The Power Structure

      In both Lord of the Flies and The Power of One, the protagonist is in control. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is in control when he decides to not give in to Jack and his group. Equally, in The Power of One, Peekay refuses to give in when the boys are bullying him. Ralph took control at the beginning of the book over the boys, and gradually lost control over everyone but himself. Peekay was in control of only himself at the beginning of the book, and by learning to box he gained the respect of the African men and women; their respect for him gave him some degree of power to persuade and control if necessary. In both stories, Peekay and Ralph never lost the ability to make their own decisions even though they were confronted with certain situation were it was just them versus a crowd. The power structure falters at moment but never completely fails.