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Delaney Caballero Mrs. Rogers Lit/Composition 21 October 2010 The Bittersweet Symphony of Life The books Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank, and Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, are similar in many ways. In both of the books society is lost and it is up to the characters to decide if they want to continue a normal way of life or resort back to an archaic way of life. Both novels represent relevant ideas applicable to today’s world in times of crisis, including man’s innate brutality and man’s demonstration of character. Lord of the Flies and Alas, Babylon both represent the theme that all people have a natural capacity for brutality. In Lord of the Flies, Roger’s character is portrayed as a demented and sadistic little boy. This is only further proven in chapter four when Roger, without reason, throws stones at the littlun Henry. Golding writes, “Roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry-aimed to miss… Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins” (62). Roger is intentionally hurling stones at the little boy for no known reason but to be a rude person. Brutality is shown in Alas, Babylon when Dr. Dan Gunn is violently attacked and beaten by random strangers known as the highwaymen. Dan Gunn is trapped, beaten, robbed, and left for dead. Luckily, he does survive. To avenge Dan and to stop the highwaymen from hurting anymore people, the main character, Randy, sets a trap for them and kills them. In today’s world, unfortunately, there are many examples of man’s innate brutality. In Manchester, England two college students were celebrating the end of exams when they set fire to one of their friends, Glenn Collins, while he was asleep in his flat. The drunken men, Jack Brown and Rohan Foley, doused Collins with rum and lit him on fire while he was sleeping. Collins was engulfed by a fireball and rushed to hospital where he had to be put on a life support machine. He suffered third degree burns covering twenty percent of his body and was still in critical condition two months after the incident. Hours before the incident it was reported that celebrating students were throwing knives at each other in the street. (Osuh par. 3, 4, 8). The universal theme that a man’s true character is shown very clearly in times of crisis is represented very well in both novels. In Alas, Babylon, after the bombs destroy the United States, the few people left are faced with the choice of trying to create a society and go about life, resort to animalistic instincts and only live for their own safety and survival. Before the attack on the United States, Edgar Quisenberry was a very well-kept man with a stable job of managing a bank and a loving wife. This is all destroyed after the bombs hit. Edgar loses his mind and kills himself. “He would not allow himself to be humiliated. He would not be reduced to begging gasoline or food, and be dragged down to a level of a probationary teller… He would not accept such a world” (122). In these few sentences that Frank wrote it is apparent that Edgar Quisenberry could not bear a world without order, law, and set society. On the other hand, Randy Bragg, who before the bombs was almost the point of being a bum, steps up and starts a new life and society within his own street. He becomes the town’s leader and takes care of anyone in need. Also, in Lord of the Flies, it is clearly shown that in a crisis, a person’s true nature of shown. The two main characters of the book, Ralph and Jack, are fighting for leadership after the group of boys are stranded on an uninhabited island. Ralph wants to keep a strict and lawful society, being as his only hopes are to be rescued, whereas Jack is only focused on playing and having fun. He does not care for the wellbeing of the other boys on the island and hardly thinks about being rescued. An example of this theme in the real world is the recently ended Recession. The late 2000s recession was started by the collapse of the housing market. Many real estate companies in trouble and some went out of business. After the real estate companies failed, banks started to crash. The amounts of available credit took a downward turn and cause a public panic. The scare of the Recession caused people to go into an uproar and experts say that the crime rate skyrocketed as a result. Before the most recent presidential election, Candidate Obama was asked what asked how he would handle the Recession. He responded with a new stimulus plan that should put the country back in order. In the world today and on the written page the themes of man’s innate brutality and man’s demonstration of his character in times of crisis. Both novels represent these themes in the character development and can be related to real world events. In brief, the novels Alas, Babylon and Lord of the Flies are examples of these two themes. Works Cited Frank, Pat. Alas, Babylon. New York: HarperCollins Publisher, Inc, 1959. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 1954. Osuh, Chris. \"
Students Set Fire to Their Friend in a Drunken 'Prank' to Celebrate End of Exams.\"
Manchester Evening News 15 August 2010: n. pag. Web. 20 Oct 2010. <http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/ crime/s/1313971_students_set_fire_to_their_friend_in_a_drunken_prank_to_celebrate_end_of_exams>. \"
Recession.org: United States Economy and Global Economic Recession.\"
Recession.org.2010. Web. 20 Oct 2010. <http://recession.org/>.

The Bittersweet Symphony of Life

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The Bittersweet Symphony of Life

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The Bittersweet Symphony of Life