James Monroe, one of the founding fathers and later 5th president of the United States declared, “The best form of government is that which is most likely to prevent the greatest sum of evil.” In a pack of wolves, there is a clear order of hierarchy in the group with the alpha being the main leader. The alpha is always described as the most intelligent, the keenest, and the strongest of the group. Their role is to protect their group while also maintaining order and feeding them. Thus, forming the concept that transcends across species that whoever benefits the people the most should become the leader. Government was formed under the idea of unifying and civilizing a group of people using the authority of the leader to implement rules separating right from wrong. However, not everyone has the same principles and morals causing discrepancy among a civilization. These discrepancies often turn into conflicts and may eventually lead to new types of government. Today, many types of government often clash with one another. As societies became more complex, so did systems for managing them. This complexity is illustrated in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, where Ralph, Jack, and Piggy embody different forms of government on an isolated island through their contrasting actions.
To start, Ralph plays the role of a democratic leader on the island with his philosophy of keeping everyone happy. Democracy is the most prevalent ideology in the world due to how it gives power to the citizens: “Representative democracy, political system in which citizens of a country or other political entity vote for representatives to handle legislation and otherwise rule that entity on their behalf” (Raikar Britannica). Due to the power given to its citizens, people under democracy can vote for leaders based on their wants and needs. Democracy encourages diversity through equal representation, allowing people with different morals and cultural backgrounds to have representation in the government. Ralph shows traits of a representative democracy when he first suggests electing a leader saying, “‘Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things’” (Golding 22). When Ralph had first encountered the boys, they were disorganized and lacked authority. Afterall, they were only boys that throughout their lives had lived under the authority of adults. Ralph’s inclination to establish leadership was a direct result of the way he was raised. Instead of Ralph taking the role of the leader after suggesting the idea, he had allowed an election between Jack and himself. The significance behind this is that it highlighted Ralph’s nature of appealing to everyone’s desires. Much like a democracy, holding an election was Ralph’s first method of appealing to the boys because it gave power to them. Even after being selected as chief, his nature of appealing to others did not waver. He had understood the power hierarchy that Jack had established over the choir members. Instead of trampling Jack’s authority with his power as chief, he said to Jack that “‘The choir belongs to you, of course’” (Golding 23). Representative democracies often separate their power often in branches to ensure one authority does not reign over everybody. Ralph had compromised and agreed that Jack and his choir could become the group’s hunters. Although his authority over everybody had diminished because of this, Ralph understood the importance of appealing to everyone to establish order. Had Ralph kept his power to himself, Jack would never have obeyed him, causing a conflict of power between Ralph and Jack. Furthermore, after establishing his authority as chief, he began to implement rules based on the democratic system: Ralph enforced the rule to have everyone raise their hands when wanting to speak like at school to avoid the boys talking over each other (Golding 33). Ralph had implemented this to further give power to individuals and to maintain order. Similarly to real-life representative democracies like the United States with their senate and The United Kingdom’s Parliament, members of the lawmaking body of the government must take turns while speaking, maintaining order and equal representation. Through his actions, Ralph’s nature of appealing to everybody is clearly reflected in how representative democracies are supposed to work.
While Ralph embodies a representative democracy, Jack represents an authoritarian dictatorship corresponding to his rivalry with Ralph. Authoritarian dictatorships are sparse because “Authoritarian regimes are systems of government that have no established mechanism for the transfer of executive power and do not afford their citizens civil liberties or political rights” (Lindstaedt Britannica). When one hears of a dictatorship, they are often reminded of infamous historic world leaders. These dictatorships of the past are known for horrendous and corrupt leaders who often put their personal values before their citizens. The reason why there aren’t as many dictatorships in the world now is that people have recognized the corruption and evil that come with any dictator. Before arriving on the island, it is already suggested that Jack had some sort of authority over the choir boys: “‘Choir! Stand still!’ Wearily obedient, the choir huddled into line and stood there swaying in the sun.” Despite being tired and hot from walking in formation while wearing heavy cloaks in the basking sun, the boys had obeyed Jack’s commands. Authoritarian dictators often rule over their people out of fear, suggesting that if they do not obey there would be punishment. The obedience of the choir boys despite their condition suggests that Jack had power over them whether it is out of respect or fear. However, it is unlikely this obedience was gained out of respect due to Jack’s lack of care of the condition of the choir boys when he gave the command. No one would respect a leader that did not show care towards their followers and only suggests that the reason they obeyed was because they were afraid of what may happen if they did not. In addition, like the rivalry between Ralph and Jack, representative democracy and authoritarian dictatorships are