lordoftheflies_politically_correct magicforest If LOTF Were About Politically Correct Morons Warning: Many Stereotypes Have Been Invoked 1. Piggy would be renamed “Non-Underweight Individual”. 2. The Beast would be renamed “The Anti-human Creature of Intimidation”. 3. Simon would be renamed “Insert Non-religious Name Here”. 4. Before rushing at eachother with spears, the members of the two Strains would investigate eachother’s geneology to ensure that no one of an ethnic heritage will be the first to die. 5. The boy with the mulberry birthmark would die from neglect, due to no one wanting to single him out, therefore everyone would ignore him. 6. The alternative plotline to #5: The boy with the mulberry birthmark would die from being crushed by boys throwing him a festive “Birthmarks Are Beautiful” appreciation parade. 7. When Insert Non-religious Name Here discovered the true identity of The Anti-human Creature of Intimidation, he would give created a tombstone with an appropriate epitaph of apology, such as, “We sincerely apologize for the isolation from society your corpse suffered because of our racist, sexist, beastist attitudes. We hope that in the afterlife and/or heaven and/or hell and/or next life and/or oblivion that succeeds your death and/or new beginning that you forgive us for such faults and/or sins and/or mistakes.” 8. The issue of what to do with overgrown hair will be met with confused despair as to if cutting the hair is submitting to male standards, or if it is demeaning to female standards, or if it is hairist to those with long hair, or biased towards those with short hair. Tying it back is considered appropriate. 9. Days later, the solution to the hair problem is deemed only suitable if it does not involve a bandanna or piece of cloth, which is evidently a gang symbol, but using plants or vines would be harmful to the environwoment, and using animal products would be disrespectful to the vegans and vegetarians. 10. Non-Underweight Individual would pass away/expire/cease to exist/start a new beginning due to calling Jack by his last name, Merridew, which may be interpreted as merry dew, a possible insult towards the Christian holiday “Christmas”, which is associated with the expression “Merry Christmas”. The replacewoment of “Christmas” with “dew” was considered entirely inappropriate and punishable by death/passing away/expiration/ceasing to exist/a new beginning. 11. To ensure that Ralph was not made Tropical-American Chief of the Strain for superficial reasons, [or readaughters] his face was mutilated by a good beating so that he was unattractive, therefore, the motives of the Strain were clean. 12. Insert Non-religious Name Here did communicate with The Anti-human Creature of Intimidation, not via G*d or S*t*n, but through Wicca and/or schizophrenia. (Either is acceptable.) 13. The weapons used were not “spears”, which are degrading to asparagus, but Wooden Utensils of Mass Destruction. 14. There are not “littluns” or “biguns”, atrocious titles which are hurtful to the young, old, non-underweight, non-overweight, and French, but rather “Those who are, or are under, the age of seven years using a calendar in which one year is represented by 365 twenty-four hour days” and “Those who are over the age of seven years using the aforementioned calendar.” 15. Castle Rock is renamed “The Multicultural Bilingual Castle Rock”. 16. Anyone caught mispronouncing the word “asthma” will be stoned to death/expiration/passing away/a new beginning. 17. When the officer, who ought to be female, mentioned Coral Island, he/she/it will be firmly reminded by Those Who Over The Age Of Seven Years Using The Aforementioned Calendar that Coral Island was a show riddled with social taboos and is not appropriate for discussion. 18. The conch shell will not be used because it is white and that is racist. 19. Pigs may be sacrificed for pagan purposes and murders may take place, given that the word “G*d” is still not used in an educational establishment. 20. It may not be called the “sea”, because “sea” only requires some rearranging and the addition of letters C, H, P, K, A, T, and E to create “Cheapskate”, which insinuates that those associated with the sea are cheap, which insinuates that The Anti-human Creature of Intimidation is cheap, which is blatant villainizing, possibly the worst case I’ve ever seen. 031004 ... karl the weed lol 031005 ... celestias shadow oh god. you must have been extremely bored in english class that day. still, that's fucking hilarious. and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why natalie hates political correctness. 031013 ... The B****E Man BOOBIES!BOOBIES!BOOBIES! 031027 ... Death of a Rose yes, (chuckles), very well done. 031102 ... niska it all just disturbs me comlpetely, that given the message this book presents, you've missed it entirely, in more than an ignorant fashion. though who can blame you? youth is the decline of society, yet it's what we hold so dear to our hearts until the last moments we take our breath from the earth. it's all tragic really. 031103 ... niska and i know you're joking with the 'stereotype-example' excuse... but seriously, look at what THIS (blather) has become. go to : you_have_got_to_be_kidding_me it's all full of dip-shit kids making decisions for other people, bossing them around and alienating people for their own freedom in society. to me, that is LOTF-politically correct. as in it suits the model it resembles. 