Power_Struggles_of_History

Josh Schultz Mr. Lard Sophomore English 5 October, 2011 Power struggles of History As the school year progresses, many students may realize that many subjects they are learning in there classes may relate to other classes. This is mostly seen between science classes and math classes. This relative thinking can also be seen between literature and history. In Lord of the Flies, the departure of Jack and his tribe split from Ralph’s group relates to Luther’s split from the Catholic Church. Ralph’s group is steady and strong in the beginning of the book, but as the power struggle between Ralph and Jack grows to extreme proportions when Jack decides to leave the group for his own selfish and personal power reasons. This relates slightly to Luther’s split for the church when he believed that “faith, and faith alone” brought salvation while the Catholic Church believed that “faith and good works” brought an individual to salvation. This relates to Lord of the flies because, although it is the opposite, it gets the same point through that power may not be able to only be ruled by one person. Ralph may not seem like a likely candidate for being the leader of a group of kids, besides the fact that he is a kid himself. The struggle that Jack and Ralph experience can be seen in the chapter “Gift for the Darkness”. Jack calls an assembly where Ralph rebuttals all of Jack’s points, “Ralph said [Jack’s] hunters are no good… ‘All this talk!’ shouted Ralph. ‘Talk, talk! Who wanted it' Who called the meeting'” (Golding 126). Jack and Ralph fight most of the book, but this is where it really is relative to the situation. This is also true when Luther is called to the Diet of Worms and was tried for his heretic writings including “[Luther] cannot renounce all of [his] works because they are not all the same. [The] first of those books in which [he has] described Christian faith and life so simply that even [his] opponents have admitted that these works are useful -- to renounce these writings would be unthinkable, for that would be to renounce accepted Christian truths… The second group of [his] work is directed against the foul doctrine and evil living of the Popes, past and present… Through the laws of the Pope and the doctrines of men, the consciences of the faithful have been miserably vexed and flayed. If [he were to] recant these books, [he] will do nothing but add strength to tyranny and open not just the windows but also the doors to this great ungodliness… In the third group, [he has] written against private persons and individuals who uphold Roman tyranny and have attack[ed] [his] own efforts to encourage piety to Christ. [Luther confesses] that [he has] written too harshly. [He is] but a man and [he] can err. Only let [his] errors be proven by Scripture, and [he] will revoke [his] work and throw [his] books into the fire… Since Your Majesty and your lordships desire a simple reply, [he] will answer. Unless [he is] convinced by Scripture and by plain Reason -- and not by Popes and Councils who have so often contradicted themselves – [his] conscience is captive to the Word of God. To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. [Luther] cannot and [Luther] will not recant. Here [he] stands. [He] can do no other. God help [him]” (Luther). Luther is an intellectual man and he argues against the king that his writings are not heretical because if the Pope has no real religious power, than he can not tell Luther what is heresy and what isn’t heresy. The Lutheran schism from the Catholic Church and Jack’s split from Ralphs group show that anger can cause the disestablishment of the group as a whole. Ralph’s group fears Jack and jack wouldn’t mind killing them, while Luther is afraid of the Catholic Church while the church is trying to kill him, reverse similarities, but they show the same effect. Luther’s break from the Catholic Church shows similarities to Jack’s break from Ralph’s group and forms his own. While the effects from Luther are for the good of God and Jack’s is for selfish reasons, it deserves some thought and speculations. Both show qualities of struggle for power, arguments, and enlightening moments of time that show the true brains of the groups. Luther and Jack may be exact opposites, but they both did what they thought was right. Works Cited Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2003. Print. Luther. Dir. Eric Till. Prod. Brigitte Rochow, Christian Stehr, and Alexander Thies. By Camille Thomasson and Bart Gavigan. Perf. Joseph Fiennes, Alfred Molina. Jonathan Fith, Claire Cox, and Peter Ustinove., 2003. DVD.