Planet Freedom

An essay for English class I wrote a month ago. You don't have to read it, it's incredibly long. Basically, I had to choose a theme and apply it to the book "Lord of the Flies". I thought the book was about the "Fall of Civilization", so I had to find quotes to support that statement. Then I had to find an outside source (Higurashi) and compare that to the same theme and "Lord of the Flies". Apparently, I am one of the best writers in every English class I have.

Falling Out of Place

The world has survived for centuries. There have always been people who were safe, and people who were in danger. Across the world, different people exist with totally different cultures. People believe in different values, and sometimes, values conflict each other. When many powers come together, could anyone agree? A few people can, and a few others cannot. Only the power of teamwork can truly survive on this planet we call Earth. Very few civilizations have lasted so long. No civilization can survive with complete innocence, and it has been proven that none have. The day will occur for everyone when the group they are in breaks apart. Human nature involves not being able to commit to something forever, it involves letting go of past relations. Letting go could also be dangerous. Sooner or later, if you decide to build an empire, one day, whether you will be alive or not, the empire will come down. The world is changing at constant speeds. In William Golding’s phenomenal novel Lord of the Flies, one of the shortest civilizations to fall is documented in its detailed glory. How do all empires fall, and how do they fall so quickly? The fall of civilization begins with the corruption of the mind, leading into the deeper thoughts of failure, which eventually opens into a man’s mindless devastation and war.

In a civilization, disagreement leads to a gradual corruption of the mind, which evolves into worse forms over time. Not only a ruler feels it, but his own subjects can face the paranoia and pressure piling onto them. In the middle of the story, the character Henry felt as if he could not do anything, but he also felt pressure to exert power at the same time. “Power lay in the brown swell of his forearms: authority sat on his shoulder and chattered in his ear like an ape” (Golding 150). This quote displays plenty of confusion, as Henry did not know his place in this dangerous society. Did he have power? Was he responsible for another man’s life? As he gave a drink to Piggy, one of the lead characters, he felt a slight sense of power, but he is confused of his place. This could very well lead into his mind becoming corrupted, as he ponders the possibilities from one side to the other. The authority on his shoulders were trying to tell him that he could exert his power over the other kids on the island, but he did not know if he should. Henry is frightened by his thoughts, as he doesn’t wish to be sucked into the paranoia that could lead him into killing. The ruler of a civilization can also be corrupted by inner feelings. Ralph and Piggy, the two main characters of the story, faced terrible opposition from their nemesis Jack throughout the story. In the middle of the story, Ralph and Piggy visit Jack and his tribe, and they were sucked into the activities, such as a demonic dance. After Simon is accidentally murdered, Piggy confesses his unrelieved feelings to Ralph, feelings of serious fear and desperation. “It was dark. There was that- that bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain. We was scared!” (Golding 156). Piggy reflects on how unaware they were when they were mindlessly crushing Simon. Ralph and Piggy cannot believe what they helped contribute to. Ralph is supposed to be the leader, but since most of the kids left him for the playful Jack, he got carried away in his activities. Piggy is becoming more paranoid and corrupted each day since similarly dangerous events continue to happen after Simon’s death. Events like those are devastating and can contribute even more to people running deeper into the stages of failing. Their minds are poisoned by the negative events. The only thing left for them to do is to go crazy, because they’ve lost all purpose in life. They are frightened and don’t want to be anymore. Piggy’s emotion in the quote displays a tint of mindlessness, as he just blurts it out, because he is in a rush to get the thought out of his mind.