031103 ... niska also, it's wishful thinking that any kid would 'ignore' a kid with an embarrasssing birthmark. in fact, i'm pretty sure most kids would poke him with sticks! i would have... hey - i'm not saying i'm better than anyone - i'm probably the worst brat on the face of this planet! [ NISKA ] but in all seriousness, there is a drastic paradox here. please just tell me someone else can see it.... 031103 ... magicforest Are you mad at me? 031104 ... KrazyKat Welllllll, it's funny you should mention it (a politically correct LOTF). When was your book published? My book was printed in England around the time the book came out, and there's a part where Piggy's about to stand up for himself at Castle Rock and says (in my version): "Which is better-to be a pack of painted niggers like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is?" I've checked all the modern printings, and they're changed "niggers" to "Indians." How do you feel about that? 031109 ... Krazy Oh, and LOTF has more to do with Fear and what fear does than society or anything else (In my opinion). Superstition, government, revolution, religion and the idea of God, murder, hatred... all a product of fear. 031109 ... Krazy Fear made American publishers change William Golding's words (not even for the better.) 031109 ... . NIGGERS. 031112 ... bird wow, what brillian erudition, nd the ourage of your conviction to say who you are, too. damn, i'm in awe of such intellectual prowess. "niggers" damn, that was just earth-shakingly witty. 031112 ... bird changing the words from the author's intent was pretty stupid. as was the unsigned parroting of the word a couple of blathes back 031112 ... Peter E. Curry Thanks for the input, "bird." And worse of all, what could be stupider than using both "erudite" and "parroting" in a terrible context in order to sound smart while insulting somebody. So I suppose your birth certificate reads: "bird" Idiot. 031112 ... endless desire does niska have a sense of humor? i finished the book today. i enjoyed it. good books always make me happy. but really, this was suppose to be funny. 031126 ... niska krazy kat: well, to be honest, i haven't been here in months, and i was probably drunk when i wrote that... also, i haven't logged onto the hotmail account i use for this site in a while and i can't even remember THAT password... to get back on topic, i suppose you actually enjoy pointing out how original and old school your copy of this book is, like you're some sort of dime-shop auteur - good for you. i'm proud that you've come across such a legitimate smack of literature... ----------------------------------- if we're talking PC (meh...) yes, 'indians' is probably just as bad. considering people from India aren't indiginous to north america, and the book in this case is referenceing this group of people. i checked (yeah, alright, i have to research before i argue - bet none of you thought so...) and my copy also says 'niggers'. as for the pubication date and edition number... there's a lot of text at the front - i'm guessing it's a later edition due to that fact. reading all that fine print is boring. the point i was making was more of a societal condition that applies to my life right now, which i can't expect you to understand because you're more than likely in a different position in your life - both growth-wise, and career-wise. this is not some kind of snap, it's just where I am... you? well that's your own interpretation. I don't know you. when it's all just kids, it's all just bad. everyone wants the control, but there is no responsibility in maintaining it. you can't have leadership without life experience. if this story has taught us anything, it's at least that. kids just don't have the references and the resources to draw on to make rational decisions which benefit a society. it comes to us later. conversely, those with responsibility have not the authority to exercise control. it's difficult to remain efficent in this manner. my point was based on that. and the PC-ness, well... i suppose it's difficult to relate sarcasm when you type hurried in all lower case. or, when you type, period... 031205 ... niska actually... considering the date, i couldn't have been drunk. i'm pregnant. hmmm... 031205 ... magicforest Just because you are older doesn't mean you have life experience, nor does it mean you will use that which you have for the greater good. I am sorry for this pretentiousness, but I do believe it is quite necessary for me to state the obvious here. As well, in my opinion, authority comes easier to adults than wisdom and compassion. 031206 ... tyger I did get the original point of this book. I'm a social psychologist currently studying reaction to deviance, including mob violence and ostracism. I also thought this parody of it was funny. Just call me wasted youth... 031207 ... magicforest A real live psychologist? I could seriously use your input on my peer tutoring project, re: how people react to teen delinquents, improvements that could be made in that area... As payment I offer oral satisfaction. 