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Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Autobiographical Connections—due Feb 4
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How do you personally connect to Golding's story? Perhaps take a theme from the novel to connect with. Include 200+ words.
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One of the themes in Lord of the Flies is growing up. While they arrive on the island as a group of children, Ralph and the other boys are forced to grow up quickly. They face many ideas and challenges that they would not normally have to face, such as the ideas of death and power. I found it ironic that the older boys (10-12 years) begin to refer to the other boys as “littluns” because they are only 6-10 years old. In reality, all the boys are still children and should not have to deal with such adult topics. I believe that many high schoolers today can relate to growing up quickly. As we grow up we take on more responsibilities, but it seems like our childhood times seem more distant and are fading quicker. When we are about 12 or so years old, we begin playing school sports, band, plays, and participating in more activities. This forces children to learn how to manage their own time, as they have to plan for homework and after school activities. I feel that children today face much greater stress than some of the past generations, this forces many children to grow up quickly. While school is essential to teach us about the “real world” I feel that it may force us to grow up too quickly. Our challenges may not be as severe as those in Lord of the Flies, but they force us to leave the playground behind.
The characters in The Lord of the Flies are forced with a harsh reality when they land on the island. They need to make a life for themselves and make tough decisions. I believe that this is very applicable to my life at this time. Right now I am at a time when I must make crucial decisions that will have a serious effect on the rest of my life. In Golding’s novel, characters like Ralph and Jack must decide what to devote their time to; they can spend it hunting, keeping the fire going, building shelters, and countless other tasks. Each one of these possible choices would greatly affect their daily lives, and they must decide what to do. I find this situation particularly relatable as I am faced with the question of what I will do after high school. I could go to college, join the workforce directly, go to a tech school, or join the military; each one of these options would have a different effect on my life. Reading the novel, I can sense the bond between the characters slowly ripping apart as the outcomes of their decisions start to way upon them, and I hope to learn from this. By looking at the choices made by Ralph, Jack, and others, I can see what their faults were and hopefully avoid these fatal characteristics in my personal decision making.
I connect with Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, because I can relate to Piggy. Piggy is seen as the voice of reason throughout the story. After Jack has stolen away most of the boys into his "tribe", Piggy sticks with Ralph to be an advisor. Piggy attempts to keep Ralph sane and moving forwards. Even right before Piggy's demise, he is attempting to convince the savages that they need civilization and rules among themselves. They need a fire so that they can be rescued. However, Piggy's necessity is noticed most after his death. While Ralph is running through the jungle, trying to escape the savages, he is constantly in the dilemma of what to do or where to hide. Ralph even thinks to himself that he needs Piggy to advise him at one point. Another reason I relate to Lord of the Flies is because of the feeling of fear. Everyone was once a young child. Everyone has experienced that age where they are scared of the dark or some other irrational fear. They make up wild stories in their head and scare themselves just as the boys on the island did with the imaginary beast that they all fear so much.
I connect with Lord of the Flies in many ways. However, I connect most with being forced to grow up quickly. Obviously, I have never been put in such a stressful and deadly situation. In the novel, if they are unable to grow up, they will surely die. This is not the case for most of us. However, I feel as I have grown so has my need to always take more responsibilities. This has 100% been my own doing. I have always felt the need to attempt to be a leader and try to lead by example. Whether this is at home, school, or anywhere else. Due to this, I completely understood where Ralphs's head was at. He wanted rule; however, the young boys weren't completely open to listening. This applies especially to my little brother. I often find myself attempting to show him a way; nonetheless, he isn't quite ready to care. This is frustrating to me, but I must attempt to understand. Another message that I obtained through reading Lord of the Flies is that man needs rules, authority, and a government to keep him in check. Without these necessities, you will surely have anarchy. This is evident in the novel. Without any rules, Jack and his followers quickly turned to their animal instincts.
I can connect with Lord of the Flies in various ways, but I specifically like to associate myself with having to make tough decisions regarding the future similar to Ralph trying to decide what is best for survival. Both Ralph and I have to take in and analyze different circumstances and outcomes that will result from our decisions. We both like to do what is best for everyone, including those we may not always get along with. I can relate to this because of the fact that I often bicker and argue with my siblings over decisions that need to be made. Decisions that often affect the whole group will bring out some strong and vocal opinions from others. Whether that be deciding what tactic is best suitable to survival on the island, or deciphering who gets to pick the channel on the TV during dinner. Even though one decision may seem much more extreme compared to the other, both participants are involved in a struggle between making a decision for the group, yet still fulfilling one's self needs. I admire Ralph as he is forced to make tough decisions and will get heat for the troubles that face the children on the island. I think at times I was forced to make tough decisions for the betterment of a group and the decision was despised by some. This helps me understand the mental fatigue that Ralph may be going through as the story continues.
One of the main themes in Lord of the Flies is the choice between the superego and id. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph has to choose between responsibility or acting on his own impulses. Though he strives to remain sensible by focusing on surviving and getting rescued, he still feels as if his sensibility is getting pulled away. Several times throughout the story, Ralph forgets his goal of maintaining the fire, and those around him must remind him. He is so drawn to being part of the tribe he forgets what is important. He must choose between responsibility—focusing on rescue—or rejecting responsibility—joining Jack’s tribe. In my life, I find myself often having to choose between responsibility and rejecting responsibility. For example, as I end my senior year and prepare for college, I find my workload piling up. With all the schoolwork to complete, planning to do, scholarship essays to write, and so much more, I find myself wanting to just procrastinate. Despite having a very hardworking personality, I work to the point where I wish to stop putting in the effort, and I forget the rewards for my work, similar to Ralph forgetting why he must maintain the fire. Like Ralph, I find myself having to choose between being responsible—working hard in school and preparing for life after high school—or following my impulse to reject responsibility—procrastinating on the tasks at hand. Though trying to avoid the desire for procrastination is nothing like being on an island and trying to avoid the desire to join a tribe of savages, I think I share similarities with Ralph in the sense that despite having wise goals, we both struggle to keep our eyes set on achieving them.
I connect to “Lord of the Flies” through the choices of the boys—mainly between Ralph and Jack—that lead to the events that transpire on the island. At this point in my life, I’m making a lot of big decisions for myself. Where am I going to go to college? What am I going to study? What do I want to pursue as my future career? These are all extremely important and life-changing questions. Similarly, Ralph and Jack make various decisions that have an impact not only on their own lives but on the lives of the others on the island as well. Jack chooses to let the fire go out in favor of hunting, resulting in a lack of signal to reach a ship that just so happens to pass by at that very moment. Ralph chooses to attend Jack’s feast with Piggy, resulting in his part in Simon’s death. Ralph also chooses to go to Castle Rock to confront Jack and the others about Piggy’s specs (although he does not decide this alone), resulting in Piggy’s death and his loss of the twins to Jack’s tribe. Once these decisions are made, there’s no going back and they are finished and over with. Sometimes, they made the right choices, such as when they decided to make a signal fire, build shelters, and hold assemblies to maintain order. But other choices were bad and had disastrous consequences. Similarly, I am going to be making several big decisions for my life soon and they can either be good or bad, and I won’t know until I see the results of my decisions.
I connect to “Lord of the Flies” through the theme of loss of innocence. Throughout the novel, the boys have to go through tough tasks. They put themselves into responsibility and maintain control amongst themselves. I think this plays a part in my daily life. Before high school, I saw school as a place where I could mess around and have fun. That changed though as my education got more and more difficult. I saw myself investing more time into what I needed to prepare myself for in order to get into college than joking around with friends. I had to decide my future (college choice, major, meal plans, housing) all of these will be affecting me in the upcoming years. The loss of one’s innocence from childhood can be a painful experience. Most people would prefer to stay in their childhood as long as possible. This is shown through Jack. Even though he is considered an older kid of the group, he would rather escape his responsibilities and go off to hunt. If only escaping responsibilities in the real world were possible. Unfortunately, everyone has to grow up and make decisions that affect the rest of their life. These all stem from the actions throughout highschool.
I relate to the book in a way that the boys had to grow up fast and be leaders. In my family, I am the oldest child. When I was still very young, I had to watch after my siblings. I had to understand that sometimes I couldn't have playtime with myself; I had to share it with my siblings. Sometimes I would catch them in the act of something that could either get them in trouble or would bring them physical pain. In the book Lord of the Flies, Ralph and Jack are put in the position where they also want to have fun but they understand that there is a bigger problem ahead of them. They want to be like the other kids and have fun in their free time, but plans need to be made and they need to watch out for the little kids. The two boys (who are not much older than the little boys) become a parental figure and have parental instincts. Also, all of the other boys had to grow up quickly and figure out survival tips, which most five-year-olds do not usually learn. I can not say that I specifically relate to this point, but I have learned things at a younger age that most kids my age would not have done at that time like speaking another language.
A connection that I have in Lord of the Flies is the decisions that you can make and the effects of those decisions. In the novel, Ralph and Piggy choose to try and form some sort of society by lighting and maintaining a signal fire so that the boys can have some hope of returning to the real world. While Jack and his hunters choose to give in and make the lazy, easy choice by letting the fire go out so they can go out and hunt. I can connect to this because based on what choices I make now will affect me for the rest of my life. Depending on the choices I make I could end up doing pretty good for myself and being a functioning member of society. Or if I make the wrong choices I could end up living in my parent's basements or even worse, jail. So if I am able to work hard and make the right decisions like Ralph I will end up contributing to society. But if I choose to be lazy and make the easy choices I will end up like Jack, a savage who brings nothing of value to the world.
I can connect to Golding's novel Lord of the Flies because of the many themes that it holds. One of them is adapting and consequentially growing up to adapt and survive. It only seemed like mere days ago when I was in the first grade, thinking that 2021 was so far away and that I would never grow up and graduate high school and go to college. Sadly though, I have grown up and will be going to college soon. The boys in the story have to adapt to their surroundings on the island to keep themselves alive. Jack takes the hunters to go and get food and Ralph and Simon make the shelters. The other children will soon realize that they also need to help otherwise everyone will end up dead. I know that I have not been put into one of these deadly situations and I hope that I am never going to be in one. However, I believe that if I somehow did end up stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere, I would do as much as possible to keep myself and anyone that is with me alive. The decisions that the little kids make could end up being life-threatening to the whole group.
The Lord of the Flies is a classic that packs in lesson after lesson. Depending on the lens you choose to look at the book through, you might notice different things. The thing that resonated with me most was the idea of The Beast. How I understood it, The Beast was actually a representation of what was inside each of the boys. The Lord of the Flies himself even says that The Beast resides within each one of them. I’m not implying that I have a literal beast within me, but I think that sometimes, I am my own enemy. As readers, we get to watch as the beast unfolds in every single character. Most obviously, Jack is taken over by pride and the desire for power; however, I don’t think that it just happened out of nowhere. When Ralph was “chief”, Jack must have been beating himself up not to take up power himself. He wanted the control. That was his beast. Eventually, that beast came out and made him go crazy. While I don’t particularly struggle with wanting power or anything, I have my own “beasts” that I must tame. Sometimes that may be jealousy, other times greed. The only difference is, I have support all around me to help me suppress the “beast”. Jack didn’t. There’s no way that he would have had a chance against his beast. I, on the other hand, do.
I can relate the Golding in The Lord of the Flies by one of the main themes of the book, growing up. Throughout the novel, the boys are forced to grow up quickly in order to survive. This is not to the same extent as life or death but, as we get ready to go to college we are going to have to start to make big life decisions and grow up fast. Throughout my life, there have been instances where I have had to step up and be a leader when I might not have wanted to. Another way that I can connect to the novel is that Ralph has to make big decisions. Throughout my life, I have had to make difficult decisions that could have definitely changed the outcomes of certain situations. A second way I can connect to Ralph is that he sometimes makes decisions and orders the younger boys around without them caring or listening to him. I can connect with him on this topic because I have always had fights with my younger brother for not listening to me and just messing around. In this sense, the younger boys do not necessarily want to grow up as fast as they have to and can not listen to everything that they need to accomplish. Overall a lot of the themes in the Lord of the Flies are relatable in my own life.
I can personally connect with Golding's story because I often have gone camping and hunting for extended periods with my friends. I spent six days in the boundary waters canoeing from island to island, camping, and fishing as we pleased. The first two days were there it rained just like how it rained in the book in the beginning. While there we got a sense of timelessness that is often echoed throughout the book as we see characters grow up and days change with any sort of physical calendar. Even in the short week, we were there many of us changed in different ways and came out the end a little bit different and more mature than when we went in. One of us that went along brought a waterproof video camera and did a vlog while we were there. When we watch it, you can see each of them transition into a different type of person through the week. Like Jack and his hunting party, the first time we had a fresh kill (fish) our morale improved and we didn’t want to have the boring fruit (freeze-dried food). When we got back to a town it was a sense of awe and wonder at the normal world after we had been in the backwoods. This is similar to the ending of the story and how the boys felt.
I feel like I connect to the story best when I read about how Ralph became the leader for the boys and Jack became the "enemy" in a sense. Ralph is in control of all the boys and he gets to make the big decisions. I can relate to Ralph because I get put in the position of being a leader in a lot of activities I participate in. I never ask for control but I feel natural when in control. Making decisions has always been easy for me and I don't need much time to think about things. There are many different "enemies" in my life. They can be people or things distracting me from my goals. Ralph does a good job caring about getting rescued and living together, while the rest of the boys don't care about rescue and just want to hunt. I feel a connection to this as well because sometimes I see things differently than most guys. I like to think about the long term effects instead of doing things impulsively and making foolish decisions. It might be because I care about my future or that I was raised by good parents. Either way, I appreciate the mind I have been given.
While it is difficult to connect with the boys on the island (i.e. surviving alone on an island, navigating through jungle terrain, coping with the loss and/or murder of companions.)I can feel myself relate to the feelings of discourse, frustration, and anger within the story. Becoming aware of the world around you is a marvelous, yet horrifying, thing. While you can be amazed at what humanity is capable of, and all of its treasures, blessings, and joy it can provide—you can be increasingly aware of the injustice, harm, and discrimination that circles around our globe each and every day. In Goulding's Lord of The Flies, you realize that the boys face a loss of innocence—more specifically Jack. While I have not become a sociopathic killer that has a bloodlust for power like jack, I sympathize with him. I sympathize with Jack because he is certainly afraid, increasingly aware, and upset by his situation, and knows no other way than to cope with him. With the morals of authority being put into question every day, there is no wonder why we become angrier and angrier when we turn on the television. When I turn on the T.V. and view the injustice done unto others that are not warranted, I am so angry. If I was the mother of any of the children harmed by authoritative policies or figures—I would burn down cities and villages too. This loss of innocence does not necessarily have to be a dramatized event. It can be a drastic and more gradual loss as you become more aware of the world you live in. While yes, saying that I sympathize with a sociopath may be a huge red flag, hear me out: I understand. The world is nasty and hard to navigate and I am STILL trying to understand the environment that I will have to live in with my friends, family, and peers—only this time, I will be an adult rather than a child.
It was hard to think of something that I can personally connect to Golding's story, though (with Mr. Christensen's help) I have come up with one: feeling frustrated. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph, Piggy, and Jack get frustrated quite often, especially at each other. Ralph gets frustrated at the beginning when no one helps him build shelters (which are not that good and fall apart), people letting the signal fire go out, and, eventually, Jack forming his own faction, and what little semblance to the order they had before coming to the island fall apart. Piggy gets frustrated a lot, but mainly everyone acting like children (even everyone on the island is children) and for nobody listening to him. Piggy mainly gets frustrated at Jack for making fun of him and ignoring almost everything he says. Jack gets frustrated at the beginning when he fails to kill a single pig and he gets frustrated at Piggy, for being Piggy, and at Ralph because Ralph gives Jack slack for just caring about failing to kill a pig. Jack also gets frustrated when he fails twice to become the leader of the group of boys. I can connect with that because I have been frustrated before. I have become frustrated when people ignored what I had to say, even though what I was saying could have helped. I have become frustrated when things do not go my way or if things do not work out. There have been some times I become so frustrated that I can not even describe it. The shared feeling of frustration towards things is one way I unknowingly connected with the story.
One of the things in "Lord of the Flies" that I can connect to is the character Piggy. Piggy is a smart character who happens to be the "brains" of the group, but he was picked on for all of his other qualities—such as his weight and Asthma. I can connect to Piggy because I used to get teased and picked on for never being the best athlete, but always being one of the smartest people in a class. Piggy is also seen as the leader, or the "voice of opinion" throughout the novel. In his ability to see that the fire, and how it is kept alight, is the only way that they have to return to their previous lives. I always have tried to help people to the best of my abilities and giving advice wherever I can, to anyone who needs it. Piggy's impact is lost in the book until he is killed. Once Piggy is no longer present within the "camp" that voice of reason and decision-making ability is lost. He is no longer able to keep pushing the idea of keeping the fire lit to have a slim chance to finally escape this island. This is why I think I connect best to Piggy.
The best that I can relate to this book, is that when I go fishing with my grandpa and my dad, We try to bring as little food as possible with us. We try to only eat what we catch. The main foods that we do bring are canned beans and roast beef or ham for lunches on the boat. I would relate my dad to Jack because he is normally the one who is driving the boat. This makes me think of him as the leader because he is telling us where to fish and where to catch the fish. My grandpa on the other hand is more the specialist because he likes to tell us how to fish, what color of spinners to use, and what kind of bait to use. Sometimes you cannot always trust him though. One time we were fishing and I went against what he said and I ended up catching more fish than he did. Then once we get back to camp we start a fire to then cook the fish on. This is always a struggle because no one wants to keep the fire going and sometimes it will go out and we will have to make a new one. The relates to the part in the story where the hunting party let the fire on the top of the mountain go out and they were not noticed by the boat passing by.
I connect with Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, because of one of the themes: growing up. Throughout this novel, the boys had to learn how to grow up in order to survive. They had to learn how to grow up fast. In this novel, the boys face challenges and tasks that other children never have to face. Personally, I have not had to face the extreme challenges and tasks many of these boys had to face in order to stay alive. Throughout my life, the older I get, I feel like I take on more responsibilities. I have never been forced to take on extreme responsibilities because I have been blessed with the things and family I have. I take on certain responsibilities to better myself and the people around me. One way I connect with the theme, growing up, is in athletics. I try and be a leader for my teammates so our team can be successful. I have tried to be mature and focused at practice so we can win games. At times, this can be frustrating because others might try to goof off. I understand where Ralph got frustrated at times and tried to come up with solutions that would be beneficial for everyone on the island.
A major theme in Lord of the Flies is growing up in times of need. In the story, the boys are suddenly forced to take care of themselves after their plane crashes. With no adults around, they have to figure out a plan for survival—including finding food and a way of getting off of the island. The boys were forced to mature in order to survive. I can somewhat relate to this situation of suddenly being on your own and having to care for yourself. In December, my mom had to travel to England for a family emergency and I was left home with my sister and dad—who is constantly at work—for almost three weeks. Emotionally, it wasn’t difficult because I’ve been away from her for up to a week at a time before and I’m used to going weeks without seeing my dad. However, keeping up with everything I had to do was a struggle. I had to take over many of my mom’s familial responsibilities during this time. I had to go grocery shopping, do everyone’s laundry, bring my sister to school, and clean the house. Additionally, with Christmas coming up, I had to put up the tree and all the Christmas decorations and go out and buy presents as my mom couldn’t. Overall, it was very stressful but it helped me mature and taught me what being an adult is really like.
Personally, I feel that I connect to Golding’s story because of the very prevalent theme of the loss of innocence. Due to the increase in technology in today's world, I feel that many children and teens are losing innocence much sooner. With constant access to anything at any time, it is just more likely for them to be more educated on things that at their age I would have known nothing about. Overall, this specific theme relates to my life because I work with kids weekly. Many times I have overheard or even been told some kind of joke or comment that just feels wrong being shared by someone so much younger. What is even more devastating to me is that they do not see anything wrong with what they are saying or doing they see it as funny. In Golding’s Story, the children lose their innocence in savagery because they see it as the only way of survival. They most likely think nothing of the transition because they are adapting to this new way of life. This can be very similar to what happens today. In today's modern world children lose their innocence to adapt and try to fit more easily into society's “social norms”. Many will not even realize it, they simply just do not want to be the one who is different from all the others.
A major theme in Lord of the Flies is growing up in times of need. In the story, the boys are suddenly forced to take care of themselves after their plane crashes. With no adults around, they have to figure out a plan for survival—including finding food and a way of getting off of the island. The boys were forced to mature in order to survive. I can somewhat relate to this situation of suddenly being on your own and having to care for yourself. In December, my mom had to travel to England for a family emergency and I was left home with my sister and dad—who is constantly at work—for almost three weeks. Emotionally, it wasn’t difficult because I’ve been away from her for up to a week at a time before and I’m used to going weeks without seeing my dad. However, keeping up with everything I had to do was a struggle. I had to take over many of my mom’s familial responsibilities during this time. I had to go grocery shopping, do everyone’s laundry, bring my sister to school, and clean the house. Additionally, with Christmas coming up, I had to put up the tree and all the Christmas decorations and go out and buy presents as my mom couldn’t. Overall, it was very stressful but it helped me mature and taught me what being an adult is really like.
