Nobel laureate William Goulding’s 1954 novella – ‘The Lord of the Flies’ revolves around a group of pre-adolescents survivors of a plane crash and are stranded on an uninhabited island. The three main survivors – Ralph, Piggy and Jack Merridew are the archetype of human fallibility and soon form a loose triumvirate.
It is through the means of this paper that I intend to examine the works of Ancient Greek thinker – Plato and shall be analysing his submissions on the ‘critique of democracy’ in his dialogue The Republic and comparing his ideas to the happenings on the island. I shall also analyse and correlate the events that transpired among the survivors on the island to the notions and perceptions of ‘situation ethics’, also referred to as the ‘new morality’, which in essence is a modern-day rendition of ‘Machiavellianism’ – the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct – as was promulgated by 14th Century thinker and philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli through the publication of ‘the Princibatus’ or The Prince.
A former naval officer commissioned during the Second World War himself, Golding had experienced first-hand the horrors, agonies and heartbreaks of the war. He scaled humanity down to the most rudimentary forms of society envisageable – comprising a bunch of school-going boys and incorporated these experiences and. Golding opted for a didactic modus operandi of elucidating this idea through his book – ‘Lord of the Flies’ – which is an archetypical embodiment of humanity under the purview of ‘law’ and ‘social order’. Over the course of time, the book received critical acclamation with academicians and critics alike contemplating a plethora of philosophical and jurisprudential theories that Golding had intended to propound through his book.
Set in the backdrop of the Second World War, the story revolves around these pre-adolescents who are left stranded on an uninhabited island following a plane crash to which they were the exclusive survivors of. This may be seen from the receptive conduct of two of the survivors early on in the course of events who are quick to associate this lack of adult supervision to “independence” and “freedom”. Ralph – the eldest whilst enjoying this newfound “freedom” discovers a conch in a lagoon on the island whilst swimming. On the advice of another character – ‘Piggy’, that he should blow the conch and summon the other survivors, Ralph obliged and soon there convened a whole bunch of boys who had survived the crash. The philosophy of every civilisation since its’ very inception, promulgating and partaking in a loosely-formed social structure of governance holds true as the boys concur on conducting an election and vote the bearer of the conch – Ralph into power as a semblance of human society and order is established. The boys’ delight in being party to a democratic process – something they would generally associate with privileges of being an adult – is made apparent as it is remarked that “this toy of voting was almost as pleasing as the conch.” (Golding 9)
It is imperative at this point to address the symbolic nature of the conch which, with time came to be associated as a source of power and authority and is characterized by its’ transferrable virtues of free speech and as a bastion of an established set of civil processes. Ergo, a super-simplistic society governed by direct democracy is given rise to, coupled with its’ very own rules and customs and with basic division of labour, with Ralph as its’ leader and with the conch as a source of power and authority.
However, with time almost instantaneously, there start appearing cracks in this newly established system as the leader of the boys’ choir group – Jack Merridew, begins questioning Ralph’s source of authority and the process of direct democracy. “Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing … Why should choosing make any difference? Just giving orders that don’t make sense” he is seen asserting. (Golding 86) The fact remains that the election of Ralph was in actu lacking any semblance of meritocracy and this is evident from multiple extracts in the book, including a certain instance where it is argued that Piggy would have made a better chief. The naked truth was that the mere possession of the conch lead to his coronation as chief and at that point in time, events would have unfolded in a similar fashion irrespective of the finder of the conch.
With the passage of time, as the rift between Ralph and Jack intensifies, the latter realises this and begins attacking the institution of the conch as a symbol of power and comments that “We don’t need the conch anymore. We know who ought to say things” and over time with the decay of the civil procedural system established, the boys begin neglecting and abstaining from the fulfilment of their duties culminating in a missed opportunity of rescue. (Golding 98) This apparent lack of productivity, progress and unabashed flounting of responsibilities is representative of the island’s direct democracy as an impracticable idea. In such a time of unproductivity and political turmoil, Ralph is seen to be caught between a rock and a hard place as none of his decisions seem to collective appease all the inhabitants.
Ancient Greek philosopher – Plato’s works on governance and his critique of democratic processes are germane in understanding the events that had transpired among the survivors on the uninhabited island. Plato in his dialogue – the Republic, critiques the democracy as a form of governance wherein every single citizen got an equal say in the decision-making and State-building processes. (Santas) He rather held ‘aristocracy’, grounded by wisdom and reason , to be the ideal form of governance and promulgated the idea of leaving matter of statecraft in the hands of qualified representatives – a ‘republic’. (Cahn)
Plato strongly wrote that “when a democracy has drunk too deeply of the strong wine of freedom, … they (the people) chafe impatiently at the least touch of authority and at length, as you know, they cease to care even for the laws, written or unwritten; they will have no one over them.” (Plato 562) The desire for this absolute freedom and liberty – to do whatsoever one may want, stripped of the fear of any repercussions from sanctions of law, has been perceived as the ‘intoxicating’ endowment of rights and liberties by Plato and this he believes would be interminable once indulged in or conceded by the State. He advises leaders to be wary of the inclusion of the ideals of freedom and liberty from being institutionalised in democracies and fears that it will derail State-making decisions and may even lead to the downfall of the State – which in itself was a symptom of the descent into anarchy from liberal democracy as was warned by Plato. (Jones)
The pre-adolescent islanders themselves are thrust for the first time in their lives into a world without any perceivable authority over them, be it the sanctions of law or adult supervision for that matter. Notwithstanding the initial concurrence amongst them as they very enthusiastically necessitated the need for the existence of some rules. This was evident from the very outset when Jack Merridew himself had advocated that the prevalence of rules differentiated them from savages. (Golding 38) However, as time passed and the shroud of ignorance pertaining the rules was lifted, the boys realised that were not bound by the shackles of any rules and weren’t bound by their obligations or Ralph’s directives. They blatantly disregarded Ralph’s orders and simply abandoned post whenever they felt like: a classic case of Icarus, whilst finally relinquishing his inexhaustible freedom, flying too close to the sun.
