Psychology In Lord Of The Flies Essays - English-language Films

Psychology In Lord Of The Flies Essays - English-language Films Psychology in Lord of the Flies In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of schoolboys become stranded on an island. The novel describes how most of the boys change from civilized to immoral behavior. There are no adults on this island to enforce rules and laws. As the boys loose touch with the standards of old they start to enjoy the island more and more. Eventually they are completely free of the civilized ways they were taught. When Simon came with news about the beast the others were dancing around a fire chanting, "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!" They turned on him, beating him to death. They had, in fact, become the beast themselves. Like animals they had lost the feelings of compassion and remorse. The book is a psychological study of the influence of the group on the behavior of individuals. Upon arriving on the island the boys search for the necessities to stay alive. As in the psychologist Abraham Maslow's theory of human needs each step must be satisfied before you go to the next stage. The island provided plenty of food and water, satisfying their basic needs of stage one. The stranded schoolboys tried to find security by finding a way to make fire. Gradually they began to develop some rules and leaders. At an assembly only the person holding the conch could speak. As their physical needs had been fulfilled they began to form groups. According to the theory this is stage three when people want to be a part of a group and to be loved. At that point they chose to be a part of Jack's hunters or Ralph's boys. In the final stage a person learns to undertand himself and respect the rights of others. Jack was the leader of the choir and kept them obedient to his command. In Carl Jung's theories Jack is in touch with his shadow, which are the animal instincts of man. Jack put the boys in touch with their evil side. He manipulated the boys of his group with fear of the beast so that he could gain power. He convinced them that he was the one that could protect them from the beast. Jack was even willing to kill to keep his power. Piggy was the scapegoat on the island. At most times he was excluded by most of the boys. He seemed like the odd man out who wanted order and rules on the island. Piggy was an important figure because of his glasses. His glasses were needed to make fire. Fire was very useful on the island. Although important he was put down by the boys because he didn't fit in. The boys were rebellious to him because he acted like a parent. He told them what they should do but didn't have the authority to make them follow through on their jobs. Ralph was the responsible leader. He wanted to bring rules and order to the island. He lived by self respect and the respect for others; stage four of Maslow's theory. Ralph was logical in his decision making but the boys rebelled against him because of his orderly job related ideas on running the island. He wanted to keep the fire going and stay concerned about getting rescued. He set up systems for the work that needed to be done. By the end the boys had become war-like beasts trying to hunt down Ralph. Their society was in a state of war. They followed Jack's orders without any question. Is it possible that William Golding used this story to explain the psychology of what happened in Nazi Germany? The author was an officer in the Royal Navy in World War II. What happens on the island is similar to what happened in Nazi Germany. One person develops a dictatorship and exercises unlimited power. Ordinary people in Germany followed Hitler and lost their willingness to act responsibly as individuals. They were manipulated by fear and symbols just as Jack used the pig's head as his symbol. In this way the moral code of a whole society broke down. It shows that there is little separation between man and beast.