Throughout the novel, a theme of instinct versus reason emerges numerous times. Whether in the form of a character (such as Piggy and Jack) or the two tasks at hand (hunting versus maintaining the fire), the theme demonstrates a continuous power struggle between a desire to return to primordial instincts and the desire to advance civilization through reasoning and logic. A Freudian lens easily identifies Piggy as the Superego, Ralph as the Ego, and Jack as the ID. I understand the struggle that Ralph faces in choosing between instinct and reasoning; in a time of uncertainty regarding public health, we face the challenge of choosing between following guidelines or not. Do you stay home, away from friends, to protect yourself and your family? Or do you risk it to go spend a fun night with your friends and relax? The mental struggle also applies to other daily decisions, such as school. Do you do your homework and study for tomorrow’s test, resulting in you missing your favorite TV show? Or do you brush off homework in order to indulge in a little Netflix? These decisions may not seem to have a large impact at that moment in time; however, choosing instinct over reason or vice versa can form a dangerous habit. Suddenly, you are weeks behind in homework or you lost contact with your friends because you’ve been locked down for too long. The Lord of the Flies novel displays the concept of such a decision and its consequences on a more drastic level—life or death. The book follows the results of both decisions and the effect of the division between the two lifestyles. So as life continues, the daily war between instinct and reasoning continues to be waged.
One of the main themes in the novel, Lord of the Flies, that I connect with is the theme of growing up. When I was younger, all I wanted to be was a teenager/highschooler. When we were younger we could blame mistakes on being a young kid and not knowing any better, but as we age and mature, those excuses go away. Thinking about it now, I would much rather be a kid than be an adult and have responsibilities and high-stress levels. Lately, it has come to my realization that this is my last year of high school (last semester specifically). Now, I have to start thinking about future plans such as where I want to go to college and what I want to do. No situation in my life, so far, is as extreme as the boy’s situation in the novel, but going through school and getting older, in general, has added more responsibilities for me to handle. Which makes me have to mature faster and manage my life more. School, to some extent, makes us mature faster by giving us homework and due dates that we have to complete assignments by. This helps us learn time management and responsibility, but it also adds stress.
A theme I can personally connect with in the Lord of the Flies is growing up into adulthood. These young boys are stranded on an island with no grown-ups and no help from other adults from the outside. I am sure most that most of them did not have to find their own food, or buy their own house, most everything was given to them. I can personally connect to this theme because I am becoming a young adult; I have started and will have to continue making decisions without the help of my parents for the rest of my life. These boys have to make crucial decisions on how to survive, just like I will have to make crucial decisions on what I should do to survive the real adult world. As a child and even a teenager, I usually would receive help from an adult: my parents, teachers, coaches, etc. Before I was an adult, my parents would give me a lot of things that I didn't necessarily have to work for: gas money, a house to live in, insurance, food, etc. Life for me was was pretty easy, and I did not have as many responsibilities as I will as I get older. Now as a young adult I am starting to grow up. I am getting a new job, I am doing chores around the house, I have an internship, I am starting to pay for my stuff, I am cooking, mowing/shoveling, making crucial decisions on what college I want to go to, what to major in, and which scholarships to apply for. The thought of going into the real world next year scares me. I am not completely ready to grow up, but I know the world doesn't just stop. The world is very fast-paced, and it is time for me to fully wake up and put my big boy pants on. Recently, I have noticed there are still some things that I need to work on in order to grow up, so I am ready for the real world, such as waking up without the help of my parents (I wake up myself on most days, but not all the time), going to bed at a decent time, and numerous "man skills" (change tire/oil, put things together, etc). I am very glad that my parents do not hand me everything to me anymore, so I can be ready to take on the real world. I believe it is very crucial that parents do not give everything to their kids, otherwise, they will grow up to be spoiled and will not want to work hard. After writing all of the things I need to still work on and reading the Lord of the Flies, I have realized it is time to start working on them before I leave for college. I have decided that I am going to make a checklist of all the things I need to work on. My goal is to have my checklist done by the summer. I have also learned that I need to thank my parents for all they have done for me. Lastly, after reading Lord of the Flies I can look up to Piggy for making the smartest/right decisions, and I can look up to Ralph for being nice to Piggy and trying to stay civil as much as possible.
I relate to one of the themes, in Lord of the Flies, of growing up. We are Seniors now and next year we will be going to college which is the next step in growing up even more. In the book, the kids are forced to grow up because they don't have any grown-ups on the island they are trapped on. They have to grow up to stay alive and in a short time. The transition from high school to college is a fast grow up from being at home with your parents to being at school without your parents. It is not as drastic as what the kids had to go through in the Lord of the Flies. Throughout life, we slowly grow up into adults and change from what we were when we were younger to someone more mature and with more experiences. The kids in the book grew up like this but really fast and had to to survive. When they grew up so fast they might have not gotten all of the wisdom of growing up over a course of a lot of years. Growing up takes time and if you do it fast it is more of a reaction to survive and you miss out on your young life.
A theme that I can connect to from Lord of the Flies is the idea of growing up. Although I am not trapped on a tropical island in the middle of nowhere at such a young age I feel with being a senior in high school myself, and others included, have been forced to grow up a lot in the last couple of years. With graduation fastly approaching and the real world coming after I have been forced to think about and figure out my future. What college do I want to go to, what major do I want to pursue and where do I want to work to pay for all of this. All these decisions that I have been making throughout the last couple of years are going to have massive impacts on the rest of my life. This is relatable to the decisions that the boys are making throughout The Lord of the Flies. Although I am not making decisions such as letting the fire out to go hunt which results in the boat not saving the boys, or joining in on a celebratory dance and accidentally murdering my friend such as the boys are being faced with I still have to make life-changing decisions.
I connected almost instantly with Simon's actions, demeanor, and the way he interacted with others. Simon is easily the most lovable character in the book. All others end up contributing in some way to the boys' fall into savagery. Piggy is annoying. Ralph has good intentions, but he can hardly handle his leadership position and is definitely not the smartest on the island. Jack and Roger are the enemies, so we are meant to hate them. The only two characters who get close to Simon's level of benevolence are Sam and Eric, and even they become beasts near the end of the novel. Simon came the closest to turning the tide of the savage mindset that swept across the island. William Golding did not pick on a whim the two characters who were killed; he intentionally killed the smartest and most sane characters on the island: Piggy and Simon.
Simon had great ideas throughout the novel, but he hit a barrier when it came to communicating those ideas to the others on the island. I feel this every day. I have never been a great communicator. A lot of the time, things do not come out the way I want them to. I usually just give up, just as Simon did when trying to convince the other boys. Simon's story can be a lesson for me, though. If Simon would have tried just a bit harder to express his thoughts to the others, the island could have been saved. If I try just a bit harder every day to communicate my ideas, maybe I can make more of a difference in the world.
One of the themes that I connected with in Golding's Lord of the Flies was learning how to survive by yourself. The kids are washed up on an island and have no adult supervision, but obviously have to stay alive as long as they can. I can relate to this because I like to live my life without trying to rely on my parents too much. I do all my homework by myself and on time, and I have been doing that for a long time. I always thought that learning things yourself is one of the best ways of growing up. There are times where you need parents of course but in my case, I like being self-sufficient. The kids on the island have to do everything by themselves. Creating shelter, finding food, etc. My life is obviously not to this extreme, but nonetheless, they are very self-sufficient. I can also connect to Ralph because he is the leader of the group, and I was a leader/captain on the football and baseball team. He is the one who takes charge and says how things should be done. That is like me, so I connected myself to Ralph very early in the book.
Lord of the Flies has many themes that we can connect to that William Golding wrote into the story perfectly. Many of these themes are things we deal with on a day to day basis. One such theme is growing up. The kids in the stories are thrust into dealing with very adult problems very quickly. The little ones or “littluns” are young kids, around six to ten years old, who have to deal with these problems. The older boys, who seem to be around that ten to twelve years old range, have to become parental figures for the little ones and I believe that we see this come to form in the conch and also the different boys becoming the “chief”. I think another theme that works really well into the story is morality and responsibility. Jack and Piggy can very distinctly represent the devil and the good side of your conscience respectively. We see Jack consistently become a savage with the hunting and the eventual killing of Simon, whereas Piggy is always grounded and trying to bring out the good in Ralph. I think we have those two parts of us and we are always trying to follow the good side.
There are a lot of themes I personally connect with in Lord of the Flies, but the theme I would say I connect the strongest to is Ralph’s struggle of choosing between listening to the id or listening to the superego. I myself, always try to find a balance between the two modes of thought. When I was younger I would say that I was definitely more on the id side of the balance and mostly acted upon impulse. However, as I grew up a little more, I felt myself listening to my superego more and more; conscious thought went into almost everything I did. I believe life is about finding a balance between the id and the superego. If you consciously think about everything you do, you will never feel happy; but, if you don’t think about anything you do, you become reckless. You need to know when you should listen to each. You may not want to do your homework, but never doing your homework may cause you to fail your classes; but, if you fear failing your classes every waking moment of every day, you will only be stressed out. You should do your homework but find time to have fun.
I can relate to several things in Golding’s novel; throughout the novel, the characters are forced to make difficult decisions that will affect their future and who they become. I think this relates to me as I have to start making life-changing decisions such as where to go to college and what I should major in. You also see all the mistakes they make along the way such as getting too caught up in the hunt that they let the fire go out making it so they can not get the rescue that they wanted. In the same way that sometimes I get so caught up in what I’m doing that I forget to take care of other things that could be just as important or more important. Another one is when most of the boys leave Ralph’s tribe to join Jacks relates to me since I have had so many people I thought I could trust turn out to leave me in some way or another. You see the danger comes with a mob mentality from when Simmon and piggy get killed to everyone abandoning the thought of rescue so they go and do their own thing. I relate to this because lately there have been a lot of protests happening for different things one of them was the storming of the capital building which turned into a violent protest because people got too caught up in what was being said or being done.
This book has had many themes scattered throughout the book. These themes are quite easy to relate to in my opinion. But, one main theme I connected to was growing up. I have two younger siblings, which I have watched countless times. I have had to help out with them a lot, which made me have to take on more responsibilities. In this book, Ralph had to grow up and take on the importance of his role. He needed to be there for the younger boys who were struggling without having parental figures. Ralph does a great job at controlling the boys and leading them to success. Sometimes I feel like I have to do this for my younger siblings because they would go crazy without some structure. Along with Ralph taking charge, he had to make pretty big decisions. This is something that can put a lot of pressure and stress on someone. I feel like with many seniors, we are going to have to make some hard decisions in the near future. This is something that is difficult but with much thought and consideration, it can go smoothly. These were the two major themes from the book that I felt were pretty relevant in my life.
Golding portrays many themes throughout his novel. I personally connect with Golding's theme about adapting as we grow up. I remember as a kid when life was easy and simple and I had not a problem in the world. Then as I grew and had to attend school, life wasn't all fun and games. I had to learn and practice what I had learned at home. I started to have stress. By adapting to the school situations and realizing I had to do homework, I was able to release some of the stress. Just as the boys did on the island in "The Lord of the Flies". They had to adapt to the island and the resources around them in order to survive and have some sort of colonization. Even further on once, I became a teenager I had to adapt to driving and the fact that I had a job. I had responsibilities now that must be carried out throughout my weeks. I had deadlines to meet. I had to adapt to each and every situation I was put in, in order to make it to where I am today. Again, the boys on the island had to adapt to another, bigger change, which was picking who was in charge.
My connection to Lord of the Flies is that the book is reflecting growing up too fast. Throughout the book, the children are faced with many issues that cause them to have to grow up and make grown-up decisions. I can connect this to myself because it seems like these days we're all trying so hard to get ahead in life that we never really appreciated our childhood. The characters in the book had to grow up because they were stuck on an island, but we just want to grow up because we do not want to be treated like children anymore. Another theme that I saw was a connection to real-life civilization. These kids were stuck on the island and one of the first things that they did as a group was a vote for a chief. This really correlates to our lives because every four years we vote for a new leader that is going to make the tough decisions for us. Our leader symbolizes power and that is who we look to in times of need.f The same thing happened in the book when something went wrong they looked to Ralph for answers on what to do.
One of the characters I connected to was Ralph. When voted for chief he gets himself put into a difficult situation where doing the right thing may feel wrong. This position of pressure made him stand out to me. He had to fight his own ID throughout the entire book in an attempt to keep everything alive and together. The other thing I greatly relate to is the theme of growing up. The boys in this book experience great change as they strive to survive on the island. They were forced to grow up before it was truly their time. That’s the part I relate to the most. I had to grow up fast. When I was in middle school my mother had health problems and my dad was the only one able to work and as a farming family, the work was intense with little payoff. My sister was getting ready to leave for college and I had just started to grow into my mental illness. I had to grow up and adjust to how life was changing.
One of the many themes in Lord of The Flies that connected with me was simply growing up. Growing up can be hard and for some, you have to grow up very fast. Situations in life are not planned so we have to adapt to be better. In Lord of the Flies, they had to adapt to their situation and grow up and be "adults" in the book the boys constantly talk about what would the adults do. In my life, I sometimes think about what would my parents do, specifically my dad. This chapter of my life is definitely testing my ability to grow up without my parents. In the next year, I will be going to college and be on my own. I have to make grown-up decisions on my own. I connected with these boys because it will be scary to be on your own just hoping you are doing it all right.
Lord of the Flies is about how the boys adapt to their new surroundings and their reactions to the struggles because of it. I think one theme that I connect to is growing up in a quick time frame. It feels as though I have always been looking after someone in my life. I looked after my friends when I was in daycare and I have always looked after my sister. When high school hit, I felt the stressful feeling ten times harder than I had before. Juggling school, family, and friends made me feel as though I had to take everything on myself. I put pressure on myself to be the best that I can be and make the best decisions that I can with the information that I am given. I used to wish to be grown up and live on my own making my own rules. Now that I am starting to do things independently, I wish to go back to the simpler time when I didn't have to worry about where my life was going. The boys go through a traumatic experience and are forced to grow up on their own with no guidance. Every boy, up to that point, has had guidance from their parents, and then it is ripped from them. I feel that it will be the same for when we got to college, we have always had someone to hold our hand and it will not be ripped from us. All of us will go on our own and make our own choices, some giving into our id, ego, or superego.
I can relate to the novel with the theme of growing up. Since I am expected to become more independent and move out very soon, I feel very afraid because I feel like I am supposed to know what to do with my life and I do not. Like the boys in the novel, I am learning how to take care of myself so I will be okay. In a way, I feel like I relate to Ralph the most. Ralph is left to make big decisions in the novel. Being twelve, he certainly is not qualified for the job, and can only try to do his best. I feel that way about myself and my future. While most people at eighteen decide what they want to do and where to go to college, I can't shake the feeling that I'm making the wrong choice, or I'm going to screw myself over in the future. I don't have any way to know what my future is going to look like with the choices I make. I can only try my best to set myself up for my future, like trying to keep my grades high and saving up money for college.
I can relate to William Golding's Story, Lord of the Flies, because while the boys fall into chaos, you can see that in life today. Ralph was the group leader, voted in as chief, but Jack thought that he should have been the group leader, so he started his own clan on the island to take control away from Ralph. We can see this in our lives today within the government. There was a transition of power because a different group was voted and supposed to control the government. Some people did not like that this had happened and decided to take away power from the newly elected officials. We can also see this just within school life. Within friend groups, there is always someone that can take charge and is usually the group leader. Other friends within the group may have issues with this person and then leave the friend group even if they still like people within the group itself. They may also have people who leave with them because they want to hang out with them instead of the group. This makes the original group weaker rather than making it stronger and fixing some of their issues.a
One theme that was brought up right away in Golding’s story was the role of leadership. The boys have no adults on the island so the kids are in charge of themselves. Now, I have never been in their situation but I have had to take leadership positions when no one else would. In my church, I have taken many leadership roles. One role, probably the most important to the church, was stepping up to be a music teacher for the Wednesday school kids. There was no teacher signed up and I was the first person the director asked to lead. I have had the most experience with music so it did make sense but I would have to go from teaching my usual 6 kid kindergarten class to 3 different groups of 30 kids of all ages. It was a learning experience for both me and the kids. Besides teaching music on Wednesday nights, I also was a teacher for a kindergarten class on Sunday mornings. Similar to Ralph, it was my role to watch the kids and be their leader. The only difference is, I signed up to be a leader whereas Ralph was chosen. I started co-teaching classes when I was in fifth grade, (I was 10 years old) and when I started teaching on my own, I was 12. My age was also similar to Ralph's when we had to step up and become a leader for kids who were younger than us and needed someone to look up to and learn from.
Reflecting on my own life experience and personality, I can say that I relate to Simon in the novel. I am most definitely no saint or genius as Simon is slightly portrayed, but I take pride in my morality and hold high standards. Simon seems to be the middle ground and sense of equilibrium of the island. He doesn't side strictly with Ralph or Jack and holds his own. I can relate to this as my personality doesn't shape me into the main leader. Though I'm not first in command I am often looked upon by them for encouragement or validation. I am confident in my morals and the standards in which I uphold them, which makes me a prime candidate for a "middle-ground" character. I willingly offer my help to anyone who seeks it, but try not to pick sides for fear of becoming too aggressive. My shy sense of personality helps me to dwell in my thoughts as does Simon. In the novel, Simon finds an escape from the harsh reality of bickering between Ralph and Jack in a peaceful secluded area. I can relate, as the chaos of my life can be easy to get lost in, but I have found ways to escape and manage the madness. Analyzing Simon has made me further analyze myself, though I am hoping for a better ending.
As cheesy as it sounds, I relate myself to Simon a decent amount, and for good reason. Whenever he gets tired of the fighting or the others, he went to the clearing in the woods. He needs time alone to rethink things and get a break from everyone. I am usually pretty social and in the last years have always been very outgoing; However, this year I have been more reserved and don't do as much with friends. Simon needed a break and I feel like lately, I have too. Taking time to relax and be alone can be very serene and peaceful for someone to think. I would like to start doing more, however, but the alone time and just thinking have helped a lot too. Simon utilizes the alone time to think and eventually find out who the monster really was on the island. I wouldn't say I have any monsters to find or anything but alone time is good just to think and get my life in order. I think in today's world too many people get caught up in the hustle, and bustle but don't take enough time to stop and think. Whether it is for ten minutes in the morning or ten minutes at night, being alone to think and just relax your mind can do wonders. Some would call it meditating, which it could be, but it is just used to clear your mind. Minimize distractions such as people, your phone, or anything else that might get to you.
One of the themes in Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, is growing up; I believe this the theme that I can most personally relate to. At the start of the novel, the boys—a group of young, bright-eyed children—arrived on the island and were immediately forced to grow up quickly and adapt to the new conditions in order to survive. They were faced with tests of moral conduct and leadership as well as dark concepts like death and the lust for power. These are tough adult topics for children that are aged 6-12, especially without guidance. Although not as extreme of conditions as in the novel, I believe that we can see the same theme occurring in the world today, especially with school. Children are entering schools earlier and becoming involved in extracurricular activities at an earlier age. They are given cell phones and are faced with pressures to have good grades and be good at everything they do. Their boundaries pushed, children may feel forced to grow up quickly, leaving them stressed and unhealthy. Also, more and more children are being exposed to certain topics, ideas, and challenges through school and their activities; today's world pushes children to excel with advanced levels of education and to quickly learn how to process and navigate the world around them. Every child has a different upbringing, but it is the ever-changing world that decides how quickly a child grows up.
One of the many themes in Golding's novel that applies to my life recently is growing up. Right now especially I feel the need to grow up fairly faster than in the past. With college right around the corner, I am going to be on my own, just like how the boys had to grow up fast and take care of themselves in the novel. College is like the plane crashing in the novel and is a chance to learn life lessons and do life without having an adult looking after you 24/7. You have to make decisions for yourself and start building a life for yourself on your own. In the novel that is exactly what the boys have to do. They have to be able to grow up fast and start taking control of their lives and make decisions that are best for them and the situation they are in. Before the crash, I imagine that the boys were in school and doing kid things until they unexpectedly ended up on this random island and have to mature really fast. In today's society, it feels like every generation is almost forced to grow up faster than the previous generations.
A significant theme in Lord of the Flies is the loss of innocence. While the boys are stranded on the island, they realize they need to take some responsibility where the adults in their lives normally would. Towards the beginning of the novel, the boys behave reasonably well given the traumatizing situation. However, as time goes on, the boys' innocence decays, allowing violence and insanity to set in, as shown when Jack finally attacks the other boys. The group led by Jack started as choir boys who he then assigned to be hunters for food, a necessity. There has been a conflict between the hunters and the rest of the group from the beginning. Eventually, Simon's grove is impacted by this theme; starting as a beautiful piece of nature, Simon returns to his forested area only to find the hunt's savagery in the form of a pig's head on a stake. I feel as though I can relate to this theme of the loss of innocence very well in my life. Not only does this loss of innocence relate to having to grow up and think about the future, but it also applies to the moments in life no one wants to acknowledge openly. I can think of many times in my life where feelings of helplessness have occurred, from little things like not getting the grade I wanted on a test to bigger ones like dealing with mental health. Life is tough sometimes, and I didn't win the genetic lottery on my brain's chemistry either, so learning to put myself and my health ahead of other people and tasks has been a considerable step in returning to innocence.
