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[Written in 2026 for an honors 10th grade LA class assignment for a Critical Literary
Analysis Essay for Lord of the Flies with articles listed in the Works Cited. I have
omitted my name. It’s not a perfect essay, but I got a 77/80 with some comments about
phrasing, and a small comment to strengthen second paragraph with another quote]
Strength over Sensibility
Societal norms, especially towards men and women, have always controlled
peoples’ perceptions unknowingly in the background. William Golding wrote Lord of the
Flies after WW2 to illustrate his views towards these issues in Western society by
manipulating classic tropes to show a society of boys. As the order of the boys
descends into chaos, Golding hints at the effects of stereotypes and beliefs, like those
of gender. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding exposes the dangers of extreme gender
beliefs in society by showing how prioritizing masculine traits of confidence and strength
over feminine values of emotional sensibility in terms of authority leads to violence and
the destruction of morals.
The boys’ societal views show how people reject the power of traditional feminine
values due to their association with weakness and uselessness. For example, the
character Piggy has been outcasted from the boys from the very first day; when Piggy
tries to propose ideas to Ralph, it is even said that “there had grown up tacitly among
the biguns the opinion that Piggy was an outsider... by fat, and ass-mar, and specs, and
a certain disinclination for manual labor” (Golding 65). A major Western gender belief is
that men should be strong and fit to provide and care for their people. However, Piggy is
going against these norms by not only being overweight and unwilling to work, but also
by having asthma and glasses, associated with the traditional feminine trait of
vulnerability. This causes the boys to hold him in a lower regard and strip him of a
proper place in their society, even giving him a degrading name as if he will never be
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taken seriously. This inclination against feminine values is also seen when Jack
reprimands the littluns about their fears, saying, “Anyway, you don’t hunt or build or
help–you're a lot of crybabies and sissies” (82). By using the words “sissies,” a
derogatory word relating to women, to express the littluns’ lack of assistance and mental
state, Jack reinforces the Western stereotype that women are emotional, hence
“crybabies,” and are unhelpful to society, as well as implying through his throwaway
words that these traits make the littluns insignificant. Due to the comparison of
femininity to weakness, those exhibiting feminine traits are unable to obtain influence
over others.
On the other hand, masculinity's association with power leads to those exhibiting
these traits to have full authority. For example, when a little boy speaks about a beast,
Ralph lifts the conch, and “his good humor [comes] back” as he says, “We want to be
rescued; and of course, we shall be rescued,” causing the assembly to be “lifted toward
safety by his words. They liked and respected him... the platform was loud with
applause” (37). With charismatic grins and confident words, Ralph gains full support by
“lifting” them all up in spirit through promise of safety, all by using masculine traits of
confidence and strength, invalidating anyone else going against him. Furthermore,
when Jack, now a leader of his own tribe, finishes his feast of the pigs he hunted down,
it is described that “power lay in the brown swell of his forearms: authority sat on his
shoulder and chattered in his ear like an ape” (150). This description of him places him
above the others as words of influence surround him. Power from the showing of Jack’s
arm can be tied to the Western belief that physical strength, associated with men, is
proportional to their ability to control. This relates to how Jack’s power rests in his ability
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to conquer the beast and provide meat. Masculinity is also considered more “primal”
compared to that of traditional women, and Golding uses the simile of authority and the
ape to demonstrate that this is also rewarded with power over others. Because of the
association of men of confidence and strength with authority, those who suit those traits
are granted unequal social influence.
Nearing the end of the novel, the imbalance of gender values in authority leads to
immoral ruling and violence, seen through the ruthlessness of Jack's tribe. After Jack
steals Piggy’s glasses in an intense skirmish, he leads the boys while “exulting in his
achievement. He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his
spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses” (168). Piggy is known to be
the smart and reasonable one, consistently reminding them of their goal to reenter
society; evidently, the glasses symbolize Piggy’s rationality. Jack is effectively
applauding his ability to remove reasoning from others, as he believes it shows power, a
sign that he is a proper chief. Moreover, the glasses are used by Jack to cook meat, but
Ralph and Piggy need it to attract the attention of passing ships. Jack knows this and
still chooses the rewards of hunting, the job of traditional men, over the hope of rescue,
often associated with women (such as the archetype damsel in distress.) Even so, Jack
and his followers pay no attention to the emotional effect of their actions on others; Jack
even plays joyfully with his weapon of destruction. Finally, when Piggy desperately calls
to the boys’ senses at Jack’s base, Roger, Jack’s henchman, kills Piggy by knocking
him off the ledge with a boulder, in which “the conch exploded into a thousand white
fragments... Piggy’s arms twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it has been killed” (181). Even
with this vivid, gruesome description eliciting disgust and sorrow, Jack begins
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“screaming wildly,” saying, “I’m Chief!” and “[hurling] his spear at Ralph” (181). The
killing of Piggy is when Jack’s tribe fully rejects the feminine values of empathy and
vulnerability, fixating on the power struggle rather than the loss of humanity. Piggy’s
simile comparison to an actual pig shows how beliefs and ideas translate into real life,
like with the expulsion of feminine values. The conch has always symbolized
democracy, used in assemblies so anyone can have a voice. The shattering of the
conch therefore speaks to how Jack’s authority casts out specific voices and values in
favor of his masculine brutality. Under extreme traditional masculine power, the tribe
devolves into one with immoral values. Through this depiction, Golding shows the
disastrous effect of removing Western feminine values from society.
Ultimately, the death of Piggy marks the final point in the boys’ destruction of
society by removing their humanity for strength and power. The negative beliefs of
femininity are largely due to the Western biases towards masculinity, seen in politics,
the economy, and daily life. People should be aware of gender stereotypes and their
effects on power distribution to bridge the gap between gender inequalities.