Comparing Lord of the Flies to Hitler's Regime and the Holocaust
William Golding, the award winning author of Lord of the Flies, said in an interview that "Lord of the Flies was simply what it seemed sensible for me to write after the war, when everybody was thanking God they weren't Nazis. And I'd seen enough and thought enough to realize that every single one of us could be Nazis..." (Shaffer 54). Golding's novel strongly relates to the Nazi regime and the horrors of the Holocaust. Similarities can be seen between the leaders on the island and the Nazi leaders, as well as in the treatment of perceived lower class people in both situations. It also can be compared through the time and circumstances that both took place in. Similarities Between Jack and Hitler: Lord of the Flies has many similarities to the Nazi regime. One of these is how characters in the novel can be compared to Nazi leaders. For instance, in the novel Jack plays the role of Hitler. Like Hitler, Jack was a great orator, and used his charm to persuade the other boys to his point of view
(Adolf Hitler Biography). This can be seen near the very beginning of the novel when Jack declares during one of the meetings: "I'm not going to be part of Ralph's lot...I'm going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too" (Golding 140). They both waited for just the right moment when people were vulnerable and in need and looking for someone to step in and offer them some hope.
Hitler came to power at a time when Germany was at an all-time low. He won the public's support with his promises of restoring Germans' pride by helping them out of the recession and returning their country to its former glory (Adolf Hitler Biography). Jack did much the same thing, waiting until the boys were bored and restless under Ralph's command, and then coming forward and enticing them with talk of fun and games and hunting if they made him their chief (Golding 146). Both men had a charismatic talent that they used for evil to accomplish something beneficial to them. This only lasted for a short time though and in the end their leadership and their followers fell. The Dehumanization of Piggy and the Jews: Another similarity between Lord of the Flies and the Nazi system is the treatment of people who were perceived as being 'lesser' than the norm. During the Nazi's reign in Germany, Jews were very ill-treated. In his book Mein Kampf, Hitler referred to them as "filthy Jews" (Jews in Nazi Germany). In Lord of the Flies, Piggy was an outcast among the boys, much like the Jews were outcasts in German society. He was verbally abused on numerous occasions, mainly by Jack. For instance, he was called Piggy against his will, as well as fatty or bag of fat. By not calling him by his real name Jack and the other boys were dehumanizing Piggy, making him seem like less of a person and more of an object to be ridiculed. Hitler took the same approach with the Jews, dehumanizing them by categorizing them as "sub-humans" and spreading the lies that they were an inferior race (Jews in Nazi Germany). Hitler's process of dehumanizing the Jews ultimately culminated in the horrors of the Holocaust because by making the Jews seem less than human, he removed the reproach in killing them. This is paralleled in Lord of the Flies when the dehumanization of Piggy ultimately results in his death at the hands of Roger (Golding 200). Lord of the Flies and the Holocaust: Lord of the Flies can be compared to the Holocaust through the time and circumstances they occurred in. Both took place during the devastation of World War II (Shaffer 54). In addition to this, both were set in remote areas. The Holocaust took place in Germany where unthinkable things went on for many years in secret. Most of the world was oblivious to the horror unfolding in Germany until after the war was over and they went in and saw all of the terror and devastation that resulted from Hitler and his Nazis. In Lord of the Flies the boys were stranded on a remote island. There was no proper leadership, no one in authority to step in and tell them that what they were doing was wrong. As a result of their lack of leadership, and because there were no adults to censor their behaviour, the boys went from being well mannered and behaved school boys, to bloodthirsty savages.
Near the beginning of the novel when Jack tried to kill a pig, he found that he couldn't bring himself to do it "because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood" (Golding 29). This shows that Jack was still civilized; he had not yet begun to lose his humanity. Near the end of the novel when the boys were all hunting for Ralph, he approached Samneric who told him that "Roger sharpened a stick at both ends" (Golding 211). This is significant because earlier when the boys were hunting, Jack made them sharpen a stick at both ends. Then, after they had killed a pig, they stuck the stick in the ground and mounted the pig's head on the other end of it. This shows that the boys had fully transformed into savages because they were willing to slaughter Ralph as if he were just a pig. As with the Holocaust, the events in Lord of the Flies took place in secret, with the outside human world having no idea of the horrors that were going on. In conclusion, the novel Lord of the Flies has many similarities to the Nazi regime. This can be seen in parallels between characters in the novel such as Jack, and members of the Nazi party such as Hitler. There is also a common theme in both of dehumanization, leading to violence and ultimately death. The novel was set during World War II, at the same time that the devastation of the Holocaust unfolded and, like the Holocaust, the events in the novel took place in an isolated area which prevented any interference from the outside world. William Golding was deeply affected by the war and the horrors unleashed on the world by the Nazis. This can be seen in the way that Lord of the Flies seems to mirror certain events or circumstances similar to those of the Nazi regime, in an effort by the author to understand human nature and how it is possible to sink to such depravity. Sources "Adolf Hitler Biography." Second World War. Web. 1 Mar. 2011. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1954. "Jews in Nazi Germany." History Learning Site. Web. 1 Mar. 2011. Shaffer, Brian W. "Reading the Novel in English, 1950-2000." Google Books. Web. 1 Mar. 2011.