I connect with the Lord of the Flies in a couple ways. The first way is how we deal with freedom. In the book it is made very obvious that there are two different types of people on the island. Some of them want to try and think about rescue and shelter, which is a very smart idea. Piggy, Ralph, and Simon are the biggest advocates for this strategy. But, other people fully embrace the freedom of the island and decide to just have fun and do whatever they want. Jack and Roger would much rather just hunt and live in a society where violence rules. As shown in Lord of the Flies, it is often easier to follow your id rather than your superego. You will end up better off in the end if you listen to your super ego but it can be a lot more fun in the short term if you follow your id. Jack and Roger fully embrace their id and just follow bloodlust and chaos. Not only is your own id easier to follow, it is easier to follow a leader who follows their id. We see this when all of the littluns and many of the older kids abandon the conch and Ralph’s leadership to go follow Jack and the hunters. This all connects to me because, as we all graduate this spring, we are going to be given more freedom to make our own decisions. This book is a good lesson that shows us why we should follow our superego rather than our id.
In William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, there are many lessons that can be learned from the book. One of the main lessons was growing up. In the novel, the boys that are stranded on the Island and probably didn't know it at the time but were eventually going to have to grow up and figure out a way to surive. The boys that were on the island realized the only way to surive was to work with each other and have someone in charge so they can follow his rules. The way I can relate to this is by having to go to college and growing up to become an adult. This point in my life I am transitiong into having more responsiblites even though I dont want them. I am going to have to figure out ways to help myself in the future, and just like the boys in the book they helped each other, and knowing my freinds are in the same position as I am, we just have to help each other through the tough times of growing up in life.
William Golding crafted a brilliant depiction of children's thoughts and emotions in a harsh environment. A major theme of the book was the clash between Piggy and Jack, which took place through Ralph. I connected mostly to the arguments between these sides. Golding portrays some of the most realistic argument scenes that I have read. The tension between Jack and Ralph on top of the mountain after the first pig is killed is palpable. Arguments in real life are rarely a screaming match between the two parties, as some media portrays, but they are certainly not silent and undetectable. Golding does a wonderful job of mixing spoken, rational arguments with intimidating silence. The specific part I enjoyed most was on page 69, specifically with Ralph's repetition of the phrase, "You let the fire go out," and the vivid description of his appearance, attitude, and voice—which is contrasted with Jack and his hunters' happy laughter and stories. The hunters quickly realize that their cheers are inappropriate in this situation, and all cower and fall silent under the argument of Jack and Ralph, who are symbolic of their parents. The emotions of the bystanders are most easily seen in Simon when Golding writes, "Passions beat about Simon on the mountain-top with awful wings." This moment is when I really began to buy into the book. Golding's accurate and vivid description of the boys' interactions is what made the book so powerful in my opinion.
I connect with the themes of isolation and survival in Lord Of The Flies because (to a much lesser extent) it's a close future for all of us in class. We're going to graduate in May and after that, we'll have to decide our future for our own and deal with problems our own way. Although an extreme comparison, I still think it's relevant because many of us depend on those older than us, even as we enter our late teenage years. However, (just like these boys) we're going to create a life for ourselves, one that we make on our own. I also connect to Ralph having to construct the huts practically on his own even though he doesn't wish to do so. Ralph helps make the huts because he knows he needs to since they need shelter, even after Jack and the boys do hunting which they actually enjoy. In life, you're tasked with doing things you don't necessarily want to do, such as a job you don't enjoy. However, you know that you need to do the job because it's necessary for getting money and surviving. It's hard not to think about the many people that do a job they actually enjoy and receive benefits for doing so, nevertheless we go about our job anyways.
One theme of the book I believe I can relate to the most would be the fact that the boys had to grow up fast. They had to grow up and take responsibility for themselves on the island or else they would die; the boys had to make their own shelter, get their own food, and water. I relate to this by growing up in high school. I had to take my own responsibility with doing workouts for sports, getting my homework done on time, and just being a decent role model for the younger classes. Another way I could relate to the story is having a role model to look up to in order to grow up faster. In the novel, the "littluns" had the older boys such as Jack and Ralph to look up to and grow with; the older boys told the younger kids what they could help with and gave them rules on what not to do. I had my older brother show me the ropes which allowed me to base my own path on what I had seen him do in the past, he helped me with choosing my class schedule, going to practices, etc...
In the Lord of the Flies, I found an unlikely connection to Piggy. There is a constant thing of Piggy getting blown over throughout the book. Growing up I experienced the same theme; I was always in my brother’s shadow, kind of how Piggy is often in Ralph’s and Jack’s shadow. Piggy is a smart kid and is being pushed aside because he does not look like a natural-born leader. He comes up with all these great ideas to help them survive this island, yet no one will listen to him. My life kind of a mirror of a similar situation. I was always overlooked because Clay (do not get me wrong, I look up to Clay) was in the spotlight. He was always accomplishing something, either good or bad, and getting all the attention for it. While I would do something and no one would notice or they just simply would not care about it. However, I have learned to take Clay’s accomplishments and learn from them. I have become a better person and student because of my brother. He is always giving me great advice about life, school, and friends; and now my accomplishments are being noticed just like his were.
One thing that I can relate to this novel is the preschool class that I teach in the mornings. At the beginning of this novel, a group of boys land on an island and have no idea what to do. Preschool is the first step in which you start to develop your social skills. For some kids, it may be a difficult task and some act in ways you would never expect. There is a boy named Jorey in my class that is somewhat in the same boat as piggy; most of the kids ignore him due to the fact that they can't comprehend what he is saying. Noah's Ark Preschool is the island; the students are the group of boys. The students range from 3 to 4 years old and this is the first time they have been away from their parents for a good amount of time. Around half the class is excited to explore and elude from the rules they have been taught to follow. While the others, shy, embrace the rules that are taught in preschool. You can sense the invisible line between these two groups. Ralph and Piggy remind me of those shy kids while Jack reminds me of the rebellious ones. I am hoping that they will all come together in the end and focus on the most important thing: learning.
I relate to the theme of growing up and loss of innocence. The boys crash-landed on the island and no longer were they the boys who were singing in choirs, they now had to be survivors. they had to hunt their own food make their own shelter and do things that they have never done before. In a way, this relates to having a sibling go to college. Freshman year whenever I was hungry I just had my sister make me food. I didn't do my own laundry and we both split the chores of the house between us. I didn't have as much responsibility because if I forgot something at home or didn't want to do something, I could just ask my sister for it. When she left it was time to grow up, to get it together, and start thinking for myself and my future. Now I had to do all the chores while planning college and balancing school. I could no longer leave stuff behind and had to learn to make different meals as it was up to me to make supper for the family.
In the Lord of the Flies, I found a theme between Ralph's decision to choose between Piggy's civilized way of life or Jack's ideas of a savage way of life. This theme can also be interpreted as growing up. Ralph can choose to either be a grownup in the entire situation or he could choose to stay a child. Many instances like that have shown up in my life. For instance, school would be a huge factor in growing up. School makes one grow up and have to learn how to do stuff on your own. If someone doesn't choose to grow up they may tend to have bad study habits and not do well in school, whilst the person who chooses to grow up learns how to get on with themselves without the help of parents or other people around them. Growing up in the novel is also shown through the "littluns" because they looked up to the older kids such as Ralph. Towards the end, they are seen doing more grown-up things such as helping out more with the fire and not just playing in the pool. I have learned as I have gotten older to help my parents and other people to the best of my ability. Instead of when I was young, I would just go outside, play and do my own thing.
In Golding’s book I can relate to the littluns, because though they know that there is stuff to be done that they could do, they chose to avoid that, instead of doing something else that they find more fun. In their case, they go swimming, or they play in the fruit trees. This is like me because this results in avoiding doing their work or what they should be doing. This may not be the most useful thing, and definitely not to the people they are with or themselves. But most nights I find myself putting off homework until the latest time, choosing to do something else that to me is much more fun, most of the time it is Netflix, video games, or social media that distracts me from what I should be doing, whatever calculus concept I am trying to learn or physics assignment I should be finishing. Hopefully, things do end up getting done, which is what normally happens just like how the shelters eventually got built, but it took time because the littluns did not feel like they wanted to. This is why throughout the book I can relate to the littluns, they like to just hang out and do what they think is fun, and I find myself in that same boat most days.
William Golding’s novel is complex and intriguing. Using multiple lenses to depict meaning in the book, the feminist lens was my favorite. Piggy is a more feminine character and represents how femininity is approached in society. Piggy is taken for granted often. He is misused, bullied, and tormented. Ralph senses that Piggy is much smarter than him, yet doesn’t fully consider any advice Piggy gives. When Piggy has the conch at a meeting, he is interrupted and belittled. They snatch Piggy’s glasses over and over again, whenever they need fire. You could also assume that Piggy is not respected because of his body composition. If Piggy was a prettier, taller boy like Ralph, maybe he would have been chief. I most relate to Piggy in the novel. I have met many people in my life who speak over me or expect me to know my place. As a leader in my activities, many boys disrespect and criticize me regularly. Waiting for me to stutter or slip up, some would jump for an opportunity to make me look like an insufficient leader. You can say, “boys will be boys” but girls must never be anything other than proper and gentle. When a boy makes a loud, amusing joke, it is funny. When a girl does, it is annoying and obnoxious. (Of course, this is generalized.) I am not immune to stereotypes. Sometimes I feel like a woman is being big-headed if she shares her opinions too harshly. A nauseating habit. Piggy has to be intentional with everything he does in the novel, speaking carefully and acting precisely to avoid harassment. He has to try harder to be heard and earn respect. I feel like I have to constantly think about how the world is perceiving me to achieve the things I want. Fit into the norm society presents. Don't be annoying. Act like a lady. Earn respect, earn success.
I can personally connect to Golding’s story, Lord of the Flies, in several ways—whether that be from the theme of leadership or growing up. Throughout my life, I have always said what is on my mind, giving me a leadership role in certain situations. Volleyball, in particular, really gave me a chance to practice that role by being a team captain. Being captain of a sports team does not necessarily carry the same weight of being in charge of an island, but they act similarly. Early in the novel, Ralph took on the role of speaking for the group, although he might not have always handled it perfectly. Some of the rebellious children on the island were not the biggest fans of Ralph, and they wanted to go off and do their own thing. I understand this frustration because Brooklyn and I would often have a plan or idea that did not work out exactly how we planned. We had to learn what worked best for our team in the same way Ralph advocated for structure within the group. If everyone is doing their own thing with their own agendas, nothing will be accomplished. This idea of leadership and cooperation displayed in the novel can connect differently depending on each person, but it is shown in our everyday lives.
One of the themes that I can connect with in William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, is growing up. In the novel, these kids must learn to grow into adults quickly to solve their adult-like problems. In the novel, we see that the so-called littluns never really do grow up and enjoy their life of playing games, building sandcastles, and swimming every day while the biguns are more worried about the adult problems such as finding food and finding rescue. I can relate to this because when I was younger times were much simpler. I was able to run around and play games and I did not have to worry about what I was going to do in my future but once I hit High School I realized that the decision on what I was going to do with my life was going to have to be made soon. Every year more and more responsibilities stack over one another and it just adds to the idea of growing up such as learning how to drive and getting a job. The older you get the more you learn how to survive on your own which is similar to the novel except for the fact that the kids on the island had only days to figure out how to keep themselves living on the island for long enough to either get rescued or to somehow make this island their home.
In Lord of the Flies, one of the main themes is the loss of innocence the boys endure. I personally am at a time in my life where I will no longer be considered a teenager/child, but an adult. I am turning eighteen and will be expected to handle greater responsibilities. As a child you are viewed as innocent but as an adult empathy is spared and society expects you to succeed in life on your own. The boys are suddenly handed a life where there are no adults to take care of them and do the tasks children shouldn’t have to deal with such as getting food for the family, building shelter/working for the family, etc. The boys now have to worry about hunting for their own food to feed themselves and the young ones. They also have to worry about rules, safety(with the fire and the young ones), other enemies(the beast) all of which would have been dealt with by an adult before they crashed on the island. Just like the boys on the island, as I turn eighteen and move out, I will no longer have a parent to provide things for me but instead, I will have to provide things for myself.
Lord of the Flies has many obvious themes—evil is inherent within us, the loss of innocence, structure vs. savagery. However, Lord of the Flies can be analyzed in a religious sense as well. My Christian faith has always been the main aspect of my life. Faith provides a moral compass for each believer to follow, and because we are given direction, we notice the struggle between good and evil in our lives. Every day we are given opportunities to do good or bad, just like the boys in the Lord of the Flies. When the boys first arrive on the island, it is like the Garden of Eden. The island is full of fresh fruit for the boys to eat and is a beautiful paradise; however, just like Adam and Eve, the boys are given free will and in both cases, free will is abused. Just as Adam and Eve brought sin into the world by disobeying God, the boys bring sin into the island. Once Jack kills the first pig, he realizes that sin is easy. Jack then commits sinful act after sinful act, which eventually leads to his loss of innocence—the killing of the mother sow—which is the point of no return. Similar to original sin, once the boys begin their sinful ways, it is impossible to reverse. As a Christian, I see daily the fight between good and evil, just like the boys on the island. However, I can not say that I relate to one of the boys more than the other. I try to live my life in good and peaceful ways, similar to that of Simon, but because sin has been introduced into the world, everybody faces it. The Lord of the Flies insinuates that evil is inherent within all of us because original sin was introduced to the world long ago. Unfortunately, every person encounters sin. However, we are still given free will to do what is right. The boys on the island were given free will to make their own choices. Some made good decisions, while others abused free will. Similarly, each person is given free will to either live out their faith or to sin.
To Piggy the conch shell is a symbol of organization and order. To the readers, it is a symbol of purity and innocence as well. Piggy holds onto the conch throughout the entirety of the novel, hoping that it will somehow bring everyone back together. I can relate to Piggy’s thoughts on this subject just as I sometimes tend to hold onto false hopes. Growing up very protected it can be hard to understand the violence and hurt that the rest of our world sees every day. Just like Piggy, I live in a place that is filled with pure hearts and safety nets. However, lately, I’ve realized that you won’t always have those nets to fall back on and you must prepare yourself for what reality has in store for you. I am grateful for the life that I have been given but I don’t want to end up like piggy holding up some sacred ideal and ignoring the real problems in today's society. The boys on the island were shocked to find a world of evil and it consumed them. We can not let that happen and that is why we have people and beliefs in place to keep us safe and in check.
In the Lord of the Flies, the boys are evacuated because of nuclear warfare being sent to an unknown destination. When suddenly their plane engine starts on fire and they crash land in the ocean. Stranded on an island miles and miles away from civilization they are forced to grow up quickly. If they do not grow up they will not survive on the island acting like children. Although I have not had a tragic event such as getting stranded on an island happen to me I feel like once you enter high school, you have to grow up. Freshman year is just the start the older you get the more responsibilities you will have. Whether that be deciding what college you are going to or getting to work on time. You hit a point when you realize you got bigger and better things to be doing. The people that don't hit that point tend to be unsuccessful in life. The pig's head is symbolized as the evil inside of everyone. Jack is obsessed with killing the pig to show power and authority. Foreshadowing the evil in the children. William Goldening was intending to do this to show what he thought would happen to a group of boys stranded on a deserted island.
One of the themes in Lord of the Flies is the theme of growing up without fatherly and motherly figures. We see that this has a negative effect on some of the boys such as Jack. Jack grows to be a bitter bully and eventually it hurts other kids. Ralph and Piggy grow to be motherly figures and have to care for the rest of the boys. It is interesting to see that in the absence of parental figures some of the boys naturally step in and provide the others with such figures. The boys are also in a literal life and death situation and must make every decision carefully because if they make one misstep or fail to see the correct choice in a given situation kids may die. This reminds me of my life with my hockey team. Obviously, the stakes are not life or death but our coaches do not have a lot to do with our locker room interaction. I have been on teams that interact well and others that do poorly. Teammates will start to adopt the roles that Piggy, Jack, and Ralph adopted in the book. Each choice that we make may determine whether we win or lose and the way that we interact and communicate is essential to either success or failure.
I can connect to the story through the themes of society and morals. From my perspective, the book shows the people who want to be savages in a bad light. I agree with Ralph and Piggy in that they should try to get rescued, but I do not know what I would do in that situation. Ralph, Piggy, and Simon are the ones that are staying civilized, while all of the others deteriorate into savages. Throughout the novel, you can see that Ralph has some trouble convincing himself that he is making the right choices. There are many times where piggy has to remind him of why the fire is so important, even though Ralph is the one who originally made a big deal out of it. Deep down, all Ralph wants to do is hunt and kill and survive in the wild like the rest, but he is resisting those temptations constantly. I can relate to this because there are some things that I want to do, but have to keep myself from doing. I would rather not do any homework or go to work, but my mind is telling me that I must. I am ignoring my inner desires to stay in my comfort zone and do what is easiest, just as Ralph ignores his and instead stays civil the entire novel.
I personally connect to Golding’s story because I like to think that I am similar to Ralph. Logically, you would need a fire in order to be rescued. Ralph was thinking long-term; he was looking at the big picture. Most of the other boys were just glad to be on the island by themselves and to have complete autonomy but that wouldn’t last. I, for one, would not want to be on that island longer than I would have to be. To only see the same 15 or so people would be so lonely. And they were not prepared to stay there much longer. They most likely didn’t save enough fruit in order to plant some in the next season. They killed the sow that had just had babies and now those babies might not survive and you run low on pigs. And nobody really cared for the little ones. That first night they already lost one kid. The littluns needed structure and guidance and received none. I have that motherly instinct. But this novel has made me wonder if, in a similar circumstance, I would change and start to behave like the boys in the book. If perhaps my Id is stronger than I thought it was. In a battle between my Id and Superego, which would come out on top?
In the novel Lord of the Flies, Simon goes on top of the mountain to "kill the beast." While on his journey, he becomes dehydrated and sick. Simon starts to hear voices in his head and see strange images of the Pig's head on the stick that sits on the top of the mountain. Simon imagines the pig's head is called Lord of the Flies as it is coated in flies that devour its rotting flesh. He believes that the pig is talking to him, telling him all of the things that he has felt insecure about or feels he has fallen short of accomplishing. Self-doubt floods Simon as he is told lies from the Lord of the Flies and begins to collapse due to his dehydration. I believe that we all have a Lord of the Flies that attempts to tell us that we are less than capable or worthy. My Lord of the Flies would have to be comparison. I allow comparison to set boundaries on my creativity and unique calling. Like Simon, when I let my Lord of Flies in during my most vulnerable moment I end up collapsing. I believe that the Lord of the flies is controllable as it was with Simon. I have to remind myself that I am valuable and worthy of more than comparison. I do not have to listen to my Lord of the Flies.
As I read William Golding's "Lord of the Flies", I could often find myself relating to traits from all the characters. One character that I consistently found myself connecting with was Piggy. Throughout the novel, Piggy hints at his intelligence and holds great potential to be the leader of the boys. Piggy stays true to the values that he was taught growing up and tries to remind the boys to stay civilized, even though they frequently disregard his sensible approaches to their problems. He possesses more feminine qualities, which is what I relate most with. Much like Piggy, I handle almost every situation with a more calm and caring demeanor, attempting to keep the peace. I tend to listen to my superego more than my id. Another character I could identify with was Ralph. Ralph uses his senses throughout the novel and constantly strategizes survival tactics to increase the boys' chances of being rescued. I sympathize the most for Ralph because in many ways he had the hardest job out of all the boys. Ralph had to step up and be an authoritative figure for the boys to maintain obedience on the island. I feel as though that I have gained much more authority over my own life in the past year with school, work, and overall focus, so I can sort of make that connection with Ralph.
One of the most obvious but relatable theories in Lord of the Flies would be the Freudian theory. The Freudian theory deals with id, ego, and superego, and is perfectly displayed in Lord of the Flies. Piggy the superego, Ralph the ego, and Jack the id, trying to figure out how to run a whole island. While we are not on a whole island, society and individuals run this way on a day to day basis. If looking through the Freudian lens, I would say that I am more superego than id and would relate to Piggy more than Jack. I like to look at the world through facts and realities. I like to plan everything out and to keep everything organized. This is similar to Piggy because he's always trying to keep everybody in line. He is often the one to come up with ideas and to keep everything steady. He is the person that thinks critically instead of impulsively which is kinda how I see myself thinking. If Piggy wouldn't have been in the book, then the boys would have turned into savages much quicker. In this way I relate to Piggy because while haveing fun is always a good thing, there is a fine line between it being a dangerous and it being harmless.
I relate to Lord of the Flies because of the boys' loss of innocence. When I was younger, I believed that there was good in everyone. Though in recent years I have found that is not entirely true. This being similar to how Simon came to the realization of humanity's true intentions in the scene with the pig's head. I came to this realization myself over the last year. Everything happening in politics really made me lose faith in the people around me, and the people running our country as well. It has turned me into a very cynical person, unfortunately. The ignorance surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement and the idiotic antics of anti-maskers and conspiracy theorists has made me realize how selfish humanity really is. Unfortunately, you have to act and look a certain way in order to make in anywhere in this world, and nobody cares what happens to you in the long run. This along with growing up and preparing for college has made me miss my early childhood immensely. In a way this is similar to Simon and the other boys because they are trapped on this island and forced to take on responsibilities no child should. Therefore, they are forced to grow up faster than they needed to just to survive.