Another threat Plato was apprehensive of was that of the degeneration of a democratic structure being cast to the pits of tyranny. He records that: “Having a mob entirely at his disposal, he [the tyrant] is not restrained from shedding the blood of kinsmen; by favourite method of false accusation he brings them into court and murders them, making the life of man to disappear, and with unholy tongue and lips tasting the blood of his fellow citizens.” (Plato 565)
Although the book does not take a turn as dramatic as Jack Merridew beheading Ralph after summoning him, it may be recounted from multiple instances that Jack Merridew in his lust to gain the upper-hand in this diarchal-power struggle, after being humiliated in his attempt at a failed coup early on and subsequently gaining power as a demagogical ruler, went to the lengths of burning down half the island to kill his rival – Ralph. (Golding 122)
Jack Merridew however realised another one of Plato’s directives by causing the death of Ralph’s right-hand – Piggy. In a suspiciously Machiavellian-style, Plato recommends the tyrant to retain power by the means of eliminating the valiant, the wise and those stringently adhering to their morals. (Plato 568) After failing at attempts in knocking Ralph down from the helm as was discussed earlier, Jack Merridew directed his frustrations in hurting those associated closely to Ralph – the twins, Simon and ‘Piggy’. His singling out and belittling of them on multiple instances, including the name-calling and stealing of spectacles is evidence enough of the same. The murder of the noble ‘Piggy’ by a member of the tyrannical Jack’s cronies is exemplar of one of Plato’s methods as the islands’ beacon of knowledge and a symbol of scientific progress was eliminated and thus, clearing the path from any challengers questioning his legitimacy as the undisputed lord of the principality.
Golding must be commended for his admirable approach with respect to Jack Merridew’s character development in the book. The sheer transformation undergone by a young law-abiding choir boy cutting a humane-figure – as was exhibited by him on multiple occasions – to an anarchical element submersing the islanders into the pts of tyranny, with the passage of time for self-sustenance. The shock of isolation in a lawless land without any prevalent authority magnified his natural instinct of self-preservation, which serve as the causal factors behind his irrational lust for power.
Since the very inception of life on this planet, philosophers, thinkers, and academicians all over the world across time and ages have, either through didactic or normative means, illuminated upon the notions of right and wrong. What is religion itself, in a nebulous sense, if not an all-purpose compilation of ethics and morals flowed universally? The commonality among the fundamental teachings of Adi Shankaracharya, Gautama Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Confucius and innumerable others lies in the fact that all of them propounded a set of morals and ethics to practiced by all. Over time however, with the decay of religion and with the introduction of new ideas, the sense and applicability of these morals changed, with some paving way for other.
These highly malleable notions of morality determinable by the expediency of the situation has come to be widely known as ‘new morality’ in common parlance and is also congruently referred to as ‘situation ethics’ across academic circles. Emanating as a reaction against the legalistic tendencies in ethics deeming certain acts to be intrinsically illegal, (Omoregbe 254), situationism advances that “situational appraisals could be universal moral principles” (Fletcher 25). Notwithstanding its’ historical, cultural and social variations culminating in different accepted morals and different approaches to them. (Oyenuga, Olukayode, Felix 6). Thus, certain morals considered to be ideal in a certain society of the world would be highly egregious and ridiculed in the ethical frameworks of others.
It is at this conjecture that the works of Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli becomes relevant. Machiavelli in his work Princibatus or The Prince advises to the rulers how to acquire and consolidate power politically – with complete disregard to how fair or foul the modus operandi in getting there is. Machiavelli opines that for a prince it is better to be feared than to be loved and attributed the traits of being cunning, deceitful and influential to an ideal ruler – a master of statecraft. Despite critical vilification of its contents in discourses in the modern world and the term ‘Machiavellianism’ being used in a negative connotation, Machiavelli continues to be increasingly associated with the new age school of thought of ‘situation ethics’. (Major)
Golding’s Lord of the Flies is rich in depicting instances on how an individual behaves differently with respect to the extenuating circumstances. As discussed earlier, Jack Merridew who was unable to bring himself to cut-open a piglet the choir-boys had hunted became somewhat fanaticised by painting his face similar to savages and hunted for the pleasure of killing and not for sustenance. Thus, the sense of moral rectitude that he had possessed early on, in the turn of events was replaced with this bloodthirsty, barbaric personality with a lust to seize power by any means possible. It is therefore fair to state that Merridew’s character evolved as an archetypical ‘Machiavellian situationist’ one.
