Lord of the Flies vs Of Mice and Men

Power, Fear, and Human Nature: these are only three of the many themes that can be found in all stories. They are abundantly found in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men and in William Golding’s Lord Of The Flies through the development and the relationships of the characters. The themes found in these two novels show just how alike two stories can be.

Power, as a theme, is the way in which a character finds his or herself at the top of the society. It is also the way in which they keep and use their power over others. One character in the book, Of Mice And Men, Curley, is a great example of  Power. He obtained his power through inheritance, as shown in this quote, “Don’t tell Curley I said none of this. He’d slough me. He just don’t give a damn. Won’t ever get canned ‘cause his old man’s the boss.” In the book, Lord Of The Flies, a leader is chosen through democracy. “ ‘Who wants me?’ Every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air. Ralph counted. ‘I’m chief then’ “  The leader, Ralph, is chosen by a show of hands. Both stories have their own share of power. The quotes show two ways that people can come into power. However, abusing this power can cause fear.

The theme, Fear, is exactly what it sounds like. It represents anything the characters may be afraid of. In Of Mice And Men, a Fear of Power is obvious and is shown in the following quote,
“(Lennie) backed until he was against the wall, and Curley followed, slugging him in the face. Lennie’s hands remained at his sides; he was too frightened to defend himself.” This quote shows one of the characters with a fear of Curley, who also represents Power in the novel. However, in Lord Of The Flies, the characters show a fear of not only a powerful figure, they show a fear of the others around them.
”Maybe there is a beast.”
“What I mean is... maybe it’s only us.” In either quote, there is a common fear. One of the quotes talks about the fear of power being abused, the other about fear of humans. Both quotes state a fear of others. This begs the question, is fearing others part of our nature, or is it natural to come together?

Human Nature is displayed as the latter in Of Mice And Men as well as in Lord Of The Flies. In John Steinbeck’s novel, racism is an obvious fear. One of the characters, Crooks, is the center of racism in the novel and is portrayed as lonely and reserved. However, the following quote shows just how much humans feel the need to group together.
“ ‘Come on in. If everyone’s comin’ in, you might just as well.’ It was difficult for Crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger.” This quote from page 75 shows a human’s need for companionship. This theme appears again in Lord Of The Flies. The quote from page 32 also shows how humans come together, but in addition, it  shows how they group with people like them.
“Ralph sat on a fallen trunk, his left side to the sun. On his right were most of the choir; on his left the larger boys who had not known each other before the evacuation; before him small children squatted in the grass.” These quotes show how it is Human Nature to want companionship. It also shows how people are attracted to people they think they can relate to or are like them.

         Power, Fear, and Human Nature can be found in many stories. They usually appear in common ways in even the most different books. The themes connect characters throughout the stories as well as through other authors.