Lord of the Flies is a novel concerning the different forms of government and types of societies present in the world. The island in Lord of the Flies represents a miniature world as Golding makes use of three major characters to portray the differences in society, and government. Ralph’s character represents democracy, and under Ralph’s rule the island is a democratic society. Jack’s style of leadership places him in the role of a dictator in a communist society. Simon’s distinct character represents a system of self governance and spirituality. The novel exhibits clashes between the societies, beginning with democracy.
At the beginning of the novel, Golding uses Ralph to represent a democratic leader, and to create a democratic society on the island. Using the blowing of the conch by Ralph in chapter one, and by showing that “the children gave him the same simple obedience that they had given to the men with microphones” (Golding, 14) Golding immediately places Ralph in a leadership role. Golding further places Ralph as the rightful democratic leader, as Ralph is voted in as “Chief” in a democratic fashion (Golding, 18). Ralph develops the group of boys into a democratic society. This is proven by the fact that he instates the talking rule with the conch (Golding, 31). The leadership of Ralph is challenged by Jack, who unlike Ralph represents a different form of government, a dictatorship.
Jack is a dictator, who rules with fear and sheer power, and when in he is in power, life
on the island becomes a communist society. Jack’s rise to power is a result of him creating a “fear of the unknown”, and creating a belief that only he could be trusted to handle their fears. This is evident in that, Jack treats the “beastie” as the unknown, and gains the boys’ trust by stating that he would hunt down the beast and beat it (Golding, 99). Jack’s rule would create a communist society on the island as he states “We know who ought to say things…It’s time some...