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Machiavellian vs. Machiavelli in Lord of the Flies
Despite terror and failure, Ralph comes of age as ruler in William Golding’s Lord of the
Flies. His conflict with the Hunting tribe catalyzes this. The sadistic and twisted leaders of this
other tribe employ Machiavellian methods, but lack the virtues that Niccolo Machiavelli extols in
The Prince, which leads to their downfall. Ralph becomes a leader through his extremity but
could have avoided the deaths and violence. Despite the horrific incidences on the island, Ralph
proves himself lord of the principality. Analyzing the characters, setting, and description of Lord
of the Flies through Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince reveals how Ralph loses power but later
comes of age through his encounter with Machiavellians and claims the right to rule over the
children.
Daniel Donno describes Niccolo Machiavelli’s work as such:
If we assume that Machiavelli chose to play the devil’s advocate merely to get a job, we
will miss the warmth of feeling that informs his pages, for underneath the crisp and
chilling logic the thought often glows with indignation, with hope that is wrung from
despair and defies logic. Far from being a brilliant exercise in opportunism, The Prince is
a desperate effort to find a remedy for the wretched conditions into which his country had
fallen. “I love my country more than my soul,” Machiavelli wrote, and The Prince
reflects this. (Machiavelli 6)
Despite Donno’s appraisal of The Prince, Machiavellianism holds no positive connotation. In
popular usage today, Machiavellianism generally refers to people who are unethical and corrupt.
It equates to morally evil. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a Machiavellian as “a person
who practices [sic] expediency in preference to morality; an intriguer or schemer.” In their article
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on the subject, Wilson, Near, and Miller describe The Prince as a book “based entirely on
expediency and is devoid of the traditional virtues of trust, honor, and decency” (285). I posit
that true Machiavellian behavior isn’t morally evil; rather, it’s a necessary harshness. So while
the hunting tribe practices harsh politics, they entirely leave out the virtue; this leaves them
ruling an unsustainable system. According to Niccolo Machiavelli, a leader should set aside
ethics personally in order to gain popular consent and maintain rule. Ralph originally has
consent, but never practices expediency until the end (Golding 191-200). The Prince tells how a
ruler needs to be ruthless and aggressive, when necessary, to maintain order. At the same time
the ruler needs to be benevolent towards the populace. “The new ruler must inevitably distress
those over whom he establishes his rule” (Machiavelli 18). Later Machiavelli speaks of the
downfall of Pope Alexander, “he was making himself weak by casting off his friends and those
who had leaped to his protection” (23). This would imply that “trust, honor and, decency”
(Wilson, Near, and Miller 285) are of value.
The Prince receives critical review even today; it was a sensation at the time of its release
but still commentators vilify its intent (Machiavelli 6). Despite the heavy-handed emphasis
placed on political expediency in The Prince Machiavelli says: “It cannot be called virtue to slay
one’s fellow citizens, to betray one’s friends, to act without faith, without pity, without religion.
By such methods one may win dominion but not glory” (40). Just like “trust, honor, and
decency” (Wilson, Near, and Miller 285) can get someone into trouble if these traits are abused,
Machiavelli urges care and caution in using the darker methods that he counsels. “It will be well
for [the ruler] to seem and, actually, to be merciful, faithful, humane, frank, and religious. But he
should preserve a disposition which will make a reversal of conduct possible in case the need
arises” (Machiavelli 69).
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On the island, Ralph does not have the “disposition” (69) that Machiavelli describes.