There are many different ways to personally connect to William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies. One way of relating is the common theme of growing up that can be found in the book. All characters in the book are young boys, the oldest of which being around twelve years old and the youngest around six, so they are obviously growing up during their unstated amount of time on the island. However, you can tell by the length of their hair that they had been deserted for quite a while and thus, are growing. I can personally relate to this as well as most other adolescents my age because we are all also growing both physically and mentally like the kids in the book. Another way that I could personally connect to the book is through the main struggle throughout the book. In the book, the boys undulate between civilization and order and savagery and chaos. While I may not be tempted into the pure savage nature that the boys tap into in the book, there is the balance between your superego (represented by the civilization and order) and your id (represented by the savagery and chaos) that everybody goes through all of the time.
Personally, I relate to Golding's story in more ways than one. One of the themes that I found in the book is the theme of having to grow up or mature, faster than what was previously expected. Obviously, the boys in the book were not planning on arriving on the island. Because of this, they had to adapt to their surroundings and they had to make plans on what they were going to do about their physiological needs of food, water, and shelter. Some kids, like Ralph, had to become a leader to make things go smoothly. Even if Ralph was not ready to lead, he had to act like he was ready. In the same way, I was not planning on moving to Brandon from Watertown. I was placed in an environment that I was not used to, so I had to find out how I would fit in. Even though I knew and everyone else knew that I did not belong here, I acted like I did. And I did this even when it was uncomfortable, just like what Ralph had to do in the book. The theme of growing up was clearly relevant in this book, and I also found it to be a relevant theme in my life as well, so that is how I personally connect with William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies.
I connect to the Lord of the Flies the most with the sense of having to grow up very quickly. I am the oldest child out of my siblings and I just feel like I grew up a lot quicker than my two younger siblings. I have more expectations and responsibilities at home, school, and in public. I didn't even have to drop on an island to fend for myself but I still have a lot to deal with just not on as great of a scale. I also relate a lot to Piggy. He is taken for granted and just looked over. He knows what he is talking about but everyone else doesn't listen to him. I feel like many people think that I am just smart and a know-it-all. So many people take that for granted they just assume since I have good grades everything comes easy to me and I know everything. Which isn't true. Like Piggy, I had to do a lab project earlier this year for college biology with Mr. Lovrien and we were figuring out how to do a lab. One of the members in my group is 'smarter' than I am since they have better grades than I do. When we are figuring out how to do the lab they talked about how we were going to complete the lab but they were going to do it wrong. I said wait this isn't correct but everyone just ignored me and went on with the lab. This is similar to when Piggy has the conch and while everyone should be listening to him they are not and just overlooking his opinion. They treated me like Jack treats Piggy throughout the novel he says, “Who cares what you believe—Fatty!” (Golding 90) as he repeatedly doesn’t listen to Piggy. Turns out we did the lab incorrectly and I had to do the lab so it could be completed properly, the way I tried to tell them earlier.
I can connect to Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies through the character Piggy. Throughout the novel Piggy remains the voice of reason; sometimes voicing the hard things the other boys dare not say nor want to hear. For most of my childhood, my mother struggled with Linfoma. She went through years of trials and treatments to achieve remission. During those years, when she would push herself to do too much or work too hard, I would remind her she was still sick. Too sick to be pushing for too much and working too hard. She hated to hear it. But just like the boys knew deep down what Piggy was saying was valuable, and true, it didn’t make hearing it any easier. Every time he spoke, Piggy was taunted and jeered at (likely because the boys resented him for his intelligence and unwavering honesty). Sometimes, frustrated by her new limitations, my mother would snap at me, or anyone else who dared to tell her what she already, subconsciously, knew.
I can connect to Golding's novel through the character Ralph. I usually try to put the weight of a team's problem on my own shoulders just like Ralph does. Throughout the novel you see Ralph trying to get it into the heads of everyone that if they don't have smoke, they will not get rescued. I feel like I also try to really focus on the big reason for things and I often try to get them across to people as well. Ralph also is seen as a leader in the novel and I relate to that by often being a leader on my various sports teams. Ralph holds onto his morals throughout the whole novel which eventually almost ends in him getting killed, I relate to this because I feel like I am very in tune with my morals and I stick to them very strongly just like Ralph. Ralph puts the weight of his "tribe" on his shoulders and he tries very hard to keep everyone happy and I relate to this by also doing everything I can to make other people happy. By often putting other people's needs over his own, I also relate to this because I am always more worried about if other people are being taken care of no matter what I need.
I personally connect to Golding's theme of dangerous mob mentality in his novel. The actions of the boys in the novel show that it's easy to go along with the majority of the group. For example, when Jack asked who wanted to join his tribe, no one raised his hand. No one wanted to be the only one to volunteer. The next day, as the boys were gathering wood for the signal fire, some decided to sneak away and join Jack's tribe. As soon as a few decided to go, others followed suit. In addition, throughout the entire novel, Piggy was always reprimanded for speaking out his mind. He went against the majority in many circumstances as he felt it was the right thing to do. As we grow up, it's easy to go along with the group and not think for ourselves. We fear that we may make the wrong decision by going on a different path than everyone else. As I have been preparing for college, I have had to fight the urge to go to the college that the majority is attending, take the classes that the majority is taking, etc. Golding is telling the reader that going along with the majority can be dangerous and detrimental to their future.
I can connect with Golding's novel through the idea that man is inherently evil mixed with having to grow up quickly and lose your innocence. I think back on my childhood where I always thought that people were nice and cared for others. As I grew older, I began to see that when you grow up, you think less about other people. I thought about this as I was reading Lord of the Flies when analyzing Jack. An example of this in the book is when at the beginning of the novel when Jack couldn't kill the piglet because he was quite obviously uncomfortable with the idea of ending its life. Then later in the novel, you see the contrast when he hunts down the large pig and is able to chase after it and slit its throat. This was after he had to grow up and face challenges that required his inner evil to shine through his original somewhat-innocent personality before. Even though we see that Jack is diffidently the id in this novel from the beginning, we see him grow to be an actual evil character in the story. I have seen this character development happen in many people and I enjoyed being able to see this in Golding's novel under extreme circumstances.
One point in the story where I felt like I connected the best was when Ralph was put in control instead of Jack. Ralph was stereotyped as a “hero” figure in a sense and became the leader. This made Jack extremely jealous and this led to the decisions later on in the book by both Jack and Ralph. This is relatable because all throughout my life I have been a natural leader. Any activity that I have participated in I have become either a captain or a co-captain within my first two years. This natural leadership quality shown by Ralph is something that he was born with and his subconscious will guide him to do the right things because he cares so much about his friends and even people he does not like as much. While Jack is seen as the protagonist or the “enemy” he is simply acting out of his impulses instead of thinking things more thoroughly like Ralph does. Everyone can think of one person in their life who acts out of impulses instead of thinking occasionally. I tend to be a more thoughtful person regarding the words that I say and the actions that I do.
There are many themes in the novel that are relatable for people today. I relate to Lord of the Flies through the natural leadership shown by Ralph. At the beginning of the novel when the boys voted for who would be their chief, a vast majority chose Ralph. His characteristics of organization and command led him to be chosen for this position. I can relate to this because I am a natural leader. People tend to look to me for guidance and leadership in the activities I am involved in as well as life in general. Ralph shows good leadership through how much he cares about the well-being of the boys and making decisions that would benefit the society they have created, rather than solely looking to benefit himself. I can relate to this aspect of Ralph because I often set my own desires in order to do what is right and benefits others. Before making major decisions, I tend to think through what the outcome may be, as Ralph does. On the contrary, Jack tends to act impulsively and makes decisions based on what he wants. This proves to be harmful to their society by creating a group of savages that only look out for themselves.
I personally connect with Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, through the character Ralph. From the beginning of the novel, Ralph was seen as a determined, brave, and strong-willed leader. He was good at leading. He had plans for the island, no, not plans, rules. Ralph set rules, and he liked to follow them. Personally, I can relate to following rules. I have always been an organized person and a rule follower. I believe that rules were made for a reason, and if we did not follow them, then society would not be run properly. As a society, we have even invented punishments for people who do not follow rules. Unlike in the novel, there were not punishments only rebellion. Throughout the whole novel, Ralph was also secretly terrified of the idea of not getting rescued and people not listening to him. This feeling of uncertainty and second-guessing is something I can relate to as well. I tend to overthink things, similar to Ralph. Relating to the character of Ralph, I too think of the worst-case scenario and believe that people should work hard for the things they need. So, when Ralph got frustrated with the littluns not helping build huts or collect food, I can easily see how that could be annoying.
I can relate to the idea of having to grow up fast in the story just like how the boys have to when they are stranded on the island. Now of course I have never been in a similar situation like that, but I have had some events that have led me to make big changes in my life that affected me. Moving to South Dakota sophomore year would be an example. Freshman year I was very comfortable where I was at, just like the boys in the story with the school they were at. I moved here and that was a very big change for me that caused me to make changes that were hard. The boys in the story did similar because when they crashed they had to adapt and get used to the new place they were living in. However, moving places led me to make changes that I believe made me a better person and the person I am today. Going through change can be hard and there is a lot of obstacles but in the end it is for the better.
I connect with Golding's novel on a personal level. One way that I have is by having to become an adult and make decisions for myself. The past couple of weeks I have been trying to decide where I want to go to college and finding places that I could go to college to play football. A lot of different factors are being put into play. Like the education they give, proximity to home, the community of the college, class sizes, and last but not least the cost. Similarly to how the boys in the story have had to make decisions so they can survive on their island. Like having to find food to eat, getting water to drink, having smoke burning in the air, and having a place to sleep. They have to make adult decisions in order to create a society in which they can survive. Just like I am trying to figure out how I am going to live/survive when I become older. I have to make a decision about what major I would like to have in college. And then what job I would want using that major. Just like the boys I have to make adult decisions.
The book by Golding that I have connected with would be the Lord of The Flies. I have connected to that book through the theme of the island being society and the “Real World.” Throughout the entire book, there was always some problem or monster lurking around the corner to attack you and beat you down. Just like in real life there is always going to be someone or something waiting to trip you up and make you fall backward. Another connection would be the kid’s constant plea for grownups to come to save them and fix all of their problems because grownups are perfect and they can do anything. Looking at successful people in life you see the money and power that they hold and there would be no way to have problems with those resources. They both come short of what they are expected to accomplish. The boys on the island want the grownups to show up and take control of their decisions and authority because “grownups never quarrel.” This is applicable to my life because I see all of the people living the life that I want and I know that they have problems but it just makes everything seem so much better if you think that as long as you work hard and accomplish what you need to you will eventually solve your problems and won’t need to worry about them ever again.
I connect to the book through the perspective of Ralph. I see myself as Ralph, while I see all the characters as tasks in my life that I have to manage. I see the different character groupings as things I do throughout the day, such as school, lifting, and video games. I see the fire that Ralph wants to keep burning so they are able to be rescued. I see the burning fire as school. In my life, I view school as a top priority for my success in the future. In Ralph’s case, he puts the fire as a top priority as well because that is what will give them an opportunity to be successful in getting a ship’s attention. I see lifting as the hunting group, hunting isn’t completely necessary for their survival because they have some seafood and fruit; however, they would be bigger, stronger, and healthier if they were to pig. This relates to lifting in the sense that lifting isn’t necessary; however, you will be a healthier person by doing so. I relate video games to the littluns. The littluns aren’t much help but they have fun by just picking fruit and building sandcastles all day. Video games are the same way, they don’t give me anything other than some fun. How I manage my time with these tasks is sometimes stressful, just as Ralph is stressed by the decision making that he has to make as well as the decisions that the groups make.
The Lord of the Flies was very interesting and had lots of themes in the story. Growing up and making decisions for yourself is the one that I connect with most of all. When I was about Ralph’s age all I wanted to do was grow up. My siblings are 4 and 8 years older than me, so I saw what they were doing and the freedom they had as a dream of my own. They could go out on school nights and be with their friends pretty much whenever they wanted and I still had to be home since I was younger. They also seemed so mature and interesting. I thought that the older you were the more fun you could have, but looking back I don’t think that is the case anymore. Growing up goes hand in hand with responsibility. Although you may get more freedom in what you do on a day to day standpoint you also have to start making choices that affect you in the future. Golding reminds me of this in the novel by forcing the British boys to grow up way quicker than they would need to if they were still in a normal society. The boys lost their innocence too early in life and honestly, it made me glad that I didn’t do that to myself when I was younger. It showed how they were not mature enough and were not ready to be in the world all by themselves. They still needed authority from their parents and other adults so that they grew morals and would do the right thing.
I personally connect to Golding's story with the theme of responsibility. I have always found myself to be a logical and reasonable person who has a strong sense of responsibility. In the novel Ralph, with the help of Piggy, develop responsibility when caring for those around them and their best interests. They strongly believe that the most responsible and logical thing to do is to keep a fire going at all times. Jack, on the other hand, does not agree and wants to hunt for food a lot. This becomes a problem at one point because Jack led a group of kids hunting, while they let the fire burn out. Ralph is furious because a ship had passed and might have rescued them if the fire was burning. This relates to me because I feel like Ralph sometimes, where others make irresponsible and unwise decisions that end up harming others. I try and reason with them to show that it was a bad decision. I feel like I have that responsibility to help others when I can and care for them. While Golding's novel has many different themes, this one relates the most to me and my life.
I feel connected to the older kids on the island. I get having to take care of little kids when you are not a whole lot older than them. I have three siblings, the second oldest one being five years younger than me. I have ignored my siblings' opinions because of how much younger they are, even if I shouldn’t have. I also get trying to explain to them that monsters do not exist. I have had to be a leader to my siblings even when I did not want to. And keeping order as the oldest while you are still a kid is not easy in the slightest. Sometimes it is easier to take advantage of your power as the oldest. Obviously I have not tortured or killed anyone, but when little kids are being annoying and you do not have great composure because you are a child yourself, screaming at them seems easy. Becoming a much less intense version of Jack is easy because that is really all you know you can do. And sometimes using scare tactics seems like the best option because they behave don’t they? Being a bully is easy when you think you’re the best compared to younger kids. It's not easy to admit your mistakes like Ralph did though.
When comparing my life and what I would most closely compare to in Golding's story it would have to be the boys struggling to figure out who they are. In the story they kids clearly display cumbersome attitudes due to their situation and many of them are getting to the point in which they will be changing due to puberty. I remember at this age in my life I was unsure on what God had created me for. The hormones were taking control and impulsive decisions were being made without really thinking. In the story it is evident that the older boys like Jack are going through this same process. He feels as if he needs to be the alpha but at the same time is uncertain of what he is really supposed to do. He is very in tune with is ID side as most boys going through puberty are. He makes impulsive decisions just like I did as a teen but not to Jack's extent.
The Lord of The Flies can clearly be connected to my life through the reoccurring theme of growing up. Like the boys on the island, thrust into a situation requiring maturity, it seems as though I have plunged into adulthood...ready or not. The boys required more responsibility as they had to care for themselves and find a way to survive——no longer under order of "adult figures". As my high school career comes to an end, my "real-life" responsibilities seem endless, let alone being faced with some abrupt and necessary duties. Like the basic necessities of the boys on the island: obtaining food, water, and assembly, this pertains to be basic necessities of adulting: having a plan, be independent, and get things done. Golding implies a further loss of innocence as the boys increasingly become okay with using the evil within them. Just as young adults lose innocence as we are exposed to the evils of the real world.
The Lord of the Flies has many different themes. One theme in particular that stuck out to me was the immediate action taken by all of the boys in order to survive. Each and every boy no matter what their past was, where they were from, or how smart or athletic they were all had to take immediate action using instincts to survive. I feel in life that if you do this with yourself and force yourself to take immediate action and force your body to not procrastinate, lots of success will be in the future. These stranded kids set a standard for themselves that they HAVE to do what they do not want to do in order to survive. As I have been guilty of procrastination in the past, the event of the stranded boys stood out to me and opened a door of a new mindset. When life gives you something that you have to do but you do not want to do, it really comes down to how important it is to you causing you not to procrastinate. In this case, these boys wanted to simply live, which causes them to do what they MUST do in order to achieve that.
In Golding's novel "Lord of the Flies" I found myself relating to all of the characters. Different attributes of the characters I found even just a little bit myself in them. To start the whole group was thrown into a situation over which they had no control. They were forced to deal with the challenges of living on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. Obviously, I personally have never had to do this and hopefully never will. There are however situations that I have been had to go through where I was underprepared and had to overcome the opposition. Character specific to start Ralph was shoved in charge and forced to have to lead his people. I also feel I relate to Ralph in the sense that he truly wants to take care of everyone and survive and do the right things. He knows what has to happen but he still wants to have fun and be a kid. I also found that Simmon as a young kid he didn't always speak up and was a little timid at first. Then when he did have an idea he was shut down and ignored. After being shut down he just decided to keep to himself and not express his ideas. I know how he is feeling as there have been situations where my opinion wasn't valued. Another character that I found I connected to was Jack. Jack isn't someone most people would say they are like but we all are. Jack at the beginning of the book wanted to help but he also wanted to have fun and relax. Everyone myself included has had a time where everyone else is working and you might not be working hard or just wanted to be doing something fun.
One way I connect to this story is through the act of having to change with your environment. I feel as though I tend to be a pretty adaptive person within my life. Golding’s story shows how the young boys have to change with their environment to survive and thrive. These boys are forced to grow up and do the tasks of an adult at an extremely young age. Being the youngest in my family, I have had a lot of special treatment. I had to learn many times throughout my life that it wouldn’t be this way in every situation. As I got older, this eventually became much easier and felt much more normal. It was now expected of me to have responsibility and to excel. I feel like I can relate to the boys in this way as they had to experience the same challenges of taking on new responsibilities. One character that I felt especially connected to was piggy. I feel like I connected to piggy because I am not the strongest leader ever, but I still possess special traits that I think are relevant. Piggy also has many feminine traits that make it easy for me to relate to him as a woman. Golding’s book not only tells a great story, but it also connects to the readers in many different ways. I believe this makes the book better by drawing you in and creating a parallel between one’s life and the story itself.
Throughout the novel, Golding often refers to the boys as no longer being human. This can be seen especially through the last few pages of the novel when Jack and his fellow hunters chase down Ralph after the killings of both Simon and Piggy. The overall theme to this slow change into madness is for the reader to think who is the real beast, the fictional beast that the children see in the forest, or are they themselves the beasts? I believe that throughout everyone’s lives, that they have also had a similar thought about themselves, are they the good guy in their story, or are they the bad guy? I recently had a connection with this train of thought, thinking about my actions toward certain people and my behavior toward them. Instead of succumbing to the beast inside of myself, and being constantly annoyed by those people only because someone told me that they are annoying, I learned to not look at people the same way that others do. Instead, I actually have started to have conversations with them and actually connect with them. Because of this new revelation, I believe that I was, at some point, the villain in my own story; but now I may have become the hero.
One theme in Golding's story that I can connect with is the theme of growing up. My coming of age story is not as drastic or exciting as the characters in the story; however, it was still an adventure. The older we get, the more lessons we learn and the more insight we get into the world around us. We learn how to deal with future situations in an orderly way. We learn how to cope with emotions after losing loved ones. In Golding's book, the boys grow up and have to learn from each other, though some decide not to. Ralph chooses the correct way to deal with his problems and losses. Instead of succumbing to the mob mentality like the others, he thinks of ways to solve their problems. In this sense, I can connect with Ralph. I try to stay rational and solve problems instead of becoming angry with those with no control over the situation. Unfortunately, sometimes I fail to stay rational and I overreact. When this happens I can see a glimpse of Jack in myself. Just like Jack is jealous, I can become jealous; however, I do not act on jealousy to the extreme as Jack did. Jack desired power. He wanted the power back that he felt Ralph had stolen from him. This envy caused Jack to become bitter and eventually drove him to insanity. When I realize I am overreacting, I will remove myself from the situation and calm myself down before returning to correct my behavior.
I related to the characters in the fact that they were under pressure and put through stressful situations. It taught me how people act while going through tough times and the need for power. We all strive to be on top. Sometimes we would do anything to obtain the feeling of having power because that feeling is what satisfies us. We all do certain things for this “power”, for me I strive to complete a big task or finish my work early so that I can relax the rest of the week. This is different from the boys in the book but I get the same feeling of power as they do. I also relate to the book with the fact that I am growing up and learning new things each day. Just like them, I am faced with daily challenges that I have to learn to overcome, not all of them are always easy but each of them helps me grow as a person. When the boys first got to the island they did not know what to do, they were all over the place. Just like me, recently, when I started my new job. Eventually, though, you learn to adapt to your environment and make the best of it.
I can relate to one of the main themes of the book, growing up. The boys are forced to grow up quickly in order to survive. I feel like last year and this year I have had to greatly increase my responsibilities. Throughout my life, there have been instances where I have had to step up and be a leader when I might not have wanted to. I can also relate to Ralph. He was forced to make many decisions that were not necessarily good for him. He cared more about others. As the oldest child, I have had to make a lot of decisions to help my siblings. Being their example, I choose to do what looks better for them and not what is better for me. It is hard to not indulge myself in selfish decisions. Caring about others has also helped me grow up quite a bit. Being selfless also brings some maturity. Drawing a parallel from the book to my own life was hard at first, but after I understood the themes of the book, it was much easier.