After the mind has been corrupted, a civilization and its inhabitants begin to show failures. The way they think, talk, and what they do begin to make less sense. At a point in the story where some corruption has already happened, Ralph has to call an assembly to bring everything back together. His big threat is Jack, who disobeys him, wanting to do anything he wants with his time on the island. Jack fails by actually believing there is no escape from the island, and that they should have fun. Ralph displays plenty of disappointment. “The rules! You’re breaking the rules! Because the rules are the only thing we’ve got!” (Golding 91). Ralph has his rules set, but Jack still wants to be the rebel of the group. When others also decide to join his side, it begins the stage of failure. Ralph can’t help to keep this small civilization together, and his life has been threatened by Jack multiple times. Jack believes he has more power than Ralph and uses it to convince the other kids, and then he goes hunting. Hunting will not help them escape from the island. Eventually, the lives of the children will become even worse, and they will be completely tribal. The rules are truly the only thing they’ve got, and without them, the civilization really did die. Failure could also jog through a man’s individual mind. Jack watches Ralph and Piggy from a distance, knowing already that all is not well between the two groups. This also occurs after the point of corruption. “Evening was come, not with calm beauty but with the threat of violence” (Golding 150). This quote represents the ideal of failure, as peace has already been corrupted. Jack’s mind has been thrust into the state of a hunter, while Ralph and Piggy seethed into confusion. But both sides are very aware of their dislikes for each other. The quote seems to state that anywhere you go on the island, you are threatened by violence. Things used to be nice, but those very brief days have ended. This failure could lead people to overthrow the island and the civilization would have fallen. It is the point now where anything could happen. Jack is the violent threat, as he can bring down the empire very quickly if he had tried harder. But instead, all he cared about was hunting and having fun. He let Ralph and Piggy go their own ways, and the empire still fell, because with opposition, a civilization cannot survive. The island could still be viewed as calm and peaceful, but it is a violent beauty.

Destruction rips open after the mind realizes its glaring failures. A man wants to create and manage an unstable war now. Their thoughts now vanish, except for the ones that are evil. Jack does not stand for anything that Ralph and Piggy stand for. Jack wants them still to join his tribe, but Ralph still believes he is the chief, because he was the one originally chosen. Ralph points out to Jack that he is constantly running around for food and fun, and Jack responds back angrily. “You ran yourself! Look at that bone in your hands!” (Golding 150). Jack has reached the point where he does not care about life anymore, and would fight to keep it that way. The quote is yelled as if Jack wanted to start a war against Ralph. Ralph realizes that Jack has already failed long ago to cooperate. The dilemma is that Jack wants everyone to follow his rules, rules that are not contributing to anything. His belief is that he is the absolute ruler. The quote implies that Jack’s later meetings with Ralph will be very hectic. Jack proves to be very ignorant, because on this island, only his opinion matters. Destruction is also found in the quote, because an argument is symbolized, an argument that will never be resolved. Near the end of the book, Ralph is in hiding, and all that is left in him is fear. Jack is on the hunt to exterminate him. A savage appears in front of where Ralph is hidden, and he wonders what exactly his next move should be. “The stake was in his hands, the stake sharpened at both ends, the stake that vibrated so wildly, that grew long, short, light, heavy, light again” (Golding 199). This quote expresses mindlessness, as I feel that Ralph is completely unaware of what exactly he is doing at this exact point. All he has is fear, and the stake in his hands. He could kill with that stake, shaking. Ralph is ready to jump out and start a war with this savage, as he doesn’t even know what his thoughts are. He has been depleted and devastated. Ralph could smash the savage’s head in the moment, after completing the two stages of corruption and failure. When all your friends have died, and all that’s left are your fears, enemies, and a stake, devastation is the only choice.