completely opposite to each other and often come into conflict. The first event that challenged the accepted democratic order of the island was when the ‘beast’ was first spotted on top of the mountain. While Ralph had tried to get everyone to avoid the mountain, Jack rebutted the suggestion saying that the rules did not matter invalidating Ralph’s authority and if they encountered the beast the boys would hunt and beat it to death (Golding 91). Jack had started to show his true colors facing the established order placed by Ralph. Jack had always wanted to be in control over all the boys, being Ralph’s first opponent in the election of chief. Even though Ralph had agreed to give authority over the choir boys to Jack, his actions against Ralph’s established order suggests he wants to be the one in charge. Jack corresponds to how authoritarian dictatorships are often ruled by greedy dictators that want more power. Another instance where Jack challenged Ralph’s established order on the island was when he tried to get rid of the conch: “‘We don’t need the conch anymore. We know who ought to say things. What good did Simon do speaking, or Bill, or Walter? It’s time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of us’” (Golding 101- 102). The significance of the conch was that it symbolized civilization and the democratic process. The rule of the conch was set by Ralph, and it allowed everyone on the island to have a voice and it was essential to maintain order. Jack’s desire to get rid of the conch showed how Jack had no regard for the democratic process that the conch gave to the boys and said how some should not have a voice in matters completely undermining the democratic order on the island. Comparable to censorship, Jack with his authoritarian nature felt that there was no need to listen to the opinion of the other boys and wanted to operate on his own accord. Jack’s authoritarian dictatorship emerges as a stark contrast to the democratic ideals represented by Ralph, as evidenced by his disregard for established rules, his control over the choir boys through fear or coercion, and his attempts to dismantle symbols of democracy like the conch.
Like Ralph, Piggy leads out of concern for others, but he more resembles a socialist democracy due to how he advocates equality, rational decision-making, and collective well being. Socialism is the idea that everyone works for one another with being defined as the “social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources” (Britannica). Socialism was created with the idea of giving the working class more equality. However, many past attempts at creating a socialist government have always led to corruption and instead of equally thriving, everyone equally suffered. Socialist democracy is essentially socialism under a democratic structure: “Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and supports a gradualist, reformist and democratic approach towards achieving socialism, usually under a social liberal framework” (Wikipedia). Socialist democracies exist to replace the corrupted attempts of pure socialist nations. While socialism may seem appealing, the main flaw is that it relies on the complete trust of a central government that will distribute and take resources equally, and as history has shown, this system is easily exploited. Socialist democracies give power to citizens. This power is given to limit the government while also pushing for equality from the perspective of the working class. Piggy first shows traits of a socialist democracy when he tries to get the names of everyone on the island: “‘expect we’ll want to know all their names,’ said the fat boy, ‘and make a list. We ought to have a meeting.’” Piggy urges the need for a list of everyone’s names, intending to use it to keep track of everyone and to keep them safe. His care for everyone including the littluns is reflected in the idea in socialism that everyone should be treated equally and have equal benefits as everyone else. The idea of using a list is similar to how teachers have a roster of students to see who is absent or not. This is significant because the role of teachers is to address each student’s needs and desires, allowing for an equal opportunity for all students to learn and succeed. This is further backed by the concept of public education which stemmed from the belief that everyone should have an equal opportunity to receive an education. Much like a teacher, Piggy intends to look after and care for everyone on the island. Another example of Piggy looking out for everyone was when he reminded the boys that he had the conch and insisted on building shelters by the beach (Golding 45). The boys previously had scrambled like a pack of wild kids to build the fire on top of the fire. Piggy had realized before they made a fire, it was sensible to make shelters on the beach. This is because he understood that they may be stuck on the island for some time and that shelters were essential for survival. Piggy believes in collective effort and urges the group to build the shelters by the beach while using the established democratic platform of the conch to get his point across. Piggy’s actions further prove how he cares for everyone and believes that people should put collective effort into something reflecting socialist values while also using democracy as a platform to get his voice across.
In conclusion, Golding’s portrayal of Ralph, Jack, and Piggy in Lord of the Flies reflects government ideologies and their conflicts against one another. Golding uses the characters to highlight advantages and disadvantages of each government ideology being represented while additionally showing the struggle for power against each character. The story also shows the fragile state of governments and how the followers determine the power of a government. The concept of governance only serves the purpose of unifying a group of people however, this is only done if it appeals to the individuals. Without any incentive, followers of a government have no reason to follow the rules implemented causing anarchy and conflict within a group. Without any form of government, the world would descend into chaos.