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One of the themes in Lord of the Flies is growing up. While they arrive on the island as a group of children, Ralph and the other boys are forced to grow up quickly. They face many ideas and challenges that they would not normally have to face, such as the ideas of death and power. I found it ironic that the older boys (10-12 years) begin to refer to the other boys as “littluns” because they are only 6-10 years old. In reality, all the boys are still children and should not have to deal with such adult topics. I believe that many high schoolers today can relate to growing up quickly. As we grow up we take on more responsibilities, but it seems like our childhood times seem more distant and are fading quicker. When we are about 12 or so years old, we begin playing school sports, band, plays, and participating in more activities. This forces children to learn how to manage their own time, as they have to plan for homework and after school activities. I feel that children today face much greater stress than some of the past generations, this forces many children to grow up quickly. While school is essential to teach us about the “real world” I feel that it may force us to grow up too quickly. Our challenges may not be as severe as those in Lord of the Flies, but they force us to leave the playground behind.
The characters in The Lord of the Flies are forced with a harsh reality when they land on the island. They need to make a life for themselves and make tough decisions. I believe that this is very applicable to my life at this time. Right now I am at a time when I must make crucial decisions that will have a serious effect on the rest of my life. In Golding’s novel, characters like Ralph and Jack must decide what to devote their time to; they can spend it hunting, keeping the fire going, building shelters, and countless other tasks. Each one of these possible choices would greatly affect their daily lives, and they must decide what to do. I find this situation particularly relatable as I am faced with the question of what I will do after high school. I could go to college, join the workforce directly, go to a tech school, or join the military; each one of these options would have a different effect on my life. Reading the novel, I can sense the bond between the characters slowly ripping apart as the outcomes of their decisions start to way upon them, and I hope to learn from this. By looking at the choices made by Ralph, Jack, and others, I can see what their faults were and hopefully avoid these fatal characteristics in my personal decision making.
I connect with Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, because I can relate to Piggy. Piggy is seen as the voice of reason throughout the story. After Jack has stolen away most of the boys into his "tribe", Piggy sticks with Ralph to be an advisor. Piggy attempts to keep Ralph sane and moving forwards. Even right before Piggy's demise, he is attempting to convince the savages that they need civilization and rules among themselves. They need a fire so that they can be rescued. However, Piggy's necessity is noticed most after his death. While Ralph is running through the jungle, trying to escape the savages, he is constantly in the dilemma of what to do or where to hide. Ralph even thinks to himself that he needs Piggy to advise him at one point. Another reason I relate to Lord of the Flies is because of the feeling of fear. Everyone was once a young child. Everyone has experienced that age where they are scared of the dark or some other irrational fear. They make up wild stories in their head and scare themselves just as the boys on the island did with the imaginary beast that they all fear so much.
I connect with Lord of the Flies in many ways. However, I connect most with being forced to grow up quickly. Obviously, I have never been put in such a stressful and deadly situation. In the novel, if they are unable to grow up, they will surely die. This is not the case for most of us. However, I feel as I have grown so has my need to always take more responsibilities. This has 100% been my own doing. I have always felt the need to attempt to be a leader and try to lead by example. Whether this is at home, school, or anywhere else. Due to this, I completely understood where Ralphs's head was at. He wanted rule; however, the young boys weren't completely open to listening. This applies especially to my little brother. I often find myself attempting to show him a way; nonetheless, he isn't quite ready to care. This is frustrating to me, but I must attempt to understand. Another message that I obtained through reading Lord of the Flies is that man needs rules, authority, and a government to keep him in check. Without these necessities, you will surely have anarchy. This is evident in the novel. Without any rules, Jack and his followers quickly turned to their animal instincts.
I can connect with Lord of the Flies in various ways, but I specifically like to associate myself with having to make tough decisions regarding the future similar to Ralph trying to decide what is best for survival. Both Ralph and I have to take in and analyze different circumstances and outcomes that will result from our decisions. We both like to do what is best for everyone, including those we may not always get along with. I can relate to this because of the fact that I often bicker and argue with my siblings over decisions that need to be made. Decisions that often affect the whole group will bring out some strong and vocal opinions from others. Whether that be deciding what tactic is best suitable to survival on the island, or deciphering who gets to pick the channel on the TV during dinner. Even though one decision may seem much more extreme compared to the other, both participants are involved in a struggle between making a decision for the group, yet still fulfilling one's self needs. I admire Ralph as he is forced to make tough decisions and will get heat for the troubles that face the children on the island. I think at times I was forced to make tough decisions for the betterment of a group and the decision was despised by some. This helps me understand the mental fatigue that Ralph may be going through as the story continues.
One of the main themes in Lord of the Flies is the choice between the superego and id. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph has to choose between responsibility or acting on his own impulses. Though he strives to remain sensible by focusing on surviving and getting rescued, he still feels as if his sensibility is getting pulled away. Several times throughout the story, Ralph forgets his goal of maintaining the fire, and those around him must remind him. He is so drawn to being part of the tribe he forgets what is important. He must choose between responsibility—focusing on rescue—or rejecting responsibility—joining Jack’s tribe. In my life, I find myself often having to choose between responsibility and rejecting responsibility. For example, as I end my senior year and prepare for college, I find my workload piling up. With all the schoolwork to complete, planning to do, scholarship essays to write, and so much more, I find myself wanting to just procrastinate. Despite having a very hardworking personality, I work to the point where I wish to stop putting in the effort, and I forget the rewards for my work, similar to Ralph forgetting why he must maintain the fire. Like Ralph, I find myself having to choose between being responsible—working hard in school and preparing for life after high school—or following my impulse to reject responsibility—procrastinating on the tasks at hand. Though trying to avoid the desire for procrastination is nothing like being on an island and trying to avoid the desire to join a tribe of savages, I think I share similarities with Ralph in the sense that despite having wise goals, we both struggle to keep our eyes set on achieving them.
I connect to “Lord of the Flies” through the choices of the boys—mainly between Ralph and Jack—that lead to the events that transpire on the island. At this point in my life, I’m making a lot of big decisions for myself. Where am I going to go to college? What am I going to study? What do I want to pursue as my future career? These are all extremely important and life-changing questions. Similarly, Ralph and Jack make various decisions that have an impact not only on their own lives but on the lives of the others on the island as well. Jack chooses to let the fire go out in favor of hunting, resulting in a lack of signal to reach a ship that just so happens to pass by at that very moment. Ralph chooses to attend Jack’s feast with Piggy, resulting in his part in Simon’s death. Ralph also chooses to go to Castle Rock to confront Jack and the others about Piggy’s specs (although he does not decide this alone), resulting in Piggy’s death and his loss of the twins to Jack’s tribe. Once these decisions are made, there’s no going back and they are finished and over with. Sometimes, they made the right choices, such as when they decided to make a signal fire, build shelters, and hold assemblies to maintain order. But other choices were bad and had disastrous consequences. Similarly, I am going to be making several big decisions for my life soon and they can either be good or bad, and I won’t know until I see the results of my decisions.
I connect to “Lord of the Flies” through the theme of loss of innocence. Throughout the novel, the boys have to go through tough tasks. They put themselves into responsibility and maintain control amongst themselves. I think this plays a part in my daily life. Before high school, I saw school as a place where I could mess around and have fun. That changed though as my education got more and more difficult. I saw myself investing more time into what I needed to prepare myself for in order to get into college than joking around with friends. I had to decide my future (college choice, major, meal plans, housing) all of these will be affecting me in the upcoming years. The loss of one’s innocence from childhood can be a painful experience. Most people would prefer to stay in their childhood as long as possible. This is shown through Jack. Even though he is considered an older kid of the group, he would rather escape his responsibilities and go off to hunt. If only escaping responsibilities in the real world were possible. Unfortunately, everyone has to grow up and make decisions that affect the rest of their life. These all stem from the actions throughout highschool.
I relate to the book in a way that the boys had to grow up fast and be leaders. In my family, I am the oldest child. When I was still very young, I had to watch after my siblings. I had to understand that sometimes I couldn't have playtime with myself; I had to share it with my siblings. Sometimes I would catch them in the act of something that could either get them in trouble or would bring them physical pain. In the book Lord of the Flies, Ralph and Jack are put in the position where they also want to have fun but they understand that there is a bigger problem ahead of them. They want to be like the other kids and have fun in their free time, but plans need to be made and they need to watch out for the little kids. The two boys (who are not much older than the little boys) become a parental figure and have parental instincts. Also, all of the other boys had to grow up quickly and figure out survival tips, which most five-year-olds do not usually learn. I can not say that I specifically relate to this point, but I have learned things at a younger age that most kids my age would not have done at that time like speaking another language.
A connection that I have in Lord of the Flies is the decisions that you can make and the effects of those decisions. In the novel, Ralph and Piggy choose to try and form some sort of society by lighting and maintaining a signal fire so that the boys can have some hope of returning to the real world. While Jack and his hunters choose to give in and make the lazy, easy choice by letting the fire go out so they can go out and hunt. I can connect to this because based on what choices I make now will affect me for the rest of my life. Depending on the choices I make I could end up doing pretty good for myself and being a functioning member of society. Or if I make the wrong choices I could end up living in my parent's basements or even worse, jail. So if I am able to work hard and make the right decisions like Ralph I will end up contributing to society. But if I choose to be lazy and make the easy choices I will end up like Jack, a savage who brings nothing of value to the world.
I can connect to Golding's novel Lord of the Flies because of the many themes that it holds. One of them is adapting and consequentially growing up to adapt and survive. It only seemed like mere days ago when I was in the first grade, thinking that 2021 was so far away and that I would never grow up and graduate high school and go to college. Sadly though, I have grown up and will be going to college soon. The boys in the story have to adapt to their surroundings on the island to keep themselves alive. Jack takes the hunters to go and get food and Ralph and Simon make the shelters. The other children will soon realize that they also need to help otherwise everyone will end up dead. I know that I have not been put into one of these deadly situations and I hope that I am never going to be in one. However, I believe that if I somehow did end up stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere, I would do as much as possible to keep myself and anyone that is with me alive. The decisions that the little kids make could end up being life-threatening to the whole group.
The Lord of the Flies is a classic that packs in lesson after lesson. Depending on the lens you choose to look at the book through, you might notice different things. The thing that resonated with me most was the idea of The Beast. How I understood it, The Beast was actually a representation of what was inside each of the boys. The Lord of the Flies himself even says that The Beast resides within each one of them. I’m not implying that I have a literal beast within me, but I think that sometimes, I am my own enemy. As readers, we get to watch as the beast unfolds in every single character. Most obviously, Jack is taken over by pride and the desire for power; however, I don’t think that it just happened out of nowhere. When Ralph was “chief”, Jack must have been beating himself up not to take up power himself. He wanted the control. That was his beast. Eventually, that beast came out and made him go crazy. While I don’t particularly struggle with wanting power or anything, I have my own “beasts” that I must tame. Sometimes that may be jealousy, other times greed. The only difference is, I have support all around me to help me suppress the “beast”. Jack didn’t. There’s no way that he would have had a chance against his beast. I, on the other hand, do.
I can relate the Golding in The Lord of the Flies by one of the main themes of the book, growing up. Throughout the novel, the boys are forced to grow up quickly in order to survive. This is not to the same extent as life or death but, as we get ready to go to college we are going to have to start to make big life decisions and grow up fast. Throughout my life, there have been instances where I have had to step up and be a leader when I might not have wanted to. Another way that I can connect to the novel is that Ralph has to make big decisions. Throughout my life, I have had to make difficult decisions that could have definitely changed the outcomes of certain situations. A second way I can connect to Ralph is that he sometimes makes decisions and orders the younger boys around without them caring or listening to him. I can connect with him on this topic because I have always had fights with my younger brother for not listening to me and just messing around. In this sense, the younger boys do not necessarily want to grow up as fast as they have to and can not listen to everything that they need to accomplish. Overall a lot of the themes in the Lord of the Flies are relatable in my own life.
I can personally connect with Golding's story because I often have gone camping and hunting for extended periods with my friends. I spent six days in the boundary waters canoeing from island to island, camping, and fishing as we pleased. The first two days were there it rained just like how it rained in the book in the beginning. While there we got a sense of timelessness that is often echoed throughout the book as we see characters grow up and days change with any sort of physical calendar. Even in the short week, we were there many of us changed in different ways and came out the end a little bit different and more mature than when we went in. One of us that went along brought a waterproof video camera and did a vlog while we were there. When we watch it, you can see each of them transition into a different type of person through the week. Like Jack and his hunting party, the first time we had a fresh kill (fish) our morale improved and we didn’t want to have the boring fruit (freeze-dried food). When we got back to a town it was a sense of awe and wonder at the normal world after we had been in the backwoods. This is similar to the ending of the story and how the boys felt.
I feel like I connect to the story best when I read about how Ralph became the leader for the boys and Jack became the "enemy" in a sense. Ralph is in control of all the boys and he gets to make the big decisions. I can relate to Ralph because I get put in the position of being a leader in a lot of activities I participate in. I never ask for control but I feel natural when in control. Making decisions has always been easy for me and I don't need much time to think about things. There are many different "enemies" in my life. They can be people or things distracting me from my goals. Ralph does a good job caring about getting rescued and living together, while the rest of the boys don't care about rescue and just want to hunt. I feel a connection to this as well because sometimes I see things differently than most guys. I like to think about the long term effects instead of doing things impulsively and making foolish decisions. It might be because I care about my future or that I was raised by good parents. Either way, I appreciate the mind I have been given.
While it is difficult to connect with the boys on the island (i.e. surviving alone on an island, navigating through jungle terrain, coping with the loss and/or murder of companions.)I can feel myself relate to the feelings of discourse, frustration, and anger within the story. Becoming aware of the world around you is a marvelous, yet horrifying, thing. While you can be amazed at what humanity is capable of, and all of its treasures, blessings, and joy it can provide—you can be increasingly aware of the injustice, harm, and discrimination that circles around our globe each and every day. In Goulding's Lord of The Flies, you realize that the boys face a loss of innocence—more specifically Jack. While I have not become a sociopathic killer that has a bloodlust for power like jack, I sympathize with him. I sympathize with Jack because he is certainly afraid, increasingly aware, and upset by his situation, and knows no other way than to cope with him. With the morals of authority being put into question every day, there is no wonder why we become angrier and angrier when we turn on the television. When I turn on the T.V. and view the injustice done unto others that are not warranted, I am so angry. If I was the mother of any of the children harmed by authoritative policies or figures—I would burn down cities and villages too. This loss of innocence does not necessarily have to be a dramatized event. It can be a drastic and more gradual loss as you become more aware of the world you live in. While yes, saying that I sympathize with a sociopath may be a huge red flag, hear me out: I understand. The world is nasty and hard to navigate and I am STILL trying to understand the environment that I will have to live in with my friends, family, and peers—only this time, I will be an adult rather than a child.
It was hard to think of something that I can personally connect to Golding's story, though (with Mr. Christensen's help) I have come up with one: feeling frustrated. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph, Piggy, and Jack get frustrated quite often, especially at each other. Ralph gets frustrated at the beginning when no one helps him build shelters (which are not that good and fall apart), people letting the signal fire go out, and, eventually, Jack forming his own faction, and what little semblance to the order they had before coming to the island fall apart. Piggy gets frustrated a lot, but mainly everyone acting like children (even everyone on the island is children) and for nobody listening to him. Piggy mainly gets frustrated at Jack for making fun of him and ignoring almost everything he says. Jack gets frustrated at the beginning when he fails to kill a single pig and he gets frustrated at Piggy, for being Piggy, and at Ralph because Ralph gives Jack slack for just caring about failing to kill a pig. Jack also gets frustrated when he fails twice to become the leader of the group of boys. I can connect with that because I have been frustrated before. I have become frustrated when people ignored what I had to say, even though what I was saying could have helped. I have become frustrated when things do not go my way or if things do not work out. There have been some times I become so frustrated that I can not even describe it. The shared feeling of frustration towards things is one way I unknowingly connected with the story.
Madeleine Pearce
One of the things in "Lord of the Flies" that I can connect to is the character Piggy. Piggy is a smart character who happens to be the "brains" of the group, but he was picked on for all of his other qualities—such as his weight and Asthma. I can connect to Piggy because I used to get teased and picked on for never being the best athlete, but always being one of the smartest people in a class. Piggy is also seen as the leader, or the "voice of opinion" throughout the novel. In his ability to see that the fire, and how it is kept alight, is the only way that they have to return to their previous lives. I always have tried to help people to the best of my abilities and giving advice wherever I can, to anyone who needs it. Piggy's impact is lost in the book until he is killed. Once Piggy is no longer present within the "camp" that voice of reason and decision-making ability is lost. He is no longer able to keep pushing the idea of keeping the fire lit to have a slim chance to finally escape this island. This is why I think I connect best to Piggy.
The best that I can relate to this book, is that when I go fishing with my grandpa and my dad, We try to bring as little food as possible with us. We try to only eat what we catch. The main foods that we do bring are canned beans and roast beef or ham for lunches on the boat. I would relate my dad to Jack because he is normally the one who is driving the boat. This makes me think of him as the leader because he is telling us where to fish and where to catch the fish. My grandpa on the other hand is more the specialist because he likes to tell us how to fish, what color of spinners to use, and what kind of bait to use. Sometimes you cannot always trust him though. One time we were fishing and I went against what he said and I ended up catching more fish than he did. Then once we get back to camp we start a fire to then cook the fish on. This is always a struggle because no one wants to keep the fire going and sometimes it will go out and we will have to make a new one. The relates to the part in the story where the hunting party let the fire on the top of the mountain go out and they were not noticed by the boat passing by.
I connect with Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, because of one of the themes: growing up. Throughout this novel, the boys had to learn how to grow up in order to survive. They had to learn how to grow up fast. In this novel, the boys face challenges and tasks that other children never have to face. Personally, I have not had to face the extreme challenges and tasks many of these boys had to face in order to stay alive. Throughout my life, the older I get, I feel like I take on more responsibilities. I have never been forced to take on extreme responsibilities because I have been blessed with the things and family I have. I take on certain responsibilities to better myself and the people around me. One way I connect with the theme, growing up, is in athletics. I try and be a leader for my teammates so our team can be successful. I have tried to be mature and focused at practice so we can win games. At times, this can be frustrating because others might try to goof off. I understand where Ralph got frustrated at times and tried to come up with solutions that would be beneficial for everyone on the island.
A major theme in Lord of the Flies is growing up in times of need. In the story, the boys are suddenly forced to take care of themselves after their plane crashes. With no adults around, they have to figure out a plan for survival—including finding food and a way of getting off of the island. The boys were forced to mature in order to survive. I can somewhat relate to this situation of suddenly being on your own and having to care for yourself. In December, my mom had to travel to England for a family emergency and I was left home with my sister and dad—who is constantly at work—for almost three weeks. Emotionally, it wasn’t difficult because I’ve been away from her for up to a week at a time before and I’m used to going weeks without seeing my dad. However, keeping up with everything I had to do was a struggle. I had to take over many of my mom’s familial responsibilities during this time. I had to go grocery shopping, do everyone’s laundry, bring my sister to school, and clean the house. Additionally, with Christmas coming up, I had to put up the tree and all the Christmas decorations and go out and buy presents as my mom couldn’t. Overall, it was very stressful but it helped me mature and taught me what being an adult is really like.
Personally, I feel that I connect to Golding’s story because of the very prevalent theme of the loss of innocence. Due to the increase in technology in today's world, I feel that many children and teens are losing innocence much sooner. With constant access to anything at any time, it is just more likely for them to be more educated on things that at their age I would have known nothing about. Overall, this specific theme relates to my life because I work with kids weekly. Many times I have overheard or even been told some kind of joke or comment that just feels wrong being shared by someone so much younger. What is even more devastating to me is that they do not see anything wrong with what they are saying or doing they see it as funny. In Golding’s Story, the children lose their innocence in savagery because they see it as the only way of survival. They most likely think nothing of the transition because they are adapting to this new way of life. This can be very similar to what happens today. In today's modern world children lose their innocence to adapt and try to fit more easily into society's “social norms”. Many will not even realize it, they simply just do not want to be the one who is different from all the others.
A major theme in Lord of the Flies is growing up in times of need. In the story, the boys are suddenly forced to take care of themselves after their plane crashes. With no adults around, they have to figure out a plan for survival—including finding food and a way of getting off of the island. The boys were forced to mature in order to survive. I can somewhat relate to this situation of suddenly being on your own and having to care for yourself. In December, my mom had to travel to England for a family emergency and I was left home with my sister and dad—who is constantly at work—for almost three weeks. Emotionally, it wasn’t difficult because I’ve been away from her for up to a week at a time before and I’m used to going weeks without seeing my dad. However, keeping up with everything I had to do was a struggle. I had to take over many of my mom’s familial responsibilities during this time. I had to go grocery shopping, do everyone’s laundry, bring my sister to school, and clean the house. Additionally, with Christmas coming up, I had to put up the tree and all the Christmas decorations and go out and buy presents as my mom couldn’t. Overall, it was very stressful but it helped me mature and taught me what being an adult is really like.