In the Japanese anime series Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, themes of the falling of civilization can be detected in many events occurring in the storyline. It starts off with the character Keiichi moving to a quiet village that initially looks peaceful, but he finds out later that it is spiritually cursed, leading to many abnormal events. Things start to turn ridiculously for the worse. His suspicion grows deep and confusing for his newfound friends, who might be trying to kill him. “You’re going to say that you didn’t want to scare me? Is that the only reason why I’m the only person who’s been left out?!” (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni). It all seemed peaceful until this point, but Keiichi’s friends still act perfectly normal, and they wonder how he knows about the strange events that have happened previously in the village. He feels as if his friends did not tell him the truth, and that he is in danger. A police officer is the man who warns him that his friends are dangerous. Like Lord of the Flies, the tiny village depicted here represents a civilization no one has ever heard of that completely falls flat on its knees. Keiichi is scared for his life, and his mind slowly corrupts from the paranoia, which leads to him questioning his friends, and devastatingly, he kills them. Later chapters of the series reveal that there is a catalyst that causes all the pieces of the puzzle to fall that way, and the entire village perishes as a result. The quote represents his fright and his desire to know the truth. He feels left out and alone to die. At the end of the chapter, he is killed due to the curse, without completely uncovering the truth. Why did the civilization fall so quickly, and so strangely? His hopes are confessed in a memo he wrote before his death. “By the time you read this, I’m probably already dead. Please expose the truth, whoever may be reading this. That’s all I wish” (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni). While he lasted probably only around a month in the village, he settled in so well, and has the most open curiosity of what exactly happened. Everyone liked him, and he liked everyone, but when things started to get suspicious, his life fell down so quickly. He had hardly any time to think about it. His mind pondered and many thoughts, too many, that it corrupted with evil very fast and he then failed by not having enough time. He started a war by breaking through and killing, just like Ralph and the savage. The connection is that both civilizations started with peace, and fell very quickly, ending with a history of violence trailed behind them.

A man faces corruption from all the negativity around him, then begins to fail in life by not thinking about the choices, and finally loses his mind in a devastating battle against society. People question the amount of power they actually have. They get scared and influenced when a terrible event occurs. They then begin to fail when they refuse to follow specific set rules. They start to realize the threats posed all around them. They lose belief, and would point out thoughtless ideas because they have lost their minds. They end in a terrible state where they are in possession of only one thing, one thing not even the holder is aware of. Sooner or later, one man’s own empire will creep up to him and disrupt him for good.

No, I did not read all of it, in part because I STILL have not finished reading the copy of Lord of the Flies that TINS lent me and partly because it's long.

I read the first few paragraphs, and I have to say that you kick the shit out of most of the writers at my college.

I read all of the essay. Very well written.

Crash2991 wrote:I read all of the essay. Very well written.

Thanks, very much.

You're able to do what most young essay writers can't, and that's form a coherent thesis.

Good job for that.

RabbitSnore wrote:You're able to do what most young essay writers can't, and that's form a coherent thesis.

Good job for that.

My teachers have been telling me the same thing, and I've never believed my writing was good before. But seeing what my classmates have been writing, I was so wrong about myself.

Most young writers are too lazy to actually think their writing through and actually have an idea of what they are talking about.

True, this essay took up about 6 pieces of paper, while my classmates wrote 1 or 2 page essays. It was hard for me to believe something that short could be converted into an "A" grade. Yes, I take this essay writing a bit too seriously, because I actually enjoy expressing my real thoughts on this book. Most people in my class are too immature to appreciate a book like "Lord of the Flies". I had to write other similar essays, and I did one where I convinced that the film "Ratatouille" is indeed about, corruption.

Hey, you're talking to a guy who got a 5 on the AP English exam. I take essay writing seriously too.

NS2 wrote:True, this essay took up about 6 pieces of paper, while my classmates wrote 1 or 2 page essays. It was hard for me to believe something that short could be converted into an "A" grade. Yes, I take this essay writing a bit too seriously, because I actually enjoy expressing my real thoughts on this book. Most people in my class are too immature to appreciate a book like "Lord of the Flies". I had to write other similar essays, and I did one where I convinced that the film "Ratatouille" is indeed about, corruption.

give me more, my literature monster yearns for more!

RabbitSnore wrote:Hey, you're talking to a guy who got a 5 on the AP English exam. I take essay writing seriously too.

Wow, I haven't taken an AP English yet. Congrats.