Lord Of The Flies - Jack And Ralph Essays - English-language Films

Lord of the Flies - Jack and Ralph Lord of the Flies - Jack and Ralph "Compare and contrast the characters of Jack and Ralph and discuss the way that the rivalry between them develops in the course of the novel." By comparing and contrasting the characters of Jack and Ralph it allows the reader to fully understand their characters and how each develops throughout the novel. Once this has been achieved the reason the rivalry occurs becomes evident and the novel's most important qualities and themes emerge from these two characters. It is then that we are able to see why Ralph and Jack's friendship can never develop into anything but rivalry. Throughout the novel we see that Ralph and Jack share similar qualities, but there is a great difference in the way they use these attributes to benefit both themselves and others. Ralph uses his power to create a democracy, where each person has the right to voice their opinions and ideas. "I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking...and he won't be interrupted." The conch becomes a symbol of the right of a speaker to a fair hearing. While Jack uses his authority to produce a fascist, hostile environment where he controls the doings of his tribe. "Tomorrow we shall hunt" and "He said we weren't to let you in." Whilst both characters have the chance to exercise their power, both do so in a disparate way, with Ralph aiming to benefit the group as a whole, and Jack himself profiting from his actions. Ralph and Jack begin the novel with similar beliefs, both wanting to implement rules. "I agree with Ralph. We've got to have rules and obey them." Ralph concentrates on being rescued and Jack goes along with this taking on the responsibility that he and his choir will mind the fire. "We'll be responsible for keeping the fire going-", but while Ralph remains focused on being rescued, Jack's new-found interest in hunting leads him to forget about rescue. "Jack had to think for a moment before he could remember what rescue was. ?Rescue? Yes, of course! All the same, I'd like to catch a pig first-." As the story evolves, so to do Ralph and Jack's different opinions. The pressure on Ralph and Jack's different ideas peak when Jack forgets about his responsibilities in order to hunt. When Ralph tells Jack a ship had passed, and Jack had let the fire go out, because he had been hunting, all Jack can say is "You should have seen the blood!" Now Jack is faced with two choices. "There was the brilliant world of hunting, tactics, fierce exhilaration, skill; and there was the world of longing and baffled commonsense. Jack transferred the knife to his left hand and smudged blood over his forehead." We witness Jack step out of the world of civilisation and cross into a realm of savagery. From here Jack and Ralph's similarities deteriorate and a gap develops between them, causing many problems due to conflicting viewpoints. "They walked along, two continents of experience and feeling, unable to communicate." Both boys are tempted by the ?Beast', but while we see Jack succumb to his inner human desires and cross the line to brutality, Ralph resists temptation, although he finds it difficult. "Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in. Ralph watched envious, and resentful." Ralph knows that for the island to remain civilised he must not become what Jack has become. When Ralph first participates in a hunt he becomes excited. "Ralph was full of fright and apprehension and pride. ?I hit him! The spear stuck in-", but he realises that he would fail himself and the others if he gave into the ?Beast'. Jack and Ralph prove to be similar, both recognising their inner desires, but each handle the situation differently. The rivalry that develops between Jack and Ralph, begins early in the novel, although it is subtle, and readers may believe it is typical behaviour of boys. The first insight in to their rivalry is when Ralph announces they should vote for a chief. It is obvious that Jack wants to be chief, but Ralph is chosen. "The freckles on Jack's face disappeared under a blush of mortification." Jack now feels he must prove himself better than Ralph. The rivalry develops builds tension until Jack and Ralph are on opposing sides, with Ralph standing for civilisation and humanity, and Jack delving into the world of savagery and murder. The gap between them becomes so strained that Jack

Cultural Revolution Essay Example

Cultural Revolution Essay Example Cultural Revolution Essay Cultural Revolution Essay à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Began end of 1920sà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Signalled return to socialist ideals of Revolution and class warfareà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Non Marxists working in social areas such as education and the arts were denouncedà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ There would be a new Soviet Man and a transformed society that was truly socialistYouthà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Young Communists took a lead in thisà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Komsomol (1918) members aged 14 to 28.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 1927 2 million members. Had to apply to joinà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Attacked religion in the villages, booed and criticised painters and writers who did not follow party lineà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Enforced collectivisation, labour discipline, reporting on mood of the peopleReligionà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Link between kulaks and churchgoers, accused priests of holding back collectivisationà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Priests hounded out of villages, churches raided, bells melted down, imposed taxes on churchesà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ By end of 1930 80% of countrys village churches closedà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 1/40 functioning by end of 1930s à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ No new churches in new towns and citiesEducationà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Traditional teaching, homework, textbooks and testing came under attackà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Shulgin, headed educational research institute, said children could be educated to be useful. Delivering leaflets, gathering firewood etcà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Schools should be linked to factoriesà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Non party teachers driven out and replaced by red specialistsà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Party members were sent to college to study for technical and political degrees.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Some factory managers found they had ill disciplined and poorly educated workers who could only do one job as result of thisEducationà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 1931 Stalin was outraged by state of schools, Komsomol and Shulgin had done great deal of harm to system.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Stalin needed educated workersà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Central Committee ordered change of policyà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Physics, chemistry and maths had to be taught and taught well.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Exams, homework textbooks and rote learning re appearedà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Discipline brought back, by end of 1930s uniforms were brought backà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ History had been banned under Bolsheviks because it was seen as irrelevant, this was brought back by 1934 and new school history books brought in in 1937Artsà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Russian Association of Proletarian artists 1931.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Old masters and traditional paintings criticised. Should be proletarianà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Writing was controlled by RAPP ( Russian Association of Proletarian writersà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Soviet cinema was used to raise the cultural level of the masses, straightforward and realistic films about cows with TB and overcoming problems inn the collective farm.Women and Familyà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Abortion and divorce was easier under the Bolsheviks so family unit weakened by the time Stalin in powerà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ quicksand society created by rapid industrialisationà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Falling birth rate, juvenile crime, homeless childrenà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ The Great Retreat developed in 1930 sà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Family Code 1936 made abortion illegal except certain circumstances, harder to get divorced, child support payments and mothers with 6 children had bonus payments each year, increased up to 11 children.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Prostitution and homosexuality illegalà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Birth rate rose from 25 per 1000 1933 to 31 per 1000 1940à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Marriage/divorce rate did not alter muchà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Many families had been deserted by the fathersà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ April 1935 decree allowed violent crimes committed by the over 12s punishable as an adultà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ NKVD cleared homeless children from towns and citiesà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Parents could be fined for their childrens hooliganism