribe. He leaves Castle Rock with Piggy and some of the littluns and returns to their original camp. Later, Jack sends his hunters to attack Ralph?s tribe and steal Piggy?s glasses and the conch. They succeed in stealing the glasses, but leave the conch behind. This infuriates Jack because the conch, as Piggy well knows, is a symbol of power; without it, he can?t truly rule. One by one, more of the sheep separate from Ralph?s tribe to join Jack, where there?s food and more power. Ralph has seen his tribe decrease in number. The larger, less civilized tribe of Jack, however, needs to steal from them; Piggy's glasses allow them to light a fire. Piggy and Ralph confront Jack and demand them back, but instead, Piggy is killed when a boy drops a boulder on him. Jack fails to kill Ralph at this meeting, and the next day his tribe tries to hunt him down. In doing this, they set up a forest fire, which is seen by a boat, whose ship's officers come ashore and rescue the boys.
In conclusion, we find that Ralph isn?t the real Lord of the Sheep, but it was in fact the sow?s head who held control and dominance over all the children of the island, Simon was the only one to realize that it was all from within, and the knowledge lead to his own demise. I find it?s always best to end with a quote, so I?ll give you this? ?And I saw till the Lord of the sheep came unto them in wrath, and all who saw Him fled, and they all fell ?into His shadow? from before His face.? -- XC. 20-27. Judgement of the Fallen Angels, the Shepherds, and the Apostates.
Thanks for reading, for those of you who did.
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