Throughout the novel, a theme of instinct versus reason emerges numerous times. Whether in the form of a character (such as Piggy and Jack) or the two tasks at hand (hunting versus maintaining the fire), the theme demonstrates a continuous power struggle between a desire to return to primordial instincts and the desire to advance civilization through reasoning and logic. A Freudian lens easily identifies Piggy as the Superego, Ralph as the Ego, and Jack as the ID. I understand the struggle that Ralph faces in choosing between instinct and reasoning; in a time of uncertainty regarding public health, we face the challenge of choosing between following guidelines or not. Do you stay home, away from friends, to protect yourself and your family? Or do you risk it to go spend a fun night with your friends and relax? The mental struggle also applies to other daily decisions, such as school. Do you do your homework and study for tomorrow’s test, resulting in you missing your favorite TV show? Or do you brush off homework in order to indulge in a little Netflix? These decisions may not seem to have a large impact at that moment in time; however, choosing instinct over reason or vice versa can form a dangerous habit. Suddenly, you are weeks behind in homework or you lost contact with your friends because you’ve been locked down for too long. The Lord of the Flies novel displays the concept of such a decision and its consequences on a more drastic level—life or death. The book follows the results of both decisions and the effect of the division between the two lifestyles. So as life continues, the daily war between instinct and reasoning continues to be waged.
One of the main themes in the novel, Lord of the Flies, that I connect with is the theme of growing up. When I was younger, all I wanted to be was a teenager/highschooler. When we were younger we could blame mistakes on being a young kid and not knowing any better, but as we age and mature, those excuses go away. Thinking about it now, I would much rather be a kid than be an adult and have responsibilities and high-stress levels. Lately, it has come to my realization that this is my last year of high school (last semester specifically). Now, I have to start thinking about future plans such as where I want to go to college and what I want to do. No situation in my life, so far, is as extreme as the boy’s situation in the novel, but going through school and getting older, in general, has added more responsibilities for me to handle. Which makes me have to mature faster and manage my life more. School, to some extent, makes us mature faster by giving us homework and due dates that we have to complete assignments by. This helps us learn time management and responsibility, but it also adds stress.
A theme I can personally connect with in the Lord of the Flies is growing up into adulthood. These young boys are stranded on an island with no grown-ups and no help from other adults from the outside. I am sure most that most of them did not have to find their own food, or buy their own house, most everything was given to them. I can personally connect to this theme because I am becoming a young adult; I have started and will have to continue making decisions without the help of my parents for the rest of my life. These boys have to make crucial decisions on how to survive, just like I will have to make crucial decisions on what I should do to survive the real adult world. As a child and even a teenager, I usually would receive help from an adult: my parents, teachers, coaches, etc. Before I was an adult, my parents would give me a lot of things that I didn't necessarily have to work for: gas money, a house to live in, insurance, food, etc. Life for me was was pretty easy, and I did not have as many responsibilities as I will as I get older. Now as a young adult I am starting to grow up. I am getting a new job, I am doing chores around the house, I have an internship, I am starting to pay for my stuff, I am cooking, mowing/shoveling, making crucial decisions on what college I want to go to, what to major in, and which scholarships to apply for. The thought of going into the real world next year scares me. I am not completely ready to grow up, but I know the world doesn't just stop. The world is very fast-paced, and it is time for me to fully wake up and put my big boy pants on. Recently, I have noticed there are still some things that I need to work on in order to grow up, so I am ready for the real world, such as waking up without the help of my parents (I wake up myself on most days, but not all the time), going to bed at a decent time, and numerous "man skills" (change tire/oil, put things together, etc). I am very glad that my parents do not hand me everything to me anymore, so I can be ready to take on the real world. I believe it is very crucial that parents do not give everything to their kids, otherwise, they will grow up to be spoiled and will not want to work hard.
After writing all of the things I need to still work on and reading the Lord of the Flies, I have realized it is time to start working on them before I leave for college. I have decided that I am going to make a checklist of all the things I need to work on. My goal is to have my checklist done by the summer. I have also learned that I need to thank my parents for all they have done for me. Lastly, after reading Lord of the Flies I can look up to Piggy for making the smartest/right decisions, and I can look up to Ralph for being nice to Piggy and trying to stay civil as much as possible.
I relate to one of the themes, in Lord of the Flies, of growing up. We are Seniors now and next year we will be going to college which is the next step in growing up even more. In the book, the kids are forced to grow up because they don't have any grown-ups on the island they are trapped on. They have to grow up to stay alive and in a short time. The transition from high school to college is a fast grow up from being at home with your parents to being at school without your parents. It is not as drastic as what the kids had to go through in the Lord of the Flies. Throughout life, we slowly grow up into adults and change from what we were when we were younger to someone more mature and with more experiences. The kids in the book grew up like this but really fast and had to to survive. When they grew up so fast they might have not gotten all of the wisdom of growing up over a course of a lot of years. Growing up takes time and if you do it fast it is more of a reaction to survive and you miss out on your young life.
A theme that I can connect to from Lord of the Flies is the idea of growing up. Although I am not trapped on a tropical island in the middle of nowhere at such a young age I feel with being a senior in high school myself, and others included, have been forced to grow up a lot in the last couple of years. With graduation fastly approaching and the real world coming after I have been forced to think about and figure out my future. What college do I want to go to, what major do I want to pursue and where do I want to work to pay for all of this. All these decisions that I have been making throughout the last couple of years are going to have massive impacts on the rest of my life. This is relatable to the decisions that the boys are making throughout The Lord of the Flies. Although I am not making decisions such as letting the fire out to go hunt which results in the boat not saving the boys, or joining in on a celebratory dance and accidentally murdering my friend such as the boys are being faced with I still have to make life-changing decisions.
I connected almost instantly with Simon's actions, demeanor, and the way he interacted with others. Simon is easily the most lovable character in the book. All others end up contributing in some way to the boys' fall into savagery. Piggy is annoying. Ralph has good intentions, but he can hardly handle his leadership position and is definitely not the smartest on the island. Jack and Roger are the enemies, so we are meant to hate them. The only two characters who get close to Simon's level of benevolence are Sam and Eric, and even they become beasts near the end of the novel. Simon came the closest to turning the tide of the savage mindset that swept across the island. William Golding did not pick on a whim the two characters who were killed; he intentionally killed the smartest and most sane characters on the island: Piggy and Simon.
Simon had great ideas throughout the novel, but he hit a barrier when it came to communicating those ideas to the others on the island. I feel this every day. I have never been a great communicator. A lot of the time, things do not come out the way I want them to. I usually just give up, just as Simon did when trying to convince the other boys. Simon's story can be a lesson for me, though. If Simon would have tried just a bit harder to express his thoughts to the others, the island could have been saved. If I try just a bit harder every day to communicate my ideas, maybe I can make more of a difference in the world.
One of the themes that I connected with in Golding's Lord of the Flies was learning how to survive by yourself. The kids are washed up on an island and have no adult supervision, but obviously have to stay alive as long as they can. I can relate to this because I like to live my life without trying to rely on my parents too much. I do all my homework by myself and on time, and I have been doing that for a long time. I always thought that learning things yourself is one of the best ways of growing up. There are times where you need parents of course but in my case, I like being self-sufficient. The kids on the island have to do everything by themselves. Creating shelter, finding food, etc. My life is obviously not to this extreme, but nonetheless, they are very self-sufficient. I can also connect to Ralph because he is the leader of the group, and I was a leader/captain on the football and baseball team. He is the one who takes charge and says how things should be done. That is like me, so I connected myself to Ralph very early in the book.
Lord of the Flies has many themes that we can connect to that William Golding wrote into the story perfectly. Many of these themes are things we deal with on a day to day basis. One such theme is growing up. The kids in the stories are thrust into dealing with very adult problems very quickly. The little ones or “littluns” are young kids, around six to ten years old, who have to deal with these problems. The older boys, who seem to be around that ten to twelve years old range, have to become parental figures for the little ones and I believe that we see this come to form in the conch and also the different boys becoming the “chief”. I think another theme that works really well into the story is morality and responsibility. Jack and Piggy can very distinctly represent the devil and the good side of your conscience respectively. We see Jack consistently become a savage with the hunting and the eventual killing of Simon, whereas Piggy is always grounded and trying to bring out the good in Ralph. I think we have those two parts of us and we are always trying to follow the good side.
There are a lot of themes I personally connect with in Lord of the Flies, but the theme I would say I connect the strongest to is Ralph’s struggle of choosing between listening to the id or listening to the superego. I myself, always try to find a balance between the two modes of thought. When I was younger I would say that I was definitely more on the id side of the balance and mostly acted upon impulse. However, as I grew up a little more, I felt myself listening to my superego more and more; conscious thought went into almost everything I did. I believe life is about finding a balance between the id and the superego. If you consciously think about everything you do, you will never feel happy; but, if you don’t think about anything you do, you become reckless. You need to know when you should listen to each. You may not want to do your homework, but never doing your homework may cause you to fail your classes; but, if you fear failing your classes every waking moment of every day, you will only be stressed out. You should do your homework but find time to have fun.
I can relate to several things in Golding’s novel; throughout the novel, the characters are forced to make difficult decisions that will affect their future and who they become. I think this relates to me as I have to start making life-changing decisions such as where to go to college and what I should major in. You also see all the mistakes they make along the way such as getting too caught up in the hunt that they let the fire go out making it so they can not get the rescue that they wanted. In the same way that sometimes I get so caught up in what I’m doing that I forget to take care of other things that could be just as important or more important. Another one is when most of the boys leave Ralph’s tribe to join Jacks relates to me since I have had so many people I thought I could trust turn out to leave me in some way or another. You see the danger comes with a mob mentality from when Simmon and piggy get killed to everyone abandoning the thought of rescue so they go and do their own thing. I relate to this because lately there have been a lot of protests happening for different things one of them was the storming of the capital building which turned into a violent protest because people got too caught up in what was being said or being done.
This book has had many themes scattered throughout the book. These themes are quite easy to relate to in my opinion. But, one main theme I connected to was growing up. I have two younger siblings, which I have watched countless times. I have had to help out with them a lot, which made me have to take on more responsibilities. In this book, Ralph had to grow up and take on the importance of his role. He needed to be there for the younger boys who were struggling without having parental figures. Ralph does a great job at controlling the boys and leading them to success. Sometimes I feel like I have to do this for my younger siblings because they would go crazy without some structure. Along with Ralph taking charge, he had to make pretty big decisions. This is something that can put a lot of pressure and stress on someone. I feel like with many seniors, we are going to have to make some hard decisions in the near future. This is something that is difficult but with much thought and consideration, it can go smoothly. These were the two major themes from the book that I felt were pretty relevant in my life.
Golding portrays many themes throughout his novel. I personally connect with Golding's theme about adapting as we grow up. I remember as a kid when life was easy and simple and I had not a problem in the world. Then as I grew and had to attend school, life wasn't all fun and games. I had to learn and practice what I had learned at home. I started to have stress. By adapting to the school situations and realizing I had to do homework, I was able to release some of the stress. Just as the boys did on the island in "The Lord of the Flies". They had to adapt to the island and the resources around them in order to survive and have some sort of colonization. Even further on once, I became a teenager I had to adapt to driving and the fact that I had a job. I had responsibilities now that must be carried out throughout my weeks. I had deadlines to meet. I had to adapt to each and every situation I was put in, in order to make it to where I am today. Again, the boys on the island had to adapt to another, bigger change, which was picking who was in charge.
My connection to Lord of the Flies is that the book is reflecting growing up too fast. Throughout the book, the children are faced with many issues that cause them to have to grow up and make grown-up decisions. I can connect this to myself because it seems like these days we're all trying so hard to get ahead in life that we never really appreciated our childhood. The characters in the book had to grow up because they were stuck on an island, but we just want to grow up because we do not want to be treated like children anymore. Another theme that I saw was a connection to real-life civilization. These kids were stuck on the island and one of the first things that they did as a group was a vote for a chief. This really correlates to our lives because every four years we vote for a new leader that is going to make the tough decisions for us. Our leader symbolizes power and that is who we look to in times of need.f The same thing happened in the book when something went wrong they looked to Ralph for answers on what to do.
One of the characters I connected to was Ralph. When voted for chief he gets himself put into a difficult situation where doing the right thing may feel wrong. This position of pressure made him stand out to me. He had to fight his own ID throughout the entire book in an attempt to keep everything alive and together. The other thing I greatly relate to is the theme of growing up. The boys in this book experience great change as they strive to survive on the island. They were forced to grow up before it was truly their time. That’s the part I relate to the most. I had to grow up fast. When I was in middle school my mother had health problems and my dad was the only one able to work and as a farming family, the work was intense with little payoff. My sister was getting ready to leave for college and I had just started to grow into my mental illness. I had to grow up and adjust to how life was changing.
One of the many themes in Lord of The Flies that connected with me was simply growing up. Growing up can be hard and for some, you have to grow up very fast. Situations in life are not planned so we have to adapt to be better. In Lord of the Flies, they had to adapt to their situation and grow up and be "adults" in the book the boys constantly talk about what would the adults do. In my life, I sometimes think about what would my parents do, specifically my dad. This chapter of my life is definitely testing my ability to grow up without my parents. In the next year, I will be going to college and be on my own. I have to make grown-up decisions on my own. I connected with these boys because it will be scary to be on your own just hoping you are doing it all right.
Lord of the Flies is about how the boys adapt to their new surroundings and their reactions to the struggles because of it. I think one theme that I connect to is growing up in a quick time frame. It feels as though I have always been looking after someone in my life. I looked after my friends when I was in daycare and I have always looked after my sister. When high school hit, I felt the stressful feeling ten times harder than I had before. Juggling school, family, and friends made me feel as though I had to take everything on myself. I put pressure on myself to be the best that I can be and make the best decisions that I can with the information that I am given. I used to wish to be grown up and live on my own making my own rules. Now that I am starting to do things independently, I wish to go back to the simpler time when I didn't have to worry about where my life was going. The boys go through a traumatic experience and are forced to grow up on their own with no guidance. Every boy, up to that point, has had guidance from their parents, and then it is ripped from them. I feel that it will be the same for when we got to college, we have always had someone to hold our hand and it will not be ripped from us. All of us will go on our own and make our own choices, some giving into our id, ego, or superego.
I can relate to the novel with the theme of growing up. Since I am expected to become more independent and move out very soon, I feel very afraid because I feel like I am supposed to know what to do with my life and I do not. Like the boys in the novel, I am learning how to take care of myself so I will be okay. In a way, I feel like I relate to Ralph the most. Ralph is left to make big decisions in the novel. Being twelve, he certainly is not qualified for the job, and can only try to do his best. I feel that way about myself and my future. While most people at eighteen decide what they want to do and where to go to college, I can't shake the feeling that I'm making the wrong choice, or I'm going to screw myself over in the future. I don't have any way to know what my future is going to look like with the choices I make. I can only try my best to set myself up for my future, like trying to keep my grades high and saving up money for college.
I can relate to William Golding's Story, Lord of the Flies, because while the boys fall into chaos, you can see that in life today. Ralph was the group leader, voted in as chief, but Jack thought that he should have been the group leader, so he started his own clan on the island to take control away from Ralph. We can see this in our lives today within the government. There was a transition of power because a different group was voted and supposed to control the government. Some people did not like that this had happened and decided to take away power from the newly elected officials. We can also see this just within school life. Within friend groups, there is always someone that can take charge and is usually the group leader. Other friends within the group may have issues with this person and then leave the friend group even if they still like people within the group itself. They may also have people who leave with them because they want to hang out with them instead of the group. This makes the original group weaker rather than making it stronger and fixing some of their issues.a
One theme that was brought up right away in Golding’s story was the role of leadership. The boys have no adults on the island so the kids are in charge of themselves. Now, I have never been in their situation but I have had to take leadership positions when no one else would. In my church, I have taken many leadership roles. One role, probably the most important to the church, was stepping up to be a music teacher for the Wednesday school kids. There was no teacher signed up and I was the first person the director asked to lead. I have had the most experience with music so it did make sense but I would have to go from teaching my usual 6 kid kindergarten class to 3 different groups of 30 kids of all ages. It was a learning experience for both me and the kids. Besides teaching music on Wednesday nights, I also was a teacher for a kindergarten class on Sunday mornings. Similar to Ralph, it was my role to watch the kids and be their leader. The only difference is, I signed up to be a leader whereas Ralph was chosen. I started co-teaching classes when I was in fifth grade, (I was 10 years old) and when I started teaching on my own, I was 12. My age was also similar to Ralph's when we had to step up and become a leader for kids who were younger than us and needed someone to look up to and learn from.
Reflecting on my own life experience and personality, I can say that I relate to Simon in the novel. I am most definitely no saint or genius as Simon is slightly portrayed, but I take pride in my morality and hold high standards. Simon seems to be the middle ground and sense of equilibrium of the island. He doesn't side strictly with Ralph or Jack and holds his own. I can relate to this as my personality doesn't shape me into the main leader. Though I'm not first in command I am often looked upon by them for encouragement or validation. I am confident in my morals and the standards in which I uphold them, which makes me a prime candidate for a "middle-ground" character. I willingly offer my help to anyone who seeks it, but try not to pick sides for fear of becoming too aggressive. My shy sense of personality helps me to dwell in my thoughts as does Simon. In the novel, Simon finds an escape from the harsh reality of bickering between Ralph and Jack in a peaceful secluded area. I can relate, as the chaos of my life can be easy to get lost in, but I have found ways to escape and manage the madness. Analyzing Simon has made me further analyze myself, though I am hoping for a better ending.
As cheesy as it sounds, I relate myself to Simon a decent amount, and for good reason. Whenever he gets tired of the fighting or the others, he went to the clearing in the woods. He needs time alone to rethink things and get a break from everyone. I am usually pretty social and in the last years have always been very outgoing; However, this year I have been more reserved and don't do as much with friends. Simon needed a break and I feel like lately, I have too. Taking time to relax and be alone can be very serene and peaceful for someone to think. I would like to start doing more, however, but the alone time and just thinking have helped a lot too. Simon utilizes the alone time to think and eventually find out who the monster really was on the island. I wouldn't say I have any monsters to find or anything but alone time is good just to think and get my life in order. I think in today's world too many people get caught up in the hustle, and bustle but don't take enough time to stop and think. Whether it is for ten minutes in the morning or ten minutes at night, being alone to think and just relax your mind can do wonders. Some would call it meditating, which it could be, but it is just used to clear your mind. Minimize distractions such as people, your phone, or anything else that might get to you.
One of the themes in Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, is growing up; I believe this the theme that I can most personally relate to. At the start of the novel, the boys—a group of young, bright-eyed children—arrived on the island and were immediately forced to grow up quickly and adapt to the new conditions in order to survive. They were faced with tests of moral conduct and leadership as well as dark concepts like death and the lust for power. These are tough adult topics for children that are aged 6-12, especially without guidance. Although not as extreme of conditions as in the novel, I believe that we can see the same theme occurring in the world today, especially with school. Children are entering schools earlier and becoming involved in extracurricular activities at an earlier age. They are given cell phones and are faced with pressures to have good grades and be good at everything they do. Their boundaries pushed, children may feel forced to grow up quickly, leaving them stressed and unhealthy. Also, more and more children are being exposed to certain topics, ideas, and challenges through school and their activities; today's world pushes children to excel with advanced levels of education and to quickly learn how to process and navigate the world around them. Every child has a different upbringing, but it is the ever-changing world that decides how quickly a child grows up.
One of the many themes in Golding's novel that applies to my life recently is growing up. Right now especially I feel the need to grow up fairly faster than in the past. With college right around the corner, I am going to be on my own, just like how the boys had to grow up fast and take care of themselves in the novel. College is like the plane crashing in the novel and is a chance to learn life lessons and do life without having an adult looking after you 24/7. You have to make decisions for yourself and start building a life for yourself on your own. In the novel that is exactly what the boys have to do. They have to be able to grow up fast and start taking control of their lives and make decisions that are best for them and the situation they are in. Before the crash, I imagine that the boys were in school and doing kid things until they unexpectedly ended up on this random island and have to mature really fast. In today's society, it feels like every generation is almost forced to grow up faster than the previous generations.
A significant theme in Lord of the Flies is the loss of innocence. While the boys are stranded on the island, they realize they need to take some responsibility where the adults in their lives normally would. Towards the beginning of the novel, the boys behave reasonably well given the traumatizing situation. However, as time goes on, the boys' innocence decays, allowing violence and insanity to set in, as shown when Jack finally attacks the other boys. The group led by Jack started as choir boys who he then assigned to be hunters for food, a necessity. There has been a conflict between the hunters and the rest of the group from the beginning. Eventually, Simon's grove is impacted by this theme; starting as a beautiful piece of nature, Simon returns to his forested area only to find the hunt's savagery in the form of a pig's head on a stake. I feel as though I can relate to this theme of the loss of innocence very well in my life. Not only does this loss of innocence relate to having to grow up and think about the future, but it also applies to the moments in life no one wants to acknowledge openly. I can think of many times in my life where feelings of helplessness have occurred, from little things like not getting the grade I wanted on a test to bigger ones like dealing with mental health. Life is tough sometimes, and I didn't win the genetic lottery on my brain's chemistry either, so learning to put myself and my health ahead of other people and tasks has been a considerable step in returning to innocence.