Ralph’s tribe does not attack the Hunting tribe, even when they assault his group in the middle of
the night (Golding 167). Violent action is beyond him. The Prince says a ruler should study
warfare to maintain power (59). “When princes have given more thought to fine living than to
arms, they have lost their states” (59). Ralph gives the power to Jack. When he tells Jack his
choir could be hunters Jack has already described them as an army, but only concedes to Ralph’s
protestations for the mean time (23). Ralph had no idea they would really become an army. The
Prince tells how someone armed cannot be expected to “obey one who is not” (59). Armed with
spears, a coup d’etat by the Hunting tribe becomes inevitable. Machiavelli also says that a new
leader must act against “[mercy, faith, humanity, frankness, religion] in order to preserve the
state… compelled by necessity, he must be ready to take the way of evil” (Machiavelli 69). In
Lord of the Flies Ralph is initially unable to take violent action or the way of evil. Ralph and his
tribe try to get Piggy’s glasses back after the night raid. Ralph ends up fighting Jack but stops
short of decisive action (Golding 177). Roger kills Piggy and the twins are taken by the Hunting
tribe (181-182). The twins are converted by the brutality and fear-mongering of Roger (188). He
also tortures them into telling him where Ralph hides after he comes to discover what happened
to the twins (190-192). Roger takes the way of ‘evil’ every chance he gets. Niccolo Machiavelli
argues that a ruler needs to be ruthless when necessitated. It is better that he is feared and loved
but it is preferable to be feared because: “Men are less concerned about offending someone they
have cause to love than someone they have cause to fear” (Machiavelli 66). Ralph’s leadership
on the island falls apart because, even though he is voted in almost unanimously, there is nothing
to be feared from him. The Machiavellian leaders, Jack and Roger, on the other hand, use fear
almost exclusively.
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The campaign of fear begins on the island when the mulberry faced boy dreams of a
snake-like ‘beastie’ and shares his fears using the conch (35). These fears become contagious
despite Ralph and Piggy try to convince everyone the beast does not exist. Jack pretends to agree
with Ralph but says “there isn’t a snake-thing. But if there was…we’d hunt it and kill it. We’re
going to hunt pigs… and we’ll look for the snake too…” (36). Jack perpetuates the fears. Later, a
‘littlun’ named Percival reports a beast he thinks he sees (86-88). Machiavelli says that a prince
should not “fear imaginary dangers” (65). Jack and Roger use the fear of the beast to win
support. They carry weapons and travel the island regularly as hunters. The other children gain
confidence in them. Their apparent authority and invulnerability aids in gathering the other boys.
They use the symbol of the beast to inspire need in the boys; the need for security and safety.
The gruesome Lord of the Flies shows a visible symbol of the beast. The boys end up killing
Simon out of their irrational fears. Roger intends to kill Ralph also and post his head on a “stick
sharpened at both ends” (190) just like the Lord of the Flies. This shows the tool of fear and
violence being used more and more overtime. Roger’s desire is to utterly destroy all opposition
to the power of the Hunting tribe. This falls in line with how Machiavelli urges ending any
contest for authority through “extinguish[ing] the ruling family” (19). In the case of the island,
Ralph should have totally removed authority from Jack. Ralph made the mistake to allow Jack to
remain in charge of his army of hunters. A revolution occurs due to Jack and power changes
hands. Roger also joins his side. Jack is violent and aggressive but Roger is cruel. Roger’s ability
to murder and commit cruelty brings him to be viewed as “one wielding a nameless authority”
(182). Cruelty is an authority not even Jack holds.
Machiavelli states that an employment of cruelty may be necessary but remains effective
as long as it is used less and less (Machiavelli 42). Roger and Jack are willing to kill and torture
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to maintain their power (Golding 181-182). Machiavelli insists that if the prince persists in using
cruelty as a weapon he will only increase his dependency on cruelty and this will weaken his
power “and they cannot possibly remain in power” (42). Machiavelli adds that kindness is an
aspect a Prince ought to seek for. Conditionally, kindness can be overused. “Having set an
example once or twice, he may thereafter act far more mercifully than the princes who, through
excessive kindness, allow disorders to arise from which murder and rapine ensue” (65). Jack and
Roger maintain power until burning down the island, when the rescue ship arrives upon seeing
the smoke. The direct product of their violence nearly destroys the whole island. On the flipside,
Ralph’s over-kindness is his downfall, no one fears him and so they disobey him; “murder and
rapine ensue” (Machiavelli 65). Machiavelli says “a man who strives after goodness in all his
acts is sure to come to ruin, since there are so many men who are not good” (62). Conditions
were less than ideal and the ‘good’ men were unwilling to take necessary action. This helps
explain why Ralph and Piggy lose power in their idealized governance of the island.
