Why do people want power? People, young and old, want power because of the outside or extrinsic force in this society predominantly due to peer pressure. Power makes individuals feel strong while giving them a simultaneous sense of satisfaction. In William Golding’s classic novel, Lord of the Flies, the extrinsic rewards of power motivate characters to compete and act in different ways ranging from practical to brutal. At the beginning of the novel, after a plane crash, a group of boys find themselves abandoned on an island with no adults, no government, and no rules to dictate how they should behave. Soon, a conflict develops between two important characters, Ralph and Jack, over who will be the leader. In their fight over power, Ralph and Jack are both shaped and influenced by outside forces such as peer pressure pushing the internal desire to become the type of leader that they think they are supposed to be. Within the struggle, Ralph and Jack, respectively, become symbols of “civilization” and “savagery”.
Initially, Ralph did not think about being a leader or having a meeting but a talk with Piggy, blowing the conch to call the boys and Jack's first reckless introduction influenced Ralph's choice to be a chief. The shouts, “Him with the shell... Ralph! Ralph! Let him be the chief with trumpet thing” (Goldling ch 1) gave him the confidence to ask everyone “All right. Who wants Jack for chief? Who wants me?” (Goldling ch1) Ralph is an intelligent candidate who after encountering Jack as choir head feels the necessity of controlling the group. When he finds support from the boys for himself, he feels confident and after unanimous voting announces “I’m the chief then. (Golding Ch 1)” The other boys response to Ralph provides an extrinsic reward for Ralph’s steps toward leadership by sharing his long-term survival plans and a reaction among the big guns and littluns, especially Piggy. Admittedly, survival is an intrinsic force.
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As in the article, Why do fans riot after a win? The science behind Philadelphia’s super Bowl Chaos, Daniel Wann tells that, “We’re social creatures. We need to belong.” This is evident when the assembly feels safe about rescuing Ralph's words and Golding writes, “They liked and now respected him. Spontaneously they began to clap and presently the platform was loud with applause. Ralph flushed, looking sideways at Piggy’s open admiration and then the other way at Jack.” (Goldling, Ch 2). Ralph felt inspired, and supported by the applause as the general belief of acceptance brings in problem problem-solving attitude and makes the group feel safe. Further, Jerome Rothenberg writes in the poem Cruel Majority, “The cruel majority love crowds & picnics. The cruel majority fill up their parks with little flags. The cruel majority celebrate their birthday.” similarly, Ralph says, “Meetings. Don’t we love meetings? When the meeting was over, they’d work for five minutes, then wander off or go hunting.” (Goldling, Ch 3) The leader leads but the group behaves like a mob only to attend meetings rather than to put in any productive effort. Like Piggy, other boys also follow Ralph until Jack makes a move to take over as the leader.
Initially, Jack wanted to be the chief but could not due to peer pressure. It’s evident, “Even the choir applauded, and the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification. He started up, then changed his mind and sat down again while the air rang.” (Goldling ch 1) Jack was indeed a leader controlling the Choir group and was also adamant about being the chief. But, after voting, the entire group supports Ralph and this suppresses Jack’s desire and forces him to accept the truth. Later in the story, Jack uses fear, manipulation, and eventually, violence to excite other boys with the idea of lawlessness and hunting. He has to take hunting seriously as peer pressure as written, “But I shall! Next time! I’ve got to get a barb on this spear! We wounded a pig and the spear fell out. If we could only make barbs-” (Goldling, Ch3. Here, Jack decides to do something important to prove himself better than Ralph to prove his worth and kills the first pig as food for the group after this discussion with Ralph. Now, he finds general support in the group for himself and openly asks, “I gave you food. And my hunters will protect you from the beast. Who will join my tribe?” Here, Jack shows his authority by asking if everyone has enough food, behaves like a king and the boys follow his orders breaking the previous rules. They come up with a chant “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” to keep the violent behavior of the boys going and develop a mob mentality. (Goldling, Ch 9). As in the Poem for the Cruel Majority, Jerome Rothenberg fittingly writes that “Those who love death will love the cruel majority. Here the mob mentality extrinsically encourages violence and it can be seen in Jack’s tribe where they start pig hunting and finally end up with murders supported by each other. In the article Why Do Fans Riot After A Win? In the Science Behind Philadelphia’s Super Bowl Chaos, William Wan writes “Researchers attribute violent behavior to a heady mixture of factors: intense fan identification with a team, behavioral changes when people become part of a mob, and strong psychological and physiological responses when your team wins or loses.” All the above factors William Wan is referring to are extrinsic. The boys in Lord of The Flies act and react to Jack's orders the same way alcohol and testosterone-influenced sports fans riot when their team wins.
In closing, the characters in Lord of the Flies, both big and small, act and react the way they do based on extrinsic forces or those that come from outside themselves. The competition for power in the book between Ralph and Jack as well as the mob mentality that ensues under Jack’s eventual takeover, are motivated by peer pressure. The violence that ends the book Lord of the Flies, goes further than the intrinsic instinct to survive.
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