I connect with the Lord of the Flies in a couple ways. The first way is how we deal with freedom. In the book it is made very obvious that there are two different types of people on the island. Some of them want to try and think about rescue and shelter, which is a very smart idea. Piggy, Ralph, and Simon are the biggest advocates for this strategy. But, other people fully embrace the freedom of the island and decide to just have fun and do whatever they want. Jack and Roger would much rather just hunt and live in a society where violence rules. As shown in Lord of the Flies, it is often easier to follow your id rather than your superego. You will end up better off in the end if you listen to your super ego but it can be a lot more fun in the short term if you follow your id. Jack and Roger fully embrace their id and just follow bloodlust and chaos. Not only is your own id easier to follow, it is easier to follow a leader who follows their id. We see this when all of the littluns and many of the older kids abandon the conch and Ralph’s leadership to go follow Jack and the hunters. This all connects to me because, as we all graduate this spring, we are going to be given more freedom to make our own decisions. This book is a good lesson that shows us why we should follow our superego rather than our id.
In William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, there are many lessons that can be learned from the book. One of the main lessons was growing up. In the novel, the boys that are stranded on the Island and probably didn't know it at the time but were eventually going to have to grow up and figure out a way to surive. The boys that were on the island realized the only way to surive was to work with each other and have someone in charge so they can follow his rules. The way I can relate to this is by having to go to college and growing up to become an adult. This point in my life I am transitiong into having more responsiblites even though I dont want them. I am going to have to figure out ways to help myself in the future, and just like the boys in the book they helped each other, and knowing my freinds are in the same position as I am, we just have to help each other through the tough times of growing up in life.
William Golding crafted a brilliant depiction of children's thoughts and emotions in a harsh environment. A major theme of the book was the clash between Piggy and Jack, which took place through Ralph. I connected mostly to the arguments between these sides. Golding portrays some of the most realistic argument scenes that I have read. The tension between Jack and Ralph on top of the mountain after the first pig is killed is palpable. Arguments in real life are rarely a screaming match between the two parties, as some media portrays, but they are certainly not silent and undetectable. Golding does a wonderful job of mixing spoken, rational arguments with intimidating silence. The specific part I enjoyed most was on page 69, specifically with Ralph's repetition of the phrase, "You let the fire go out," and the vivid description of his appearance, attitude, and voice—which is contrasted with Jack and his hunters' happy laughter and stories. The hunters quickly realize that their cheers are inappropriate in this situation, and all cower and fall silent under the argument of Jack and Ralph, who are symbolic of their parents. The emotions of the bystanders are most easily seen in Simon when Golding writes, "Passions beat about Simon on the mountain-top with awful wings." This moment is when I really began to buy into the book. Golding's accurate and vivid description of the boys' interactions is what made the book so powerful in my opinion.
I connect with the themes of isolation and survival in Lord Of The Flies because (to a much lesser extent) it's a close future for all of us in class. We're going to graduate in May and after that, we'll have to decide our future for our own and deal with problems our own way. Although an extreme comparison, I still think it's relevant because many of us depend on those older than us, even as we enter our late teenage years. However, (just like these boys) we're going to create a life for ourselves, one that we make on our own. I also connect to Ralph having to construct the huts practically on his own even though he doesn't wish to do so. Ralph helps make the huts because he knows he needs to since they need shelter, even after Jack and the boys do hunting which they actually enjoy. In life, you're tasked with doing things you don't necessarily want to do, such as a job you don't enjoy. However, you know that you need to do the job because it's necessary for getting money and surviving. It's hard not to think about the many people that do a job they actually enjoy and receive benefits for doing so, nevertheless we go about our job anyways.
One theme of the book I believe I can relate to the most would be the fact that the boys had to grow up fast. They had to grow up and take responsibility for themselves on the island or else they would die; the boys had to make their own shelter, get their own food, and water. I relate to this by growing up in high school. I had to take my own responsibility with doing workouts for sports, getting my homework done on time, and just being a decent role model for the younger classes. Another way I could relate to the story is having a role model to look up to in order to grow up faster. In the novel, the "littluns" had the older boys such as Jack and Ralph to look up to and grow with; the older boys told the younger kids what they could help with and gave them rules on what not to do. I had my older brother show me the ropes which allowed me to base my own path on what I had seen him do in the past, he helped me with choosing my class schedule, going to practices, etc...
In the Lord of the Flies, I found an unlikely connection to Piggy. There is a constant thing of Piggy getting blown over throughout the book. Growing up I experienced the same theme; I was always in my brother’s shadow, kind of how Piggy is often in Ralph’s and Jack’s shadow. Piggy is a smart kid and is being pushed aside because he does not look like a natural-born leader. He comes up with all these great ideas to help them survive this island, yet no one will listen to him. My life kind of a mirror of a similar situation. I was always overlooked because Clay (do not get me wrong, I look up to Clay) was in the spotlight. He was always accomplishing something, either good or bad, and getting all the attention for it. While I would do something and no one would notice or they just simply would not care about it. However, I have learned to take Clay’s accomplishments and learn from them. I have become a better person and student because of my brother. He is always giving me great advice about life, school, and friends; and now my accomplishments are being noticed just like his were.
One thing that I can relate to this novel is the preschool class that I teach in the mornings. At the beginning of this novel, a group of boys land on an island and have no idea what to do. Preschool is the first step in which you start to develop your social skills. For some kids, it may be a difficult task and some act in ways you would never expect. There is a boy named Jorey in my class that is somewhat in the same boat as piggy; most of the kids ignore him due to the fact that they can't comprehend what he is saying. Noah's Ark Preschool is the island; the students are the group of boys. The students range from 3 to 4 years old and this is the first time they have been away from their parents for a good amount of time. Around half the class is excited to explore and elude from the rules they have been taught to follow. While the others, shy, embrace the rules that are taught in preschool. You can sense the invisible line between these two groups. Ralph and Piggy remind me of those shy kids while Jack reminds me of the rebellious ones. I am hoping that they will all come together in the end and focus on the most important thing: learning.
I relate to the theme of growing up and loss of innocence. The boys crash-landed on the island and no longer were they the boys who were singing in choirs, they now had to be survivors. they had to hunt their own food make their own shelter and do things that they have never done before. In a way, this relates to having a sibling go to college. Freshman year whenever I was hungry I just had my sister make me food. I didn't do my own laundry and we both split the chores of the house between us. I didn't have as much responsibility because if I forgot something at home or didn't want to do something, I could just ask my sister for it. When she left it was time to grow up, to get it together, and start thinking for myself and my future. Now I had to do all the chores while planning college and balancing school. I could no longer leave stuff behind and had to learn to make different meals as it was up to me to make supper for the family.
In the Lord of the Flies, I found a theme between Ralph's decision to choose between Piggy's civilized way of life or Jack's ideas of a savage way of life. This theme can also be interpreted as growing up. Ralph can choose to either be a grownup in the entire situation or he could choose to stay a child. Many instances like that have shown up in my life. For instance, school would be a huge factor in growing up. School makes one grow up and have to learn how to do stuff on your own. If someone doesn't choose to grow up they may tend to have bad study habits and not do well in school, whilst the person who chooses to grow up learns how to get on with themselves without the help of parents or other people around them. Growing up in the novel is also shown through the "littluns" because they looked up to the older kids such as Ralph. Towards the end, they are seen doing more grown-up things such as helping out more with the fire and not just playing in the pool. I have learned as I have gotten older to help my parents and other people to the best of my ability. Instead of when I was young, I would just go outside, play and do my own thing.
In Golding’s book I can relate to the littluns, because though they know that there is stuff to be done that they could do, they chose to avoid that, instead of doing something else that they find more fun. In their case, they go swimming, or they play in the fruit trees. This is like me because this results in avoiding doing their work or what they should be doing. This may not be the most useful thing, and definitely not to the people they are with or themselves. But most nights I find myself putting off homework until the latest time, choosing to do something else that to me is much more fun, most of the time it is Netflix, video games, or social media that distracts me from what I should be doing, whatever calculus concept I am trying to learn or physics assignment I should be finishing. Hopefully, things do end up getting done, which is what normally happens just like how the shelters eventually got built, but it took time because the littluns did not feel like they wanted to. This is why throughout the book I can relate to the littluns, they like to just hang out and do what they think is fun, and I find myself in that same boat most days.
William Golding’s novel is complex and intriguing. Using multiple lenses to depict meaning in the book, the feminist lens was my favorite. Piggy is a more feminine character and represents how femininity is approached in society. Piggy is taken for granted often. He is misused, bullied, and tormented. Ralph senses that Piggy is much smarter than him, yet doesn’t fully consider any advice Piggy gives. When Piggy has the conch at a meeting, he is interrupted and belittled. They snatch Piggy’s glasses over and over again, whenever they need fire. You could also assume that Piggy is not respected because of his body composition. If Piggy was a prettier, taller boy like Ralph, maybe he would have been chief. I most relate to Piggy in the novel. I have met many people in my life who speak over me or expect me to know my place. As a leader in my activities, many boys disrespect and criticize me regularly. Waiting for me to stutter or slip up, some would jump for an opportunity to make me look like an insufficient leader. You can say, “boys will be boys” but girls must never be anything other than proper and gentle. When a boy makes a loud, amusing joke, it is funny. When a girl does, it is annoying and obnoxious. (Of course, this is generalized.) I am not immune to stereotypes. Sometimes I feel like a woman is being big-headed if she shares her opinions too harshly. A nauseating habit. Piggy has to be intentional with everything he does in the novel, speaking carefully and acting precisely to avoid harassment. He has to try harder to be heard and earn respect. I feel like I have to constantly think about how the world is perceiving me to achieve the things I want. Fit into the norm society presents. Don't be annoying. Act like a lady. Earn respect, earn success.
I can personally connect to Golding’s story, Lord of the Flies, in several ways—whether that be from the theme of leadership or growing up. Throughout my life, I have always said what is on my mind, giving me a leadership role in certain situations. Volleyball, in particular, really gave me a chance to practice that role by being a team captain. Being captain of a sports team does not necessarily carry the same weight of being in charge of an island, but they act similarly. Early in the novel, Ralph took on the role of speaking for the group, although he might not have always handled it perfectly. Some of the rebellious children on the island were not the biggest fans of Ralph, and they wanted to go off and do their own thing. I understand this frustration because Brooklyn and I would often have a plan or idea that did not work out exactly how we planned. We had to learn what worked best for our team in the same way Ralph advocated for structure within the group. If everyone is doing their own thing with their own agendas, nothing will be accomplished. This idea of leadership and cooperation displayed in the novel can connect differently depending on each person, but it is shown in our everyday lives.
One of the themes that I can connect with in William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, is growing up. In the novel, these kids must learn to grow into adults quickly to solve their adult-like problems. In the novel, we see that the so-called littluns never really do grow up and enjoy their life of playing games, building sandcastles, and swimming every day while the biguns are more worried about the adult problems such as finding food and finding rescue. I can relate to this because when I was younger times were much simpler. I was able to run around and play games and I did not have to worry about what I was going to do in my future but once I hit High School I realized that the decision on what I was going to do with my life was going to have to be made soon. Every year more and more responsibilities stack over one another and it just adds to the idea of growing up such as learning how to drive and getting a job. The older you get the more you learn how to survive on your own which is similar to the novel except for the fact that the kids on the island had only days to figure out how to keep themselves living on the island for long enough to either get rescued or to somehow make this island their home.
In Lord of the Flies, one of the main themes is the loss of innocence the boys endure. I personally am at a time in my life where I will no longer be considered a teenager/child, but an adult. I am turning eighteen and will be expected to handle greater responsibilities. As a child you are viewed as innocent but as an adult empathy is spared and society expects you to succeed in life on your own. The boys are suddenly handed a life where there are no adults to take care of them and do the tasks children shouldn’t have to deal with such as getting food for the family, building shelter/working for the family, etc. The boys now have to worry about hunting for their own food to feed themselves and the young ones. They also have to worry about rules, safety(with the fire and the young ones), other enemies(the beast) all of which would have been dealt with by an adult before they crashed on the island. Just like the boys on the island, as I turn eighteen and move out, I will no longer have a parent to provide things for me but instead, I will have to provide things for myself.
Lord of the Flies has many obvious themes—evil is inherent within us, the loss of innocence, structure vs. savagery. However, Lord of the Flies can be analyzed in a religious sense as well. My Christian faith has always been the main aspect of my life. Faith provides a moral compass for each believer to follow, and because we are given direction, we notice the struggle between good and evil in our lives. Every day we are given opportunities to do good or bad, just like the boys in the Lord of the Flies. When the boys first arrive on the island, it is like the Garden of Eden. The island is full of fresh fruit for the boys to eat and is a beautiful paradise; however, just like Adam and Eve, the boys are given free will and in both cases, free will is abused. Just as Adam and Eve brought sin into the world by disobeying God, the boys bring sin into the island. Once Jack kills the first pig, he realizes that sin is easy. Jack then commits sinful act after sinful act, which eventually leads to his loss of innocence—the killing of the mother sow—which is the point of no return. Similar to original sin, once the boys begin their sinful ways, it is impossible to reverse. As a Christian, I see daily the fight between good and evil, just like the boys on the island. However, I can not say that I relate to one of the boys more than the other. I try to live my life in good and peaceful ways, similar to that of Simon, but because sin has been introduced into the world, everybody faces it. The Lord of the Flies insinuates that evil is inherent within all of us because original sin was introduced to the world long ago. Unfortunately, every person encounters sin. However, we are still given free will to do what is right. The boys on the island were given free will to make their own choices. Some made good decisions, while others abused free will. Similarly, each person is given free will to either live out their faith or to sin.
To Piggy the conch shell is a symbol of organization and order. To the readers, it is a symbol of purity and innocence as well. Piggy holds onto the conch throughout the entirety of the novel, hoping that it will somehow bring everyone back together. I can relate to Piggy’s thoughts on this subject just as I sometimes tend to hold onto false hopes. Growing up very protected it can be hard to understand the violence and hurt that the rest of our world sees every day. Just like Piggy, I live in a place that is filled with pure hearts and safety nets. However, lately, I’ve realized that you won’t always have those nets to fall back on and you must prepare yourself for what reality has in store for you. I am grateful for the life that I have been given but I don’t want to end up like piggy holding up some sacred ideal and ignoring the real problems in today's society. The boys on the island were shocked to find a world of evil and it consumed them. We can not let that happen and that is why we have people and beliefs in place to keep us safe and in check.
In the Lord of the Flies, the boys are evacuated because of nuclear warfare being sent to an unknown destination. When suddenly their plane engine starts on fire and they crash land in the ocean. Stranded on an island miles and miles away from civilization they are forced to grow up quickly. If they do not grow up they will not survive on the island acting like children. Although I have not had a tragic event such as getting stranded on an island happen to me I feel like once you enter high school, you have to grow up. Freshman year is just the start the older you get the more responsibilities you will have. Whether that be deciding what college you are going to or getting to work on time. You hit a point when you realize you got bigger and better things to be doing. The people that don't hit that point tend to be unsuccessful in life. The pig's head is symbolized as the evil inside of everyone. Jack is obsessed with killing the pig to show power and authority. Foreshadowing the evil in the children. William Goldening was intending to do this to show what he thought would happen to a group of boys stranded on a deserted island.
One of the themes in Lord of the Flies is the theme of growing up without fatherly and motherly figures. We see that this has a negative effect on some of the boys such as Jack. Jack grows to be a bitter bully and eventually it hurts other kids. Ralph and Piggy grow to be motherly figures and have to care for the rest of the boys. It is interesting to see that in the absence of parental figures some of the boys naturally step in and provide the others with such figures. The boys are also in a literal life and death situation and must make every decision carefully because if they make one misstep or fail to see the correct choice in a given situation kids may die. This reminds me of my life with my hockey team. Obviously, the stakes are not life or death but our coaches do not have a lot to do with our locker room interaction. I have been on teams that interact well and others that do poorly. Teammates will start to adopt the roles that Piggy, Jack, and Ralph adopted in the book. Each choice that we make may determine whether we win or lose and the way that we interact and communicate is essential to either success or failure.
I can connect to the story through the themes of society and morals. From my perspective, the book shows the people who want to be savages in a bad light. I agree with Ralph and Piggy in that they should try to get rescued, but I do not know what I would do in that situation. Ralph, Piggy, and Simon are the ones that are staying civilized, while all of the others deteriorate into savages. Throughout the novel, you can see that Ralph has some trouble convincing himself that he is making the right choices. There are many times where piggy has to remind him of why the fire is so important, even though Ralph is the one who originally made a big deal out of it. Deep down, all Ralph wants to do is hunt and kill and survive in the wild like the rest, but he is resisting those temptations constantly. I can relate to this because there are some things that I want to do, but have to keep myself from doing. I would rather not do any homework or go to work, but my mind is telling me that I must. I am ignoring my inner desires to stay in my comfort zone and do what is easiest, just as Ralph ignores his and instead stays civil the entire novel.
I personally connect to Golding’s story because I like to think that I am similar to Ralph. Logically, you would need a fire in order to be rescued. Ralph was thinking long-term; he was looking at the big picture. Most of the other boys were just glad to be on the island by themselves and to have complete autonomy but that wouldn’t last. I, for one, would not want to be on that island longer than I would have to be. To only see the same 15 or so people would be so lonely. And they were not prepared to stay there much longer. They most likely didn’t save enough fruit in order to plant some in the next season. They killed the sow that had just had babies and now those babies might not survive and you run low on pigs. And nobody really cared for the little ones. That first night they already lost one kid. The littluns needed structure and guidance and received none. I have that motherly instinct. But this novel has made me wonder if, in a similar circumstance, I would change and start to behave like the boys in the book. If perhaps my Id is stronger than I thought it was. In a battle between my Id and Superego, which would come out on top?
In the novel Lord of the Flies, Simon goes on top of the mountain to "kill the beast." While on his journey, he becomes dehydrated and sick. Simon starts to hear voices in his head and see strange images of the Pig's head on the stick that sits on the top of the mountain. Simon imagines the pig's head is called Lord of the Flies as it is coated in flies that devour its rotting flesh. He believes that the pig is talking to him, telling him all of the things that he has felt insecure about or feels he has fallen short of accomplishing. Self-doubt floods Simon as he is told lies from the Lord of the Flies and begins to collapse due to his dehydration. I believe that we all have a Lord of the Flies that attempts to tell us that we are less than capable or worthy. My Lord of the Flies would have to be comparison. I allow comparison to set boundaries on my creativity and unique calling. Like Simon, when I let my Lord of Flies in during my most vulnerable moment I end up collapsing. I believe that the Lord of the flies is controllable as it was with Simon. I have to remind myself that I am valuable and worthy of more than comparison. I do not have to listen to my Lord of the Flies.
As I read William Golding's "Lord of the Flies", I could often find myself relating to traits from all the characters. One character that I consistently found myself connecting with was Piggy. Throughout the novel, Piggy hints at his intelligence and holds great potential to be the leader of the boys. Piggy stays true to the values that he was taught growing up and tries to remind the boys to stay civilized, even though they frequently disregard his sensible approaches to their problems. He possesses more feminine qualities, which is what I relate most with. Much like Piggy, I handle almost every situation with a more calm and caring demeanor, attempting to keep the peace. I tend to listen to my superego more than my id. Another character I could identify with was Ralph. Ralph uses his senses throughout the novel and constantly strategizes survival tactics to increase the boys' chances of being rescued. I sympathize the most for Ralph because in many ways he had the hardest job out of all the boys. Ralph had to step up and be an authoritative figure for the boys to maintain obedience on the island. I feel as though that I have gained much more authority over my own life in the past year with school, work, and overall focus, so I can sort of make that connection with Ralph.
One of the most obvious but relatable theories in Lord of the Flies would be the Freudian theory. The Freudian theory deals with id, ego, and superego, and is perfectly displayed in Lord of the Flies. Piggy the superego, Ralph the ego, and Jack the id, trying to figure out how to run a whole island. While we are not on a whole island, society and individuals run this way on a day to day basis. If looking through the Freudian lens, I would say that I am more superego than id and would relate to Piggy more than Jack. I like to look at the world through facts and realities. I like to plan everything out and to keep everything organized. This is similar to Piggy because he's always trying to keep everybody in line. He is often the one to come up with ideas and to keep everything steady. He is the person that thinks critically instead of impulsively which is kinda how I see myself thinking. If Piggy wouldn't have been in the book, then the boys would have turned into savages much quicker. In this way I relate to Piggy because while haveing fun is always a good thing, there is a fine line between it being a dangerous and it being harmless.
I relate to Lord of the Flies because of the boys' loss of innocence. When I was younger, I believed that there was good in everyone. Though in recent years I have found that is not entirely true. This being similar to how Simon came to the realization of humanity's true intentions in the scene with the pig's head. I came to this realization myself over the last year. Everything happening in politics really made me lose faith in the people around me, and the people running our country as well. It has turned me into a very cynical person, unfortunately. The ignorance surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement and the idiotic antics of anti-maskers and conspiracy theorists has made me realize how selfish humanity really is. Unfortunately, you have to act and look a certain way in order to make in anywhere in this world, and nobody cares what happens to you in the long run. This along with growing up and preparing for college has made me miss my early childhood immensely. In a way this is similar to Simon and the other boys because they are trapped on this island and forced to take on responsibilities no child should. Therefore, they are forced to grow up faster than they needed to just to survive.
