The weak and the strong

”The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

     In every part of life, there are the weak and there are the strong. In the book Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the theme the weak and the strong is found constantly in each chapter. Right from the very first chapter, it is clear that the weak and the strong would have a major impact on the story, and it certainly has so far. In chapter one when all the boys gather on the beach for the first time, Ralph and Jack take control of the situation. The group decides to take a vote and decide a leader, everyone votes for Ralph except the boys in the choir who voted for Jack.

This toy of voting was almost as pleasing as the conch. Jack started to protest but the clamor changed from the general wish for a chief to an election by acclaim of Ralph himself. None of the boys could have found good reason for this; what intelligence had been shown was traceable to Piggy, while the most obvious leader was Jack. But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out; there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch.[Chapter I, page 22]

This quote is one of the very first examples of the weak and the strong. It is used when the author starts talking about the appearance of Piggy, Ralph and Jack. He talked about how based on his size, handsomeness and the fact that he was the one who blew the conch that Ralph could be a great leader. I think the author made a really good choice by constantly pushing this theme in the book because it relates to almost everyone. Gene Wolfe said, “Weak people believe what is forced on them. Strong people what they wish to believe, forcing that to be real.” The theme of the weak and the strong can be found in most books, but it can also be constantly found in each of our lives.