LOTF Questions Part 1.

2) One of the main points of this book is to look at the effects of authority, or the lack of authority, on people. The "society" that the boys created eventually begins to fall apart; do you think this is because of the leaders they chose (Ralph and Jack), or because of the situation they were in (meaning who their leaders were didn't matter)?

In my opinion, I think the situation which the group was in was the cause of their society falling apart. I think that this happened because the group is basically all around the same age group, and they aren't used to listening to what other children want or even acknowledging it, they are only familiar with obeying most adults orders. Although in the beginning they were pretty obedient with Ralph's orders, eventually they began to be carefree of what Ralph wanted, and they did what they want. I think that this caused the society to fall apart because without them all agreeing with each other about most things and at least listening to what they have to say, they'd never be found or get a long. Therefore, in my opinion, the situation was definitely what caused the groups society to collapse.  


3) Suspend your rationale thinking for a moment, and imagine that the place you all know best involving established authority - school - is suddenly without teachers, Ms. Nadeau, etc. for an extended period of time (think weeks). What would happen?
I believe that if the school was without our principal, or any adult figure with authority, that the students would definitely make bad decisions and/or cause trouble in some way, shape or form. Most likely, the first couple of days wouldn't be too bad or crazy because most students would either be wondering where all the adults are, trying to find them, or not paying attention to it or attending school at all. After a week or so, there'd definitely be a lot less students showing up, but I don't believe there'd be a large issue with authority because most students would just go their own way, minding their own business. However, I believe there would be certain students who would try to have an authority figure over most of the crowd, but it'd probably be a failure due to the student body just not caring about what that person wants them to do or how to act. Now, after a long period of time, I believe the school would be pretty crazy, but not too too bad. After all, this is high school and most people are mature enough to not become absolutely uncontrollable. In my eyes, it seems like school would just become another hang out spot, it'd be like school with no classes, just a place to hang out with your friends. On the contrary, there would definitely be some students, whom would act immature at times, that would cause trouble. For example, they could cause arguments which would possibly result in physical fighting. Pursuing this further, there'd probably be no one who would actually stop and end the argument, causing school to become a dangerous environment for the students. School would just be hectic without adult authority.