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Trevor Paul

Mrs. Stanford

AP English Language

21 October 2020

The Power of a Corrupt Government

Revolution is the language of modern times. In the world of 2020, revolutions are

breaking barriers and changing the way that our society runs every day. Many of these include

political and ideological revolutions that adjust the way the world is run and the way that the

population thinks. Often people think of these revolutions as bringing good to the people and

freedom in the face of an oppressor. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. Often, military

coups are little more than an exchange of power from one ruthless dictator to the next while the

living situation for the people is hardly changed. This has happened numerous times, from coups

in Central America that led to totalitarian governments that still stand today, revolutions in Korea

which led to a dictatorship that has lasted more than sixty years. Lord of the Flies by William

Golding is an example of this happening in a long-drawn-out metaphor throughout the reading.

This book shows the start of civilization with the birth of democracy with rules and elections to

withhold and responsibilities to be kept. Going forward, people break off from the group to go

and start their own group, dictatorial revolutionaries. Finally, the book ends with the

revolutionaries gaining total control and power over their people, using violence to rule and toss

out those who oppose him.

The birth of civilization and democracy. Democracy was an idea first invented by the

ancient Greeks thousands of years ago which says that a country is ruled by the vote of its

people. With democracy responsibilities and power is separated amongst the people of a country,
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all of whom have an equal vote and an equal say in the way that their country is run. At the

beginning of Lord of the Flies, the kids wake up on an unknown, seemingly, uninhabited island

in the middle of the ocean. They go on to quickly form a democracy with separated powers

between different kids with one chief who was elected as well as having a conch used to signify

who is talking at any one moment and who has the right to speak at that moment. This is the

beginning of their new society, founded out of a need for survival on the island with the hope of

rescue. Responsibility is divided between keeping a large fire lit in order to display a smoke

signal to passing ships, gathering food, and whatever else needed to be done at the time. Shortly

thereafter one of the leaders on the island, Jack the head of the choir, decides that he and his

group shall go hunting for food instead of following their normal responsibilities. This displays

the first steps of revolution. Bringing new ideas that break off from what those around him think

and proceeding to ignore them when they tell him otherwise. He, with his loyal group of

followers, is breaking off from the rest and consolidating their own power between them and

their followers. This shows the first step as it displays a radical group starting and breaking off

from the norm in their environment. Shown in history as the nazi party begins to break off from

the normal German people to start getting their power consolidated between themselves and their

leaders.

The second stage begins with hunting. Jack’s group breaks off from the rest of the others

in order to go hunting and gather meat for themselves as well as build better weapons and

strategies for this very thing. Hunting as his next strive for power makes a lot of sense in the

context of totalitarian revolution. He will use the meat that he has gained from hunting to entice

those not so bright around him, allowing him to gain more followers very quickly with promises

of a better life if they just follow him and do as he says. Hunting also allows him to build
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weapons and war strategies under the nose of everyone around him and his close followers.

Quickly gaining followers for a cause and building a standing and ready army are the second

steps to a totalitarian revolution. The promise and follow-through of a better life if they just

follow him allows him to expand his power and reach quickly as people are desperate and are

willing to do anything to make their lives better. Then, he builds an army under the nose of

everyone around him under the guise that it is to further his plan of making their lives better

when in reality he is furthering his power and grasp on those who follow him now. This is

another strategy employed by the Nazis in the 1920s and 1930s. They quickly went from just a

few seats in German Parliament to having a majority lead just a few years later with the promise

for a better life for those citizens of Germany who voted for them at that time. Soon after this

happened, they started to build a standing army against the guise of those around Germany

looking inwards. This is the second stage typically in these dictatorial revolutions. The new

leader will promise a better life for their people quickly pulling in those who are desperate and

cannot see the flaws presented in the argument. They then use the idea of a better quality of life

to justify under the citizen’s view building a standing army, consolidating power further.

The third and final stage of an authoritarian revolution comes with the removal of power

from the democratic system that was once in place. This happens when a leader uses the standing

army that they have built to take over and abolish the previous system. Leaving them and their

cabinet with all of the power once held by many. This final stage can last from a few gradual

years to happening all at once, solidifying the power of those at the top. This is shown as Jack

has built himself an army composed of many holding spears along with a rock avalanche built to

stop any would-be intruders from invading his newly built fort, built just for himself and his own

around him. This allows him to take total control of the island, leaving Ralph and Piggy helpless
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as they make the final move, killing Piggy in front of the whole island. This is the final step

towards totalitarianism, removing the old form of government and replacing it with one, single

person at the top, with all of the power and nullifying those around them who may choose to say

otherwise. This can be shown with Hitler and the Nazis as they took the power of the German

house and left it all to Hitler himself as he had absolute control over Germany for a period of

time following. This can also be shown in the days of the ancients when Julius Caesar crossed

the Rubicon with a standing army to take control of the Roman Republic, naming himself as the

new Emperor of Rome. This final step often happens right under the gaze of the citizens,

unknowing of what is even going on until it is too late for anything to be done about. Absolute

power has already been taken, and anyone who shall oppose will be dealt with by the new head

of state.

This argument may fall under some criticism by skeptics. Often, many who oppose an

idea such as this one will give an argument about how a fiction book, like this one, or the kids

depicted in it could not have devised something like this and that it would be a waste of time to

think otherwise. Often a book like this is just a fiction story with little lying underneath it. This

couldn’t be further from reality. Often fiction books like this one are used by authors to convey

heavy messages that may not seem appropriate to put into normal terms or may not be possible if

they are living under the scrutiny they are trying to describe in their stories. George Orwell

famously wrote Animal Farm. A seemingly harmless fiction story about a bunch of animals, but

when looked at closer, it becomes apparent that it is a metaphor for the soviet communist

revolution. The same is true in this context. When looking at the words printed on the page, it is

nothing more than a story about some kids who wound up on an island in the middle of the

ocean. When looked at with a magnifying glass, however, it is clear that this is a story about
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totalitarianism and a revolution that occurred on the island during the course of the story. It

becomes clear that this is the case after being reinforced time and time again by history and the

book's own author.

A totalitarian revolution is a terrible, tragic thing. When it happens in a far away land, it

can be easy to ignore it or feel like it doesn’t have any impact. It does. These changes of power

between a democratic republic and an iron hand authoritarian often mean the opposite of what

many of their followers may want or need. The quality of life will go down for most, especially

those already at the bottom, who will see very little change in the world around them as power

exchanges hands above them. Lord of the Flies by William Golding explains this all through an

extended metaphor of civilization on an uninhabited island. It starts with the birth of a republic

with elected individuals. A small group of ideals breaks off from this norm to be amongst

themselves. They then pull people in with the promise of a better life while at the same time

building power before their very eyes. Then finally taking total control over the people, using

violence to keep them at bay, and removing the old forms of government and leadership. This is

the final step to total dictatorial power being enjoyed by those at the top.
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Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin, 2016.