Hobbes Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

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The fictional novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding showcases ideas that portray the ideas of Thomas Hobbes’ social contract. Golding does this by using the characters and their actions to illuminate Hobbes idea of the human state of nature. Hobbes idea consists of four main points, scarcity, limited altruism, equality of power and equality of need. Limited altruism is the idea that you have a scarce amount of people who are selfless or unselfish and you have a community of people who care only about themselves,. This is shown throughout the actions of characters such as Jack and Samneric,twins who are so close the boys merged their names. . Hobbes ideas of limited altruism is shown throughout the novel the Lord of the Flies in the absence of civilization and order. Limited Altruism is expressed throughout the novel in the form of many characters actions. For example, the antagonist Jack, head choir boy at his old school and prefect, shows his hunger for power since the beginning of the novel. He wanted to become the chief of the tribe but lost in the voting for Ralph, although he is the head of the choir boys who are now the hunters. As Ralph is the leader he attempts to help the boys by building a signal fire and shelters for the littluns, sadly he is only helped by two other boys, Piggy and Simon. Jack neglects his responsibilities and only cares about himself and him finding and killing meat which shows his …show more content…
Jack and Samneric are prime examples of those who commit selfish acts instead of those who are selfless, which is only a limited amount of people in the world. Most problems in thew world would be solved and would be peaceful if people were selfless instead of selfish in the absence of law and order. William Golding's ideas expressed in the Lord of the Flies directly relates to Thomas Hobbes idea of a social
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Thomas Hobbes Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

thing living inside of everyone. As Leonard Sydney Woolf, once said, “Anyone can be a barbarian, it requires terrible effort to be or remain a civilized man”. This is similar to Thomas Hobbes, who believed everyone was born malicious, and that we need to redeem ourselves to be good. In the novel, The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of young boys are stranded on an island, and must work together to survive. Their isolation from society brings out their true selves. In reality, whether…

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