Mohamed Mohsen Mohamed Anas

Ms.Rabine

22/2/19

4th 10LC

The curse of power

The promise of power makes one arrogant to the corruption that is poisoning them.

Throughout history, we have seen power transform men into monsters, who lay infamously in

the pages of history and minds of many throughout the world. Once one has the power they wish

to cement it through acts of violence/terror and to influence others around them. This is the case

in the Lord of the Flies. The older boys feel enlightened with their power that they don’t realize

the violence’s and terror’s shadows creeping behind them. For example: “Jack pointed suddenly

“his specs-use them as burning glasses!”Piggy was surrounded … Here let me go! “His voice

rose to a shriek of terror as Jack snatched the glasses … Ralph elbowed him” (Golding 40).

Jack’s along with Ralph’s newfound power overshadowed their hateful and violent actions

toward Piggy. As they ganged up on him and snatched with any permission. For trying to help

the group Piggy gets thrown under the bus. It seems as if the boys only respect those who

possess power (ex: Ralph often disrespects Piggy by throwing him under the bus and making

piggy the butt of every joke, though his attitude toward Jack is opposite on the contrary). But

power doesn’t just there with violence, power incites jealousy which sadly leads to violence and

eventually death. A common example of this in motion is the Raft of Medusa. In the Raft of

Medusa by Théodore Géricaultll, we are shown an image of a boat which is lead by a leader on

the very front and on careful inspection we see the men behind the leader kill one another to get

the power wielded by the leader. This is a generic situation that happens often in the modern
world. When one posses power the others around him are prone to jealousy. As they wish to

have the respect and authority that he wields. A real-life example of this would be the rise of

Stalin. Stalin murdered and jailed those who were chosen to be leader, so he could have the

mantle all for himself. This shows that wherever there’s power there is the corruption of one’s

mind. Corruption is the Belle for the power’s ball. No matter how strong hearted power always

corrupts even those with good intention

Works Cited

Whitley, John S. Golding: Lord of the Flies. Edward Arnold, 1986.

Géricault, Théodore. Raft of Medusa.