Lord of the Flies

Non vi, sed verbo (Not by force, but by the word) 10th Grade

Sylvia Plath, a confessional poet, once said, “I talk to God but the sky is empty,” (Plath 199). When one talks to God, they know He is there, but they do not see Him. They ask for help and expect it right away, which leads to conflict. Plath is well-known for her death due to carbon monoxide inhalation, caused by sticking her head in an oven as her children slept (Rollyson 7). She had committed suicide because of the effect of unseen impacts on her mental and emotional health, especially in her state of helplessness. Said forces and the like have a role in everything. While Animal Farm by George Orwell and Lord of the Flies by William Golding seem to be completely different on the surface, beneath they are both driven by unseen forces.

Scapegoats are an important part of both works, as they take all of the blame for occurrences that no party wants to accept responsibility for. In Animal Farm, Snowball is blamed for any and every misfortune that occurs after he is driven off the farm and declared an enemy. For example, he is blamed for the ruin of the windmill in chapter six — Napoleon says, “Comrades, do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL!...

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