In the Lord of the Flies and in the Stanford Prison Experiment, it shows how the thirst for power corrupts people. According to the psychologist, Scott Barry Kaufman, power isn’t inherently good or evil, rather it’s the person who makes it evil. In the Lord of the Flies, William Golding is arguing the same thing by putting Jack in charge. When power is put on certain people it can cause damage but when it’s put on the right person the world can flourish.
The Stanford prison experiment consists of volunteers, half being prisoners and half being prison guards that are told to act as their character. This experiment is a lesson about when everyday people receive too much power, they can become “sadistic tyrants” (Konnikova). While this experiment is partly based on how people act based on preexisting expectations, it also tells us that power corrupts, but it doesn’t corrupt everyone equally. It is extremely unlikely that the small group of prison boys showed full signs of all human emotions. For one, these were young males. Already, there is going to be higher levels of testosterone than others. After hunting, “His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink” (Golding). This is an example of Golding detailing how obsessed Jack is with hunting and how oddly aggressive he and his tribe can be. In 2007 research found that the boys who volunteered to be a part of the experiment, scored higher on tests of “aggressiveness, authoritarianism, machiavellianism, narcissism, and social dominance, and lower on measures of empathy and altruism” (Kaufman). But even among the small group of young male participants in the Stanford Prison Experiment, there was a great amount of variation in how people responded to power. Some prison guards were cruel and would physically beat the prisoners while others couldn’t stand the cruelty and offered to run errands, while still others were still kind to the prisoners.
Power isn’t inherently good or evil. Simon says, “Maybe there is a beast… Maybe it’s only us” (Golding). Simon has a theory that there isn’t a beast on the island, it’s themselves. They are right, they are the ones causing fear which is leading to evil savagery. Piggy says, “How can you expect to be saved when you don’t put first things first and be proper”(Golding). Piggy and Ralph are examples of leaders and using their power for good. “Power increases confidence, optimism, risk-taking, sensitivity to internal thoughts and feelings, goal-directed behavior and cognition, and creativity” (Galinsky). Put to good use, power can have an incredibly positive effect on people, for example, Martin Luther King Jr. But when it’s put to bad use, horrible things can happen, for example, Hitler. Jack is another example of power being put into the wrong hands, “Kill the pig! Cut her throat! Bash her in!” (Golding) Jack explains as he vigorously tries to kill the pig. Kaufman says, “When narcissists have their ego threatened, they are much more likely to become aggressive, even against innocent bystanders” (Kaufman). No one is all good or all bad; all of us have many sides. Even people who abuse power most certainly have other sides that may not be explored yet. We must ask ourselves which side we want to bring out of a person. The Stanford Prison Experiment shines the light on the bad, but I imagine there is an equally shocking experiment based on shining the light on the good.