The setting helps show the ‘glamour’ (Golding 25) that seemed to imbue everything,
including the government of Ralph. This ‘glamour’ changes as the island changes, at first
everyone was “made happy by it” (25). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Glamour
means “a magical or fictitious beauty attaching to any person or object; a delusive or alluring
charm.” Idyllic, describes the conditions of Ralph’s coming into power. It is a “honeymoon
period” of politics (Manheim 58). “A period… at the beginning of each new administration…
characterized by a minimum of [hostility]” (Manheim 58). “As the immediate need for
participation recedes and the euphoria of democratization wears off” (Inglehart and Catterberg
303-304) this “honeymoon period” (Manheim 58) ends and replaced by a more cynical attitude
towards the elected leader: Ralph. In the beginning of the novel the island is described in living
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and vibrant words that reflect light and color. Ralph and Piggy sit by the water’s edge and the
“lagoon attack[s] them with blinding effulgence” (Golding 14). As the breeze blows through the
palms and over them “spots of blurred sunlight slid over their bodies or moved like bright,
winged things in the shade” (Golding 15); this shows personification of the light. This idyllic
setting topples into the reality of the island situation. On the other side of the mountain there is a
‘castle rock’ that Jack claims as his camp. The shift in setting reflects the political changes that
occur. The far side of the island becomes the scene of terrible instances. Once the boys pass into
this area of the island they have removed themselves from the ‘glamour’. Looking upon the far
side they see “the densest tangle on the island, a mass of twisted stems, black and green and
impenetrable…” (Golding 174). Everything appears alive and glamorous before this change: “A
kind of glamour was spread over them and the scene and they were conscious of the glamour”
(25). The beauty of the island swallows up the children and they just want to play. Jack
facilitates this ‘play’. At first they are content eating fruit. Diarrhea sets in and meat becomes
more alluring than rescue or even shelter (59). Almost everyone seems eager to put in their vote
in the beginning of this idyllic period. To Ralph the “toy of voting was almost as pleasing as the
conch” (22). Ralph’s victory is stated as curious because Piggy is “[intelligent]” and Jack is “the
most obvious leader” (Golding 22). The democratic voting expresses the initial hopefulness of
the boys. The stakes appear low. The continuous meetings frustrate Piggy, “I bet if we blew the
conch this minute, they’d come running. Then we’d be… very solemn, and someone would say
we ought to build a jet, or a submarine, or a TV set. When the meeting was over they’d work for
five minutes, then wander off or go hunting” (Golding 51)
Piggy’s statement also describes the alienation that occurs as the children shift from the
“shared, collective, cultural dream” of the technological and democratic society that they have
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been living in (Romanyshyn 200), to the brutal world of a wholly natural island. They desire to
play, but the play never ends and they cannot make “a jet… submarine… or a TV set” (Golding
51). Societal alienation leads to “deviant behavior” in adolescents (Safipour 522). The
combination of social alienation and disrupted society characterizes the descent into wildness of
the children on the island. This lack of order, or anarchy, helps make it possible for Jack and
Roger to claim power and control the majority of the older children. This has nothing to do with
island itself since “social order… is… not given in man’s natural environment” (Berger and
Luckmann). Jack promotes fear based around the darkness of the island and the beast. This leads
to alienation. Roger’s “nameless authority” (Golding 182) intensifies the fears.
Night follows and quickly drives away the glamour period of the island. The beast is part
of the night and aids in this. While the island setting changes from the idyllic, so does the gravity
of play. Ralph and Piggy grow frustrated by the lack of focus the children have (Golding 50-51).
This propels the regime change. Ralph is, at first, benevolent and easy as a leader but this causes
issues because of his unwillingness to take the aggressive actions that are necessary in order to
maintain control. Piggy and Ralph conceptualize the signal fire, the shelters and the labor groups.
The other children never climb the mountain to gain any perspective on their situation. The labor
of a signal fire begins enthusiastically, but quickly becomes tiresome, especially after the forest
fire (44). Piggy’s proximity to Ralph, in the case of the signal fire, becomes problematic. He is
unable to help much and the children resent him because of his “ass-mar” (13). Piggy is Ralph’s
strength as an intelligent advisor, but Ralph undermines his own position by devaluing Piggy.
Piggy originally asks Ralph to not call him ‘Piggy’ but he does so anyways, this makes Piggy a
mockery (25). Unlike Jack and Piggy, Ralph doesn’t take the island seriously in the beginning
and alienates his own power through his carefree and mocking attitude.
