Anarchy vs Law
Anarchy versus Law “Order is never observed; it is disorder that attracts attention because it is awkward and intrusive- Eliphas Levi”. This quote portrays to the reader the ongoing struggle between anarchy and law. Through history societies have fallen into disorder as corrupt leaders lose interest in maintaining the stability that order brings. This problem does not change even in novels such as William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and Yi Munyol’s Our Twisted Hero where order loses hold quickly on the children. Although from different cultures and time periods these books show the attraction that chaos has over all humans. This attraction manifests itself in a myriad of ways throughout each book. In Lord of the Flies the boys try to imitate the adult world they had experienced but this too deteriorates as the boys become lazy. Likewise order dies in Our Twisted Hero with the deposing of Om Sokdae which leads to disorder as the children find themselves unable to make decisions. Even though in each story the characters focus on achieving or maintaining order, inevitably both sets of boys find themselves in disarray and anarchy ensued. In both these books there subsists a malignant allure to chaos which overpowers the logic of order. In the beginning of both Lord of the Flies and Our Twisted Hero the children maintain a semblance of order. Jack from Lord of the Flies states “We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all we’re not savages” (42). This statement reflects irony since later Jack separates the group and becomes the reason for much of the chaos found throughout the book. Golding uses this statement to show how the boys try to establish a type of society to help keep the order. The boys achieve this by electing Ralph as leader and starting projects that will make their temporary home more habitable. Jack and his group of hunters try to find wild pigs but have difficulties capturing the meat. Meanwhile Ralph and Simon work on the shelters by