Oedipus Beginning

         Oedipus Tragic Hero Elements

             Oedipus' hero status is shown through others' diction and the manner in which they speak to him. Oedipus asks the current situation in Thebes and a priest replies to him in a way that indicates hero status. The priest says, "Oh Oedipus, king of the land, our greatest power!" (Sophocles, 264). The fact that the pries recognizes Oedipus as not only "king of the land", but also "our greatest power" shows that Oedipus is in a position of great power and respect (hero status). Later the priest also talks to Oedipus in a way that makes Oedipus god-like. The priest says, " Now we pray to you. You cannot equal the gods, your children know that, bending at your altar. But we do rate you first of men" (Sophocles, 264). Praying to Oedipus shows just how much people value him, and his contributions as a society. Also the priest says, they rate him "first of men", which also displays Oedipus' hero status. The hero status of Oedipus is depicted by others' words spoken about him.
             The hamartia in the story of Oedipus is when he calls upon Tiresias to get told the truth. The hamarita is the event that marks the start of the downfall for the protagonist. For Oedipus this is when he calls on Tiresias to hear who the murderer of Laius is. After much questioning Tiresias reveals, " You are the curse, the corruption of the land" (Sophocles, 278). Oedipus wants to find the murderer of Laius, however he has no idea it is him, and by questioning who did the murder reveals that he himself did it. Tiresias also later reveals that Oedipus will have a massive downfall. He says, " No man will ever be rooted from the earth as brutally as you" (Sophocles, 280). While Tiresias may have been exaggerating some at this point, he is still a prophet and so what he says shows that Oedipus will have a massive fall from the top of his hero status all the way to nothing. The start of Oedipus' downfall will be his calling upon Tiresias and his nagging of Tiresias for the truth.

LotF Group Poster Analysis

        Ralph, as an allegorical element, plays the role of the leader and one of the rational minds. When there is an election for chief Golding writes, "Ralph counted, "I'm chief then" (Golding 34). Ralph's status was that of chief after that moment, and he played the leader for a long time as well. The next excerpt is when Ralph is in a state of sadness after a series of societal failure and shows some of his analytical ability."He found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one's walking life was spent watching ones feet" (Golding 76). Ralph's thoughts show that he has lost a large portion of his innocence because not only is he sad when the other boys are somewhat happy but he is sad because he has to play the parent to the group of kids, and take all the responsibility. Ralph is a leader of the group and has a large logical capability.

       Loss of innocence is a recurring theme in Golding's Lord of the Flies. When talking about Piggy snapping on everyone after they fail to keep the fire going Golding writes,"The knowledge and the awe made him savage" (Golding 44). Golding's words show how Piggy lost his innocence, Piggy became savage when he became aware of his circumstance (" knowledge") ,and when the gravity of his circumstance hit ("awe"). James Baldwin spoke about the loss of innocence, "People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insist on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster" (James Baldwin). Baldwin says that the loss of innocence is to protect yourself "People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction", and that staying innocent after your innocence is gone makes you monstrous. Loss of innocence is something that happens when a change is needed to protect one's self, and it happens frequently in the book to differing degrees to almost every character.

      In Lord of the Flies, the society of the boys depends on the ethics of the individual just like every society. In the first assembly of the boys Ralph is trying to speak and Golding writes, "Ralph waved the conch, "Shut up. Wait. Listen"" (Golding 37). Ralph needed to speak, and so all members of the society needed to be quiet to hear the message; a good example of society depending on the ethics of every individual. Later, when the shelters need to be built the "hunters" don't help at all and Ralph remarks, "You wouldn't care to help with the shelters, I suppose" (Golding 50). Ralph illustrates indirectly that everyone needs to help building shelters for the sake of the society and for everyone's well being. The society of the boys in Lord of the Flies depends on the ethics of the individuals to get big tasks done and to function.

Much like a society a chain relies on indiviual units to be strong

Lord of the Flies Leadership and Corruption

                 In William Golding's Lord of the Flies there is an orginization of the leadership of the boys' society, shown by Ralph and Piggy. In the real world there is also and organization of high up leaderships.One article writes, " His role included crafting policy and communicating the President's message in coordination with President Obama, the Obama Administration speechwriters, and the White House communications team." The excerpt is talking about the President of the United States of America's long-time senior advisor David Axelford and his role as advisor to the president. This role is similar to Piggy's job in relation to Ralph. Golding writes, "We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They'll come when they hear us-... You try, Ralph. You'll call the others" (Golding 15). Piggy's actions show that he acts as an advisor to Ralph because he gives him advice on what to do, much like real-life political advisors.

            






 Golding also depicts corruption and abuse of power using the character and allegorical element Jack. Numerous politicians misuse power in all kinds of situations, like for example, Texas Governor, Rick Perry. One article describes," A grand jury indicted Mr. Perry on Friday on two felony counts for allegedly improperly threatening to veto $7.5 million in funding for the Travis County Public Integrity Unit, which handles political-corruption investigations in Texas, if Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg didn't resign following an arrest for drunken driving." This quote shows obvious misuse of power to further a personal agenda, which can also be found in Lord of the Flies. Mirroring numerous politicians Jack, serving as an allegorical element, also misuses power to further a personal agenda. Jack says, "But I shall! Next time! I've got to get a barb on this spear! "We wounded a pig and the spear fell out. If we could only make barbs- " We need shelters" (Golding 50). Jack wants to kill a pig to have satisfaction and to appear powerful despite the need for shelter that the whole has. This is actually harrowingly close to how childish many real-life, large-scale cases of corruption are. Jack is very similar to a real-life corrupt politician in his chilidish misuse of power.



Bibliography

Works Cited

"Former Obama Strategist David Axelrod to Write Memoir." Chicago Tribune. N.p., 10 Apr. 2013. Web. 09 Feb. 2015.

"Texas Gov. Rick Perry Booked On Abuse-of-Power Charges." The Wall Street Journal. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2015.

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