Kaylin Brown

American Literature
Lord of the Flies
12/19/19

The Control
Society controls us whether we want it to or not. I believe society controls people in

many different ways. If we look at our lives and the lives of others around us we can see how

society controls our actions, the way we look, and the things and people we surround ourselves

with. Society is control of our actions, we do what is viewed is right by society. We try to fit the

mold of what is viewed by society is perfect with the way we look. The way society views our

possessions and people determines who and what we surround ourselves with.

Society has a number of things considered right or wrong. We base what we do daily off

of these views. In the short story The Lord of the Flies, it seems as the morals of society are not

present to control the boys their actions change. Therefore, at the beginning of the story Jack is

scared to kill a pig he paused. “The pause was only long enough for them to understand what an

enormity the downward stroke would be”[CITATION Gol54 \p 31 \l 1033 ]. In the beginning the

boys are used to being in society that controls their actions and tells them what is right and

wrong. As the story goes on and we see them float away of the structure of society we see them

lose this moral. By the end he seems to be alright with murder. Simon was murdered, Jack set up

a mechanism to hurt people if they came near his camp and then he beat up Wilfred to show his

power. “He is going to beat Wilfred” the boys discussed after hearing of the incident [CITATION

Gol54 \p 159 \l 1033 ] Society tells us what is right or wrong without it we may not have morals or

control of people’s actions.

 Society not only defines our action but it defines the way we look and view ourselves and

others around us. Society will but up an edited picture of a model in a magazine that people will

base their whole appearance on. We are told to look down on those who don’t look the way

society tells us we are supposed to. In Lord of the Flies, Piggy looks different than the other kids

with the society they grew up in they are told to look down on him therefore, they make fun of

him and don’t value his opinion. Their opinion of his was “Piggy was a bore, and his matter of

fact ideas were dull” [CITATION Gol54 \p 65 \l 1033 ]. We see in the story that his opinion is very

valuable and he should not be looked down upon. Without society telling the boys how one

should look they would have never known to make fun of Piggy and look down on him. They

would have never known the difference. Everyone bases how they want themselves to look on

what society tells us is right. If society wasn’t in control we would be free to base our looks off

whatever we wished without judgement.

We are shown through society that to be perfect what the possessions and people we

surround ourselves with should be like. Nobody is born a racist. Nobody is born looking down

on those with less than them. Nobody is born with prejudice. Society teaches us these things and

that determines who we surround ourselves with. We see successful people through the media

and the possessions that they have. This determines the possessions we believe we need to fill

our lives with to be successful. In the Lord of the Flies, if you have the possession of the chonch

you are in control. Society has taught them certain possessions make you in control. “Ralph

finished blowing the chonch and the platform was crowded” [CITATION Gol54 \p 32 \l 1033 ].

Without society influence we would see people for who they are and surround ourselves with

what we want. There would be no image or prejudice placed in our mind we would be open

minded.
 Society controls many aspects of our lives. Our actions, our looks, the way we look at

others, and what and who we surround ourselves with is just a few. Society tells us what right

and wrong. What to wear and what looks perfect. What and who we need to surround ourselves

with to be successful. Without society telling us what to do every move of our lives we would all

live freely as we wanted. It may be chaotic or peaceful without we may never know. Whether

we want it to or not society controls our lives daily.

Works Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Peguin Group, 1954. PRINT.