Essay | "Lord of the Flies" and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Three boys, five needs; the unfulfillment of the five needs lead the boys into savagery and devastation. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the characters show that they would do anything to satisfy their needs, even killing. Ralph was always able to get anything he was in need of, until Jack takes over Ralph's position. Like Jack, Roger also becomes extremely brutal. Ralph, Jack and Roger become cruel because they are trying to fulfill their own personal hierarchy of needs, which according to Maslow they are physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization.

Ralph becomes the chief of the boys when they fist arrive on the island, as the boys say, "Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing" (Golding, 22). He reaches up to the esteem level on the hierarchy pyramid after becoming the leader, since he automatically has hunters to bring him food, workers to build shelters, and...
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