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All Actions Have Consequences As Shown In Lord Of The Flies And Macbeth
A lot of times people tend to act with such a rush that they forget to think about the consequences of their actions. Not thinking about the consequences doesn’t make them not happen. In the book Lord of the Flies by the author William Golding it shows the tragic events that follow a group of 6-12 year old boys stuck on an island because of the choices the boys make. Similarly in Macbeth, a play written by William Shakespeare shows the readers/viewers the consequences that follow Macbeth based on the plans he creates. Lord of the flies and Macbeth are similar in the way that both stories show the downfall of a society, in both texts the downfall of a society is a result of negative attributes such as greed and aggressiveness when they influence the wanting for power and recognition. In both texts feelings influence the character’s actions a lot.
To start off in both texts, Lord of the Flies and Macbeth characters in these stories start to do whatever they need to is for them to acquire power, regardless of the way they have to do it. The wanting for power is seen in Lord of the Flies when Jack decides to run away from the group of boys because he was not chosen to be the elected leader. First of, Jack’s thirst for leadership and power over the others boys leads to the separation of the initial group when Jack leaves after the group don’t agree with Jack becoming the leader of the group of boys: “’Hands up,’ said Jack strongly, ‘whoever wants Ralph not to be chief… the silence continued… ‘All right then… I’m not going to play any longer. Not with Ralph… I’m going off by myself… Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too’”. In an attempt to take away Ralph’s leadership Jack then decides to call for a vote however none of the boys correlate with Jack’s thirst to become leader. Still craving for power after not one of the boys goes with him, Jack leaves from the group to create and become a leader of his own group. Jack leaving the initial group makes the group of boys to begin to fall apart as many of the boys begin to follow Jack which causes the group to divide into two. Further pursuing his wanting for power, Jack attacks Ralph’s group of boys to acquire an object that will prove his leadership to his group: “The Chief led them, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. Jack was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses”. Jack’s actions have a similarity of Macbeth, in the play Macbeth, Macbeth shows the same greed as Jack does to do whatever is necessary to acquire power. Macbeth however kills his friends to gain and retain power. At the beginning of Macbeth, Macbeth murders King Duncan to gain power and authority: “I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself / And falls on the other”. Macbeth told by the Witches later on that Banquo’s children will be heir to the throne after him. After hearing this prophecy Macbeth decides to kill Banquo and his family. Macbeth is doing that just to keep his power even after his death.
In both texts, Lord of The Flies and Macbeth, we see characters that seemingly will do anything to obtain power not caring how they do it. Macbeth murders his kind hearted King, his best friend and his son. While Jack’s way of obtaining power is to ambush a group of boys who he considered his friends, In the end, both Jack and Macbeth demonstrate that they are more than willing to destroy anything they need to if it will give them power. Next, in Lord of the Flies, Jack shows the same traits of letting his emotions guide his actions as he wanted to fulfill his thirst to hunt: “’We had to have them in the hunt,’ he said, ‘or there wouldn’t have been enough for a ring’”. If Jack did not let the fire out, the boys would be rescued as a boat would have noticed the boys then, Jack let his emotions control him and lead him to be selfish and do what he wanted instead of keeping the fire going to help the other boys on the island. Jack’s emotions made the boys be stuck on the island for longer. In both Macbeth and Lord of the Flies, the two characters Jack and Macbeth’s actions are influenced by their feelings.
Similarly, both Jack and Macbeth blindly let their feelings get the better of them. In conclusion, the characters from both stories openly show how the emotions of a person reflect in their actions. Macbeth from Macbeth, and Jack from Lord of the Flies unknowingly allow their emotions to control their actions. Letting emotions guide ones sense of judgement is first seen in Macbeth when Macbeth’s actions are negatively influenced by his emotions. First, when Macbeth’s emotions are manipulated by Lady Macbeth, his feelings cause him to murder King Duncan: “’When you durst do it, then you were a man’”. Lady Macbeth controls Macbeth’s emotions with her words by questioning his manhood because Macbeth doesn’t want to murder King Duncan anymore. By challenging Macbeth’s manhood, his emotions are influenced as he now wants to prove his manliness and as a result, he murders King Duncan.
In conclusion, Jack and Macbeth are similar in the sense that they destroy everything and everyone in their path because of their undying want for power, and the way their feelings are affected and controlling of their actions. On multiple occasions both Macbeth and Jack have shown the lengths they are willing to go to gain power. Jack’s has ambushed his friends and Macbeth has killed his friends and even his own King. Jack and Macbeth also let their emotions take over their better judgment. From Macbeth being manipulated by Lady Macbeth to kill King Duncan and Jack not keeping the fire up to continue hunting.
Works Cited
- Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1954. Print.
- Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Toronto: ITP Nelson Canada, 1997. Print.
