"Lord of the Flies" by William Golding: literary analysis on how power tends to corrupt (written for a honors class- explains how Ralph gains power and loses his innocence).

An English historian, Lord John Acton once said, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Throughout history this has been true in many cases. For example Adolf Hitler who abused his power and killed many Jews. In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, he shows us through Jack, other characters and symbolism how wanting power can cause the sinful downfall of even a few twelve year old boys. When left on the island …

…can't keep this from happening because all men are inherently evil. Throughout the book Golding gives us examples of savagery, murder and corruption that power can be a very bad thing when left to one person who doesn't know how to use it. Through Ralph we also see that it can be a good thing when everyone cooperates. Power is definitely something we need to survive but also can corrupt the most unlikely of people.