Essay Question 2

Think a bit deeper about the themes present in the book - what do you think Golding might have been trying to say about society and politics?
　I think that Golding was trying to say that a society is based on the leader's ethics, instead of the situation that a society is put in. There is a very clear view of this in the book because we can see the differences between Ralph's society and Jack's.
Ralph's society is a small group of five. (Ralph,Simon,Samneric,Piggy) In Ralph's society keeping the signal fire is an important job and the whole society is built upon respect. Ralph has the conch shell to let everyone know who is talking. This keeps the group respectful and makes it easier for all ideas to be presented. Ralph's society could be compared to a classroom; You talk when you raise your hand or when spoken to. Ralph is in charge and you listen to what he says because he knows what's best for the island. Ralph grew up in a school setting so his ethics are those of a headmaster or teacher.
Jack's society is a lot bigger and is based on fun and food. Hunting is all that is important and rescue is just a hope that they all have. I think because Jack started off jealous of Ralph, he just wants to be the society with the bigger population. That's why he invites everyone to a feast. It is just a lure to get more boys to join Jack's society. Because of Jack's growing anger and darkness, he affects his group by making them dark too. For example, when Jack's savages kill Simon and Piggy, all Jack had to do was tell them. There was barely any hesitation. Jack really is the one that turned his society into blood thirsty animals.
The reason why you can tell that society is based on the leader's ethics instead of because of situation is proved by the fact that Ralph and Jack went through the same events but, only one group was made up of savages. I think that we all know which group that is.