There are many different ways to personally connect to William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies. One way of relating is the common theme of growing up that can be found in the book. All characters in the book are young boys, the oldest of which being around twelve years old and the youngest around six, so they are obviously growing up during their unstated amount of time on the island. However, you can tell by the length of their hair that they had been deserted for quite a while and thus, are growing. I can personally relate to this as well as most other adolescents my age because we are all also growing both physically and mentally like the kids in the book. Another way that I could personally connect to the book is through the main struggle throughout the book. In the book, the boys undulate between civilization and order and savagery and chaos. While I may not be tempted into the pure savage nature that the boys tap into in the book, there is the balance between your superego (represented by the civilization and order) and your id (represented by the savagery and chaos) that everybody goes through all of the time.
Personally, I relate to Golding's story in more ways than one. One of the themes that I found in the book is the theme of having to grow up or mature, faster than what was previously expected. Obviously, the boys in the book were not planning on arriving on the island. Because of this, they had to adapt to their surroundings and they had to make plans on what they were going to do about their physiological needs of food, water, and shelter. Some kids, like Ralph, had to become a leader to make things go smoothly. Even if Ralph was not ready to lead, he had to act like he was ready. In the same way, I was not planning on moving to Brandon from Watertown. I was placed in an environment that I was not used to, so I had to find out how I would fit in. Even though I knew and everyone else knew that I did not belong here, I acted like I did. And I did this even when it was uncomfortable, just like what Ralph had to do in the book. The theme of growing up was clearly relevant in this book, and I also found it to be a relevant theme in my life as well, so that is how I personally connect with William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies.
I connect to the Lord of the Flies the most with the sense of having to grow up very quickly. I am the oldest child out of my siblings and I just feel like I grew up a lot quicker than my two younger siblings. I have more expectations and responsibilities at home, school, and in public. I didn't even have to drop on an island to fend for myself but I still have a lot to deal with just not on as great of a scale. I also relate a lot to Piggy. He is taken for granted and just looked over. He knows what he is talking about but everyone else doesn't listen to him. I feel like many people think that I am just smart and a know-it-all. So many people take that for granted they just assume since I have good grades everything comes easy to me and I know everything. Which isn't true. Like Piggy, I had to do a lab project earlier this year for college biology with Mr. Lovrien and we were figuring out how to do a lab. One of the members in my group is 'smarter' than I am since they have better grades than I do. When we are figuring out how to do the lab they talked about how we were going to complete the lab but they were going to do it wrong. I said wait this isn't correct but everyone just ignored me and went on with the lab. This is similar to when Piggy has the conch and while everyone should be listening to him they are not and just overlooking his opinion. They treated me like Jack treats Piggy throughout the novel he says, “Who cares what you believe—Fatty!” (Golding 90) as he repeatedly doesn’t listen to Piggy. Turns out we did the lab incorrectly and I had to do the lab so it could be completed properly, the way I tried to tell them earlier.
I can connect to Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies through the character Piggy. Throughout the novel Piggy remains the voice of reason; sometimes voicing the hard things the other boys dare not say nor want to hear. For most of my childhood, my mother struggled with Linfoma. She went through years of trials and treatments to achieve remission. During those years, when she would push herself to do too much or work too hard, I would remind her she was still sick. Too sick to be pushing for too much and working too hard. She hated to hear it. But just like the boys knew deep down what Piggy was saying was valuable, and true, it didn’t make hearing it any easier. Every time he spoke, Piggy was taunted and jeered at (likely because the boys resented him for his intelligence and unwavering honesty). Sometimes, frustrated by her new limitations, my mother would snap at me, or anyone else who dared to tell her what she already, subconsciously, knew.
I can connect to Golding's novel through the character Ralph. I usually try to put the weight of a team's problem on my own shoulders just like Ralph does. Throughout the novel you see Ralph trying to get it into the heads of everyone that if they don't have smoke, they will not get rescued. I feel like I also try to really focus on the big reason for things and I often try to get them across to people as well. Ralph also is seen as a leader in the novel and I relate to that by often being a leader on my various sports teams. Ralph holds onto his morals throughout the whole novel which eventually almost ends in him getting killed, I relate to this because I feel like I am very in tune with my morals and I stick to them very strongly just like Ralph. Ralph puts the weight of his "tribe" on his shoulders and he tries very hard to keep everyone happy and I relate to this by also doing everything I can to make other people happy. By often putting other people's needs over his own, I also relate to this because I am always more worried about if other people are being taken care of no matter what I need.
I personally connect to Golding's theme of dangerous mob mentality in his novel. The actions of the boys in the novel show that it's easy to go along with the majority of the group. For example, when Jack asked who wanted to join his tribe, no one raised his hand. No one wanted to be the only one to volunteer. The next day, as the boys were gathering wood for the signal fire, some decided to sneak away and join Jack's tribe. As soon as a few decided to go, others followed suit. In addition, throughout the entire novel, Piggy was always reprimanded for speaking out his mind. He went against the majority in many circumstances as he felt it was the right thing to do. As we grow up, it's easy to go along with the group and not think for ourselves. We fear that we may make the wrong decision by going on a different path than everyone else. As I have been preparing for college, I have had to fight the urge to go to the college that the majority is attending, take the classes that the majority is taking, etc. Golding is telling the reader that going along with the majority can be dangerous and detrimental to their future.
I can connect with Golding's novel through the idea that man is inherently evil mixed with having to grow up quickly and lose your innocence. I think back on my childhood where I always thought that people were nice and cared for others. As I grew older, I began to see that when you grow up, you think less about other people. I thought about this as I was reading Lord of the Flies when analyzing Jack. An example of this in the book is when at the beginning of the novel when Jack couldn't kill the piglet because he was quite obviously uncomfortable with the idea of ending its life. Then later in the novel, you see the contrast when he hunts down the large pig and is able to chase after it and slit its throat. This was after he had to grow up and face challenges that required his inner evil to shine through his original somewhat-innocent personality before. Even though we see that Jack is diffidently the id in this novel from the beginning, we see him grow to be an actual evil character in the story. I have seen this character development happen in many people and I enjoyed being able to see this in Golding's novel under extreme circumstances.
One point in the story where I felt like I connected the best was when Ralph was put in control instead of Jack. Ralph was stereotyped as a “hero” figure in a sense and became the leader. This made Jack extremely jealous and this led to the decisions later on in the book by both Jack and Ralph. This is relatable because all throughout my life I have been a natural leader. Any activity that I have participated in I have become either a captain or a co-captain within my first two years. This natural leadership quality shown by Ralph is something that he was born with and his subconscious will guide him to do the right things because he cares so much about his friends and even people he does not like as much. While Jack is seen as the protagonist or the “enemy” he is simply acting out of his impulses instead of thinking things more thoroughly like Ralph does. Everyone can think of one person in their life who acts out of impulses instead of thinking occasionally. I tend to be a more thoughtful person regarding the words that I say and the actions that I do.
There are many themes in the novel that are relatable for people today. I relate to Lord of the Flies through the natural leadership shown by Ralph. At the beginning of the novel when the boys voted for who would be their chief, a vast majority chose Ralph. His characteristics of organization and command led him to be chosen for this position. I can relate to this because I am a natural leader. People tend to look to me for guidance and leadership in the activities I am involved in as well as life in general. Ralph shows good leadership through how much he cares about the well-being of the boys and making decisions that would benefit the society they have created, rather than solely looking to benefit himself. I can relate to this aspect of Ralph because I often set my own desires in order to do what is right and benefits others. Before making major decisions, I tend to think through what the outcome may be, as Ralph does. On the contrary, Jack tends to act impulsively and makes decisions based on what he wants. This proves to be harmful to their society by creating a group of savages that only look out for themselves.
I personally connect with Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, through the character Ralph. From the beginning of the novel, Ralph was seen as a determined, brave, and strong-willed leader. He was good at leading. He had plans for the island, no, not plans, rules. Ralph set rules, and he liked to follow them. Personally, I can relate to following rules. I have always been an organized person and a rule follower. I believe that rules were made for a reason, and if we did not follow them, then society would not be run properly. As a society, we have even invented punishments for people who do not follow rules. Unlike in the novel, there were not punishments only rebellion. Throughout the whole novel, Ralph was also secretly terrified of the idea of not getting rescued and people not listening to him. This feeling of uncertainty and second-guessing is something I can relate to as well. I tend to overthink things, similar to Ralph. Relating to the character of Ralph, I too think of the worst-case scenario and believe that people should work hard for the things they need. So, when Ralph got frustrated with the littluns not helping build huts or collect food, I can easily see how that could be annoying.
I can relate to the idea of having to grow up fast in the story just like how the boys have to when they are stranded on the island. Now of course I have never been in a similar situation like that, but I have had some events that have led me to make big changes in my life that affected me. Moving to South Dakota sophomore year would be an example. Freshman year I was very comfortable where I was at, just like the boys in the story with the school they were at. I moved here and that was a very big change for me that caused me to make changes that were hard. The boys in the story did similar because when they crashed they had to adapt and get used to the new place they were living in. However, moving places led me to make changes that I believe made me a better person and the person I am today. Going through change can be hard and there is a lot of obstacles but in the end it is for the better.
I connect with Golding's novel on a personal level. One way that I have is by having to become an adult and make decisions for myself. The past couple of weeks I have been trying to decide where I want to go to college and finding places that I could go to college to play football. A lot of different factors are being put into play. Like the education they give, proximity to home, the community of the college, class sizes, and last but not least the cost. Similarly to how the boys in the story have had to make decisions so they can survive on their island. Like having to find food to eat, getting water to drink, having smoke burning in the air, and having a place to sleep. They have to make adult decisions in order to create a society in which they can survive. Just like I am trying to figure out how I am going to live/survive when I become older. I have to make a decision about what major I would like to have in college. And then what job I would want using that major. Just like the boys I have to make adult decisions.
The book by Golding that I have connected with would be the Lord of The Flies. I have connected to that book through the theme of the island being society and the “Real World.” Throughout the entire book, there was always some problem or monster lurking around the corner to attack you and beat you down. Just like in real life there is always going to be someone or something waiting to trip you up and make you fall backward. Another connection would be the kid’s constant plea for grownups to come to save them and fix all of their problems because grownups are perfect and they can do anything. Looking at successful people in life you see the money and power that they hold and there would be no way to have problems with those resources. They both come short of what they are expected to accomplish. The boys on the island want the grownups to show up and take control of their decisions and authority because “grownups never quarrel.” This is applicable to my life because I see all of the people living the life that I want and I know that they have problems but it just makes everything seem so much better if you think that as long as you work hard and accomplish what you need to you will eventually solve your problems and won’t need to worry about them ever again.
I connect to the book through the perspective of Ralph. I see myself as Ralph, while I see all the characters as tasks in my life that I have to manage. I see the different character groupings as things I do throughout the day, such as school, lifting, and video games. I see the fire that Ralph wants to keep burning so they are able to be rescued. I see the burning fire as school. In my life, I view school as a top priority for my success in the future. In Ralph’s case, he puts the fire as a top priority as well because that is what will give them an opportunity to be successful in getting a ship’s attention. I see lifting as the hunting group, hunting isn’t completely necessary for their survival because they have some seafood and fruit; however, they would be bigger, stronger, and healthier if they were to pig. This relates to lifting in the sense that lifting isn’t necessary; however, you will be a healthier person by doing so. I relate video games to the littluns. The littluns aren’t much help but they have fun by just picking fruit and building sandcastles all day. Video games are the same way, they don’t give me anything other than some fun. How I manage my time with these tasks is sometimes stressful, just as Ralph is stressed by the decision making that he has to make as well as the decisions that the groups make.
The Lord of the Flies was very interesting and had lots of themes in the story. Growing up and making decisions for yourself is the one that I connect with most of all. When I was about Ralph’s age all I wanted to do was grow up. My siblings are 4 and 8 years older than me, so I saw what they were doing and the freedom they had as a dream of my own. They could go out on school nights and be with their friends pretty much whenever they wanted and I still had to be home since I was younger. They also seemed so mature and interesting. I thought that the older you were the more fun you could have, but looking back I don’t think that is the case anymore. Growing up goes hand in hand with responsibility. Although you may get more freedom in what you do on a day to day standpoint you also have to start making choices that affect you in the future. Golding reminds me of this in the novel by forcing the British boys to grow up way quicker than they would need to if they were still in a normal society. The boys lost their innocence too early in life and honestly, it made me glad that I didn’t do that to myself when I was younger. It showed how they were not mature enough and were not ready to be in the world all by themselves. They still needed authority from their parents and other adults so that they grew morals and would do the right thing.
I personally connect to Golding's story with the theme of responsibility. I have always found myself to be a logical and reasonable person who has a strong sense of responsibility. In the novel Ralph, with the help of Piggy, develop responsibility when caring for those around them and their best interests. They strongly believe that the most responsible and logical thing to do is to keep a fire going at all times. Jack, on the other hand, does not agree and wants to hunt for food a lot. This becomes a problem at one point because Jack led a group of kids hunting, while they let the fire burn out. Ralph is furious because a ship had passed and might have rescued them if the fire was burning. This relates to me because I feel like Ralph sometimes, where others make irresponsible and unwise decisions that end up harming others. I try and reason with them to show that it was a bad decision. I feel like I have that responsibility to help others when I can and care for them. While Golding's novel has many different themes, this one relates the most to me and my life.
I feel connected to the older kids on the island. I get having to take care of little kids when you are not a whole lot older than them. I have three siblings, the second oldest one being five years younger than me. I have ignored my siblings' opinions because of how much younger they are, even if I shouldn’t have. I also get trying to explain to them that monsters do not exist. I have had to be a leader to my siblings even when I did not want to. And keeping order as the oldest while you are still a kid is not easy in the slightest. Sometimes it is easier to take advantage of your power as the oldest. Obviously I have not tortured or killed anyone, but when little kids are being annoying and you do not have great composure because you are a child yourself, screaming at them seems easy. Becoming a much less intense version of Jack is easy because that is really all you know you can do. And sometimes using scare tactics seems like the best option because they behave don’t they? Being a bully is easy when you think you’re the best compared to younger kids. It's not easy to admit your mistakes like Ralph did though.
When comparing my life and what I would most closely compare to in Golding's story it would have to be the boys struggling to figure out who they are. In the story they kids clearly display cumbersome attitudes due to their situation and many of them are getting to the point in which they will be changing due to puberty. I remember at this age in my life I was unsure on what God had created me for. The hormones were taking control and impulsive decisions were being made without really thinking. In the story it is evident that the older boys like Jack are going through this same process. He feels as if he needs to be the alpha but at the same time is uncertain of what he is really supposed to do. He is very in tune with is ID side as most boys going through puberty are. He makes impulsive decisions just like I did as a teen but not to Jack's extent.
The Lord of The Flies can clearly be connected to my life through the reoccurring theme of growing up. Like the boys on the island, thrust into a situation requiring maturity, it seems as though I have plunged into adulthood...ready or not. The boys required more responsibility as they had to care for themselves and find a way to survive——no longer under order of "adult figures". As my high school career comes to an end, my "real-life" responsibilities seem endless, let alone being faced with some abrupt and necessary duties. Like the basic necessities of the boys on the island: obtaining food, water, and assembly, this pertains to be basic necessities of adulting: having a plan, be independent, and get things done. Golding implies a further loss of innocence as the boys increasingly become okay with using the evil within them. Just as young adults lose innocence as we are exposed to the evils of the real world.
The Lord of the Flies has many different themes. One theme in particular that stuck out to me was the immediate action taken by all of the boys in order to survive. Each and every boy no matter what their past was, where they were from, or how smart or athletic they were all had to take immediate action using instincts to survive. I feel in life that if you do this with yourself and force yourself to take immediate action and force your body to not procrastinate, lots of success will be in the future. These stranded kids set a standard for themselves that they HAVE to do what they do not want to do in order to survive. As I have been guilty of procrastination in the past, the event of the stranded boys stood out to me and opened a door of a new mindset. When life gives you something that you have to do but you do not want to do, it really comes down to how important it is to you causing you not to procrastinate. In this case, these boys wanted to simply live, which causes them to do what they MUST do in order to achieve that.
In Golding's novel "Lord of the Flies" I found myself relating to all of the characters. Different attributes of the characters I found even just a little bit myself in them. To start the whole group was thrown into a situation over which they had no control. They were forced to deal with the challenges of living on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. Obviously, I personally have never had to do this and hopefully never will. There are however situations that I have been had to go through where I was underprepared and had to overcome the opposition. Character specific to start Ralph was shoved in charge and forced to have to lead his people. I also feel I relate to Ralph in the sense that he truly wants to take care of everyone and survive and do the right things. He knows what has to happen but he still wants to have fun and be a kid. I also found that Simmon as a young kid he didn't always speak up and was a little timid at first. Then when he did have an idea he was shut down and ignored. After being shut down he just decided to keep to himself and not express his ideas. I know how he is feeling as there have been situations where my opinion wasn't valued. Another character that I found I connected to was Jack. Jack isn't someone most people would say they are like but we all are. Jack at the beginning of the book wanted to help but he also wanted to have fun and relax. Everyone myself included has had a time where everyone else is working and you might not be working hard or just wanted to be doing something fun.
One way I connect to this story is through the act of having to change with your environment. I feel as though I tend to be a pretty adaptive person within my life. Golding’s story shows how the young boys have to change with their environment to survive and thrive. These boys are forced to grow up and do the tasks of an adult at an extremely young age. Being the youngest in my family, I have had a lot of special treatment. I had to learn many times throughout my life that it wouldn’t be this way in every situation. As I got older, this eventually became much easier and felt much more normal. It was now expected of me to have responsibility and to excel. I feel like I can relate to the boys in this way as they had to experience the same challenges of taking on new responsibilities. One character that I felt especially connected to was piggy. I feel like I connected to piggy because I am not the strongest leader ever, but I still possess special traits that I think are relevant. Piggy also has many feminine traits that make it easy for me to relate to him as a woman. Golding’s book not only tells a great story, but it also connects to the readers in many different ways. I believe this makes the book better by drawing you in and creating a parallel between one’s life and the story itself.
Throughout the novel, Golding often refers to the boys as no longer being human. This can be seen especially through the last few pages of the novel when Jack and his fellow hunters chase down Ralph after the killings of both Simon and Piggy. The overall theme to this slow change into madness is for the reader to think who is the real beast, the fictional beast that the children see in the forest, or are they themselves the beasts? I believe that throughout everyone’s lives, that they have also had a similar thought about themselves, are they the good guy in their story, or are they the bad guy? I recently had a connection with this train of thought, thinking about my actions toward certain people and my behavior toward them. Instead of succumbing to the beast inside of myself, and being constantly annoyed by those people only because someone told me that they are annoying, I learned to not look at people the same way that others do. Instead, I actually have started to have conversations with them and actually connect with them. Because of this new revelation, I believe that I was, at some point, the villain in my own story; but now I may have become the hero.
One theme in Golding's story that I can connect with is the theme of growing up. My coming of age story is not as drastic or exciting as the characters in the story; however, it was still an adventure. The older we get, the more lessons we learn and the more insight we get into the world around us. We learn how to deal with future situations in an orderly way. We learn how to cope with emotions after losing loved ones. In Golding's book, the boys grow up and have to learn from each other, though some decide not to. Ralph chooses the correct way to deal with his problems and losses. Instead of succumbing to the mob mentality like the others, he thinks of ways to solve their problems. In this sense, I can connect with Ralph. I try to stay rational and solve problems instead of becoming angry with those with no control over the situation. Unfortunately, sometimes I fail to stay rational and I overreact. When this happens I can see a glimpse of Jack in myself. Just like Jack is jealous, I can become jealous; however, I do not act on jealousy to the extreme as Jack did. Jack desired power. He wanted the power back that he felt Ralph had stolen from him. This envy caused Jack to become bitter and eventually drove him to insanity. When I realize I am overreacting, I will remove myself from the situation and calm myself down before returning to correct my behavior.
I related to the characters in the fact that they were under pressure and put through stressful situations. It taught me how people act while going through tough times and the need for power. We all strive to be on top. Sometimes we would do anything to obtain the feeling of having power because that feeling is what satisfies us. We all do certain things for this “power”, for me I strive to complete a big task or finish my work early so that I can relax the rest of the week. This is different from the boys in the book but I get the same feeling of power as they do. I also relate to the book with the fact that I am growing up and learning new things each day. Just like them, I am faced with daily challenges that I have to learn to overcome, not all of them are always easy but each of them helps me grow as a person. When the boys first got to the island they did not know what to do, they were all over the place. Just like me, recently, when I started my new job. Eventually, though, you learn to adapt to your environment and make the best of it.
I can relate to one of the main themes of the book, growing up. The boys are forced to grow up quickly in order to survive. I feel like last year and this year I have had to greatly increase my responsibilities. Throughout my life, there have been instances where I have had to step up and be a leader when I might not have wanted to. I can also relate to Ralph. He was forced to make many decisions that were not necessarily good for him. He cared more about others. As the oldest child, I have had to make a lot of decisions to help my siblings. Being their example, I choose to do what looks better for them and not what is better for me. It is hard to not indulge myself in selfish decisions. Caring about others has also helped me grow up quite a bit. Being selfless also brings some maturity. Drawing a parallel from the book to my own life was hard at first, but after I understood the themes of the book, it was much easier.
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