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The labor force of the children seen through a Marxist Labor theory also helps describe
the change of power on the island due to alienation. Machiavelli’s The Prince talks about
maintaining power while Marxist theory explains shifting powers. Because the demands made by
Ralph to build a shelter, and keep a signal fire going does not yield immediate results and
because of the great labor demands; this sparks a revolution. When the worker feels separated
from their labor, and when there are no visible positive outcomes for the worker, they feel
alienated from their efforts (Brooks 16). It’s as if the worker labors for someone else’s good
rather than their own. This becomes “the foundation for the proletariat to change the social
reality” (Jiang 100). Jack uses the desire for meat and play to alienate the children from Ralph.
Ralph comes out looking like a capitalist when he has nothing practical to offer the children
besides promises of rescue. This propels a revolution by the proletariat. This revolution is faulty
because the power system that has Ralph, Piggy, and Jack at the top of it never completely
disappears. They exchange one leader figure for the other based on immediate rewards of meat.
The alienation of the labor paves the way for the destruction of the more ordered system. Once it
collapses into psychologically Machiavellian gratification, children begin to die. Ralph should be
the one promising meat and should dictate the hunting and the reward system. According to
Machiavelli, Piggy and Jack should also be disallowed from offering advice publicly. “…A
prudent prince… choosing the wise men of his state and granting only to them the freedom to tell
him the truth, but only concerning those matters about which he asks, and no others… he should
question them about all matters, listen to their opinions, and then decide for himself as he
wishes” (88). The conch allows anyone to speak publicly. It is subversive. According to The
Prince, this makes the conch a prime catalyst for the downfall since the others could speak
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outside of Ralph’s terms. Jack totally disregards the conch when Ralph and Piggy bring it to their
camp and it gets destroyed (181).
Ralph and Jack climb the mountain in the beginning. They gain a vantage point almost
like prophets. They see what needs to be done. When the boys encounter the mountain, it appears
frosted to Ralph “like icing… on a pink cake” (Golding 25). Even though it is just rock covered
in bird droppings, this represents the idyllic reign that begins the island experience. At first even
the mountains seem fantastic but the rocks at the end of the island represent a stark reality. It was
not “magicked out of shape or sense” (25). From the mountain Ralph and Jack see the requisites
of leadership. The idealized governance of the island quickly comes into dispute. On the return
trip they find a piglet and Jack fails to kill it (31). He forgets the view and becomes obsessed
with hunting. The pigs represent instant gratification while the mountain top represents a longer
view into the future: safety and rescue. The jungle side of the island represents hopeful, but
benign, ideal. The mountain represents reality. From the top the children can view the horizon
and look for ships (28). If they kept a fire going they may have been rescued earlier on but they
missed the ship (66-67). Also, if they had ever searched the mountain in the day time, after the
beast arrived, they would have realized it was a corpse tied to a parachute (96). The boy named
Simon does try to warn everyone about the Beast as they brutally murder him in a frenzied dance
(152-153). The castle rock represents the short sighted approach to governance that results in
unmaintainable oppression and destruction. Jack claims this as his fortress and in celebration
kills a mother pig nursing piglets (135), wisdom dictates slaughtering a grown male pig not quite
as necessary for future food cultivation. Ralph and Piggy were more thoughtful and concerned
with longevity. Immediate returns are Jack’s only concern with his violent leadership.
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Jack’s faulty aggression contrasts with Ralph who is not armed with any savage ability to
act as necessary. The Hunting tribe leaders merely employed the Machiavellian tendencies which
are considered morally evil. Their power could not be maintained. Ralph’s lack of
aggressiveness leaves him defenseless to the more vicious characters of Jack and Roger. They
are Machiavellian but only in their sadism and brutality, this does not give them right to rule. At
the end of Lord of the Flies the captain of the rescue boat asks who is in charge (201). Ralph
immediately takes charge. Jack is described as “a little boy who [starts] forward, then [changes]
his mind and [stands] still” (201). When Ralph is being hunted down by Jack and Roger he fights
and stabs and does everything necessary to survive (188-200). His power has been usurped by
the other boys but once the captain of the rescue ship arrives he completes his actualization as
leader. While he may have lost the older children to the rule of Jack and Roger, technically he
remains Lord of the ‘littleuns’. Ralph is the only leader willing to take responsibility for the
island and the dead children. He emerges as ‘El Principe’ of the island domain.
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