Machiavelli had propounded that “it is better for a ruler to be feared than to be loved.” (Machiavelli) However, the instillation of fear should be employed in such a manner that it does not inculcate a feeling of hatred among you subjects. The application of which is evident from Jack Merridew’s actions with respect to the twins whom he had although mistreated and humiliated, won back their trust with the offer of meat. The Machiavellian dictum of ‘Act like a lion and a fox’ – which is so widely practiced by politicians worldwide – is fulfilled as Jack display his boldness and cunningness.
The need to pay attention to affairs pertaining to the military and surrounding oneself with soldiers was also necessitated by Machiavelli and Ralph’s disregard of this was to Merridew’s advantage. The daunting presence of huntsmen – Maurice and Roger would have instilled fear in the minds of the ‘littluns’, especially considering the latter was descried by Ralph as one who “carried death at the hand.” (Golding 241)
He had also instructed princes to enhance their reputations by undertaking projects that would be perceived as great by the subjects. Jack swearing to take down ‘the beast’ by ordering a hunting expedition and emancipating his principality of its’ fear is another such feat to which countless parallels may be drawn from myth and history alike such as the twelve tasks of Hercules or the conquests of Genghis Khan.
Machiavelli had observed that morality and ethics had to be alienated from politics. He recorded that “a prince therefore who desires to maintain himself must learn not to be always good but to be so or not as necessity may require… it is well that when the act accuses him, the result should excuse him and when the result is good, it will always absolve him from blame … others that apparently are vices, will, if followed, result in your safety and well-being … be extreme to a friend or an enemy.”
Jack Merridew seemed to have lived by these words to the teeth. Since discovering the potency and symbolic importance of the conch, Merridew on multiple occasions questions its’ authority and subsequently towards the dying embers of the tale was successful in shattering it, signifying the end of Ralph’s rule and the ushering in of his time as the undisputed ruler of the island. In the meantime, he failed to take Ralph down however, he understood the need of ‘being extreme to a friend or enemy’ and had recognised as his enemy’s closest allies – ‘Piggy’ and Simon whom he eliminated subsequently. Both these killings had two very significant symbolic ramifications. The extremity, which would be deemed in modern times as borderline clinical insanity, made him set ablaze more than half the island on to kill one enemy – Ralph. That was how much power had begun to mean to him.
The slaughter of ‘Piggy’, as was discussed earlier was symbolic of the end of the knowledge, intellect and the voice of reason. They method itself in which Jack Merridew ensured the playing out of events leading to Piggy’s death is very Machiavellian as his spectacles are stolen, forcing him to approach the building where a rock dislodged by Merridew’s man crony falls on ‘Piggy’, instantaneously killing him.
Simon was the first of Ralph’s allies to be killed. He was the very personification of everything pure and morally apposite and cut a spiritual figure. In fact, one of the early editions themselves had to be edited to ensure that Simon’s spiritual and moral goodness was toned down to an extent as the publishers had feared that, he was in the early editions, character possessed traits scarily similar to Jesus Christ – the Son of God himself and feared any backlash from the clergy. Thus, for the purposes of this paper, it is imperative that we understand the character of Simon as Golding had originally intended – as a Christ like figure – to understand the gravity of his murder. Simon was murdered in confusion, being mistaken for the beast, after he had intriguingly approached the islanders with news pertaining to the beast, which the boys had so feared and invested their efforts in capturing, in fact did not exist. “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?” the head mocked Simon after he labelled it as the beast. Bordering on a misnomer, Simon was told about the beast’s non-existence by the beast itself – when he spoke to the Lord of the Flies as it remarks that the ‘beast’ existed within each and every one of the islanders. (Golding 130)
The ‘Lord of the Flies’ – which has coincidentally served as the title of the book, in fact a translation of Beelzebub – recognised in the new testament as the ‘prince of the demons’ and is characterised as tempting humans with pride. In the Testament of Solomon, 6:1-4, Beelzebub is quoted as saying, “I bring destruction by means of tyrants; I cause the demons to be worshiped alongside men; and I arouse desire in holy men and select priests. I bring about jealousies and murders in a country, and I instigate wars.” Similarly, in the story itself pride and greed swept across the island, escalating to a degree of insanity and culminating in a rift between the survivors and the deaths of many boys. The death of Simon is thus symbolic of the victory of darkness over light, or rather is significant of the decay of civilisation.
In the dying embers of the story, Ralph running for his life from Jack Merridew’s tribe bumps into a British naval officer on the shore of the island. On him inquiring about the happenings on the island, the children now unable to cope with the gravity of the events that had transpired and what the island had made them do, burst out weeping – perhaps, restoring an abnormal sense of normality.
References
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Golding, William, and Edmund L. Epstein. Lord of the Flies: A Novel. New York: Perigee, 1954. Print.
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Bhrigu A. Pamidighantam 
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