Jul 10, 2020
category: Literature

During reading of a philosophical novel Lord of the Flies, the work immediately gained my attention as the perfect book to think about leadership in harsh conditions. A simple story, realistic images of children, mentally tested characters underlying reasoned activities, and the exotic locale merged in the piece in a terrible dystopia, showing the ‘brutality’ of the human race. This book raises important question of ethics and risk management in harsh conditions and unfamiliar environment. Therefore, children left on the lonely island have become the representation of flawed organization, state or society, which does not reach its initial goals because of irresponsibility, lack of leadership, and egoism.

Get a price quote

15% OFF 1st time order

In my opinion, the war showed how fragile the romantic myth of the natural goodness and human wisdom conceals inexhaustible reserves of hatred and evil. How much can be dangerous Rousseau’s ‘noble savage’ that calls for a return to ‘natural sociality’ stunning images of sinlessness in the absence of the notion of sin. Social connections and relationships, aligning the island appear truncated, partial, pale mini projection of our modern society, with a huge and step-by-step degradation. The heroes find themselves in the surreal situation of a closed system, which has no contact with the outside world. There is a gradual loss in the control of this situation as far as actions take place in the book. From the very beginning, children did not set clear goals, and it can be compared to a failed organization, the aim of which is just to make profit. However, such situations often result in chaos and huge losses due to the failed leadership strategy. They crushed the despotism of physical needs, subjective values, while firstly they wanted to set up a democracy. Personal moral responsibility is the key factor in this book, and it can also be used as the analogy with today’s business or social environment. Children failed to establish successful society because of their irresponsible and egoistic nature, which is a stepping-stone towards organizational failure.

Another significant aspect is the complete destruction of civilization through ruining of human nature that starts from a child who is destroying oneself through a relationship with another man and nature. The man caught up in the anti-utopian society, namely, children on the island, cannot take advantage of their good fortune. The personal needs and a strong wish to rule the others took over the children’s mind and led to serious issues within the community. It can be also compared to famous Stamford experiment with prisoners while children also divided into winners and losers who suffer from the atrocities of the higher-class children. Thus, in any way, egoism has led to autocratic leadership and social differentiation, which negatively affected the lower class.

Save 25%

Make your first order (code: myfirstorder) with 15% discount and get 10% OFF MORE for ALL orders by receiving 300 words/page instead of 275 words/page

Children, who are forced to give the island to live together, organize their life by playing various forms of adult social order. Copying adults is actually in the form of the game because they cannot act otherwise. Not serious and amusing, these forms seem entertaining only at the beginning. Torn from the strict rules of the order of civilization, bred boys of Golding moved inexorably to the natural range of the possibilities inherent in man. They shifted from universal moral laws to the brutal struggle for power, the establishment of tyranny, accompanied by killings and humiliation of the weak and dissent.

Free Extras

Free Extras
Free Extras

However, children failed to become true leaders and lead their land to success. Golding showed great sinful nature of man, which prevents implementation of even the brightest ideas. Children deprived of all the resources and connections with outer world established an autocratic leadership system which almost led to the whole destruction of civilization. The first reason can be seen in the uncontrolled aggression and desire for power. The second one is manipulation with religion, which caused harm for all the locals. The leaders of the community did not think about the possible outcomes of the worship of Lord of Flies, which also was the catalyst of hate culture and negativity between the citizens.

Recent essays