Essay Comparing "1984" and "Lord of the Flies"

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Individualism is a key aspect in both novels, most prevalently in the protagonist of each story. The presence of it maintains a positive aura in the story, and its gradual diminishment drains the aura out eventually, leaving the feeling of a grim ending. This is done by the relevant authorities in both novels – Jack’s “tribe” from Lord of the Flies and “the Party” from 1984 – who have many similarities. They are both totalitarian (since in Lord of the Flies becoming a “savage” in the tribe changes relevant individual aspects), they both gain power from collectivism and they both use violence to enforce their systems. Consequently the very nature of both authorities demands collective conformity, and this is the driving force for the abolishment of individualism. However the extent to which this happens is different in both novels. In Lord of the Flies, towards the end of the novel individualism is nearly diminished, as almost all the boys in the island had joined Jack’s tribe as a group of “savages”. This meant that all of them had become the same to support the new regime. The sense of despair is felt as Ralph reflects on this – “Samneric were savages like the rest…” The fact that he thought “the rest” were all “savages” implies that he thought each individual were identical characteristically in their violent ways. The similarity is further shown by their appearance. “The savages” were “painted out of recognition.” The function of the paint is to conceal the identities from “recognition,” and make their appearances similar as a way to symbolize their collective power. In the transformation of becoming a “savage,” the boys’ individual characteristics also faded away. Ralph reflected upon this when looking at Bill – “But really, thought Ralph, this was not Bill. This was a savage…” Ralph’s thought that “[that] was not Bill” implies that Bill’s identity had
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