Augustus and the Augustan Age of the Roman Empire

Augustus and the Augustan Age of the Roman Empire During the Viet Nam War, the U.S. witnessed how little it means for Congress to have the power to declare war when the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and the President, can order troops to engage in police actions. In recent decades weve watched military dictatorships the world over wreaking havoc on civilians in the name of the martial law. And in Imperial Rome, the praetorian guard installed Claudius as the first of the militarily-elected emperors. Having power over the militia means having the power to ignore the will of the people. This was as true with Augustus as it is today. To the extent that Augustus didnt abuse his powers, he was a good leader, but his consolidation of not only military power but also the tribunitian and proconsular in the hands of one man set the stage for the end of popular freedom. The Roman historian Tacitus, from the early imperial period (A.D. 56?-112?), enumerates the powers Augustus swallowed: [Augustus] seduced the army with bonuses, and his cheap food policy was successful bait for civilians. Indeed, he attracted everybodys good will by the enjoyable gift of peace. Then he gradually pushed ahead and absorbed the functions of the senate, the officials, and even the law. Opposition did not exist. War or judicial murder had disposed of all men of spirit. Upper-class survivors found that slavish obedience was the way to succeed, both politically and financially. They had profited from the revolution, and so now they liked the security of the existing arrangement better than the dangerous uncertainties of the old rà ©gime. Besides, the new order was popular in the provinces. (1. 2) From The Annals of Tacitus The peace Tacitus refers to is peace from civil war. The bait evolved into what the satirist Juvenal later describes as panem et circenses bread and circuses. The other actions led to the fall of Romes form of republican government and the rise of the single head of Rome, the princeps or emperor. Vice Like leaders today, Augustus sought to end vice. Definitions then were different, though. Three of the problems he faced were: extravagance, adultery, and declining birth rates among the upper classes. Previously, morality had been an individual or family matter. Augustus wanted it to be a matter for legislation, complete with tax incentives for those who married and had children. The Romans didnt want to change their behavior. There was resistance, but in A.D. 9, the law now referred to as lex Julia et Papia passed. Powers originally delegated the pater familias were now matters for the princeps Augustus. Where earlier a husband was justified in killing a man he found in bed with his wife, now it was a matter for the courts. Lest this seem humane and evidence of concern for the rights of individuals, the father of the woman caught in adultery was still allowed to kill the adulterers. [See Adulterium.] Augustan Age Sources The Oxford History of the Classical World, edited by Oswyn Murray, John Boardman, and Jasper GriffinA History of the Ancient World by Chester StarrBiography of Horace and selected Odes in translationLegal Status In The Roman WorldThe Ancient History Bulletin 8.3 (1994) 86-98 Leges sine moribus, by Susan Treggiari.Horatian Meters Augustus was impartial in his harsh judgments. When his daughter, Julia, his child by Scribonia, was caught in adultery, she suffered the same fate as any other daughter exile [See Dio 55.10.12-16; Suet. Aug. 65.1, Tib. 11.4; Tac. Ann. 1.53.1; Vell. Pat. 2.100.2-5.]. Literature Augustus was restrained in his personal use of power. He tried not to force people to do his will and left at least the appearance of choice: Augustus wanted an  epic poem  written about his life. While its true that he eventually got one, he didnt punish those in his literary circle who turned him down. Augustus and his colleague, the wealthy  Etruscan  Maecenas  (70 B.C.- A.D. 8), encouraged and supported members of the circle, including  Propertius,  Horace, and  Vergil. Propertius didnt need the financial input, but more than that, he wasnt interested in writing epic. His shallow apology to Augustus was on the order of I would if I could. Horace, son of a freedman, needed the patronage. Maecenas gave him a Sabine farm so he could work at leisure. At last, as unencumbered by poverty as he was now burdened by obligations, Horace wrote the and Epodes Book 4 to glorify the emperor. The  Carmen Saeculare  was a festival hymn composed to be performed at the  ludià ‚  saeculares  (secular games). Vergil, who likewise received remuneration, kept promising to write the epic. He died, however, before finishing  The Aeneid, which is considered an ambitious attempt to join the legendary history of Rome with the glorious and noble present embodied in Emperor  Augustus. [See Horace and Augustus, by Chester G. Starr.  The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 90, No. 1 (Jan. 1969), pp. 58-64.] Tibullus and  Ovid, two later writers in Augustus literary circle, were under the patronage of Messalla, rather than Maecenas. Independently wealthy, highly successful Ovid, who was considered the embodiment of Augustan poetry, mocked everything. He was irreverent towards the new morality, even going so far as to write what could be viewed as guidebooks to adultery.  Eventually, he went too far and was exiled by Augustus to Tomi where Ovid spent the rest of his life pleading for recall. [See  DIR Augustus.] A Hard Act To Follow Augustus, living under the shadow of his adoptive fathers assassination, was aware that the appearance of dictatorship could spell his doom. As he amassed power, Augustus took care to make it look constitutional, but all the while, power was accruing in the hands of one man rich, popular, smart, and long-lived.  He  was a hard act to follow and with the reduction of power in the Senate and people, the time was ripe for autocracy. The two passages quoted on the preceding page, the Asian Decree, which calls Augustus the bringer of overwhelming benefaction and Tacitus evaluation of him as a man who used bribes, judicial murder, and absorbed the functions of the senate, the officials, and even the law, could hardly be more different, yet they equally reflect near contemporary attitudes towards Augustus.