031207 ... tyger Here's a current theory: People gain a huge amount of their self identity through identification with their culture or their group (such as their school.) Deviants (and I use that term in a neutral way to describe people who are or do things outside of accepted social norms) and particularly in-group deviants, such as students at your high school rather than another high school, make people highly distressed because they threaten the validity of the group belief structure and therefore also individual self-concept. Let's take your example - the teen delinquent (TD). Let's say all the kids in a high school are raised to believe that stealing, skipping school, and being rebellious towards authority figures are wrong. Accepted social norms say that one should be respectful of one's teachers, stay in school, etc... You are a regular kid who has been doing all these things, and you are praised by others for it, so you think that being a "good person" is dependent on being this way. Here comes Jane, the TD. She ISN'T doing any of these things and yet...she somehow seems to not be desirous of fitting in at all or the praise of others! Even worse, she seems like she might think she's even an ok person or even *gasp* cooler than you! Now everything you thought you knew about being a "good person" seems like it might not be true. Have you been living a lie???? This kind of thought is unacceptable and too disturbing to really contemplate, so you start to derogate Jane, just to let her know (in case she hasn't guessed) that she really isn't a good person after all and that if she wants to be a good person, she will try to fit in more (like you did.) Ok, ok, I know...this is kind of simplistic. But I actually know a whole lot of research that suggests this kind of stuff might be true (plus or minus actual conscious cognition about social norms.) 031208 ... tyger But your question actually was: how do you prevent people from reacting negatively to teen delinquency? So here's part II... 1) Torture teen delinquents more so they understand the negative consequences of "not fitting in with their peers" (I DON'T PERSONALLY RECOMMEND THIS ONE - BUT SINCE WE WERE ON THE SUBJECT OF LORD OF THE FLIES...) *grin* 2) Make social identity and group norms less salient. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, but one thing that could be done as a high school administrator is to foster a culture in which all productive activities are considered equally valuable (not just football or cheerleading or whatever). There is also some cool work by Aronson (Jigsaw Classroom, Robber's Cave experiments) in which it is shown that when you make it necessary for all classes of people (including the deviant) to work together to achieve a common goal, you get much less identity threat, derogation, clique warfare etc... 3) You might also want to try educating the "normals" about why they are behaving as they are (ie they feel threatened when people are different.) I personally believe that human beings only are able to consciously control their behavior when they are aware of their natural social reactions and the reasons behind them. I'm totally biased - I think social psychology should be a mandatory class for junior high students - I think it would help drop levels of bullying, aggression, etc... *stepping off of soapbox now* 031208 ... niska wow - magicforest: you're a little too defensive for your own good... just read the damn book. anyone can see the societal implications. though we're in a different time. I don't know how old you are... in an age where nine-year-olds are wearing thongs, I can't honestly say that society thinks the same as it did 20 years ago... just fucking understand that youth and the world has changed. you may not think age matters for anything - that's an age-old misconception. age matters for everything, because your burden as youth worsens as time goes by. some day you'll understand that, and hopefully you don't resent your place the way much of my generation has. it's more important to find a benefit from your efforts. unfortunately, the youth of today is inundated with far too much informatio and far too little time to process it. theya are left with all the responsibility of making it right, without the authority of ensuring it can actually be done. the problem that story represents is an age-old scenerio. get off your high horse - just read the book, and for god sakes, pay attention in whatever class you're told to read it. there's a reaso this book is a classic. you're supposed to learn a fucking lesson... don't argue your self-righteousness with me - I don't care about it. all you do is prove the author's validity in the point that was made when this story was first written. 031216 ... endless desire sometimes_she wants to stick up for eyedream. sometimes_she doesn't know how. sometimes_she feels entirely useless. it's a good book. this blathe is a clever joke. sometimes_she wonders why people can't leave something beautiful simple as it is. 031216 ... misstree "beautiful" does not make something sacred "beautiful" is completely subjective people feel the urge to interact with their environment once something is static, it is dead. take argument as compliment and let shit slide off your skin. (and tyger, good shtuff, enlightening.) 031216 ... magicforest Simmer down, please. Why are you angry? When I said "you" in my above comment, I meant "one". I hope you didn't take my words personally. I am sorry if I offended you by them. The boys ended up on the island indirectly because of a war. It was supposed to what you will. I am looking for a discussion, not an argument. I will not save them. If you want to start a war, Niska, it will take two sides, and I have no intention of participating. I will not defend myself further if you won't attempt civility, so if you desire the last word, it is yours for the taking. Here are my points: a) No, age is not "nothing", nor is it "everything". Age is a factor, not something which necessarily determines wisdom, but with which a correlation can be seen. b) Not all youth are good, and not all adults are either. c) Yes, belief systems are changing. I'm not going to get into a tussle about whether or not that is a good thing, it ends up being a war of generations. But I'm not sure what exactly nine-year-olds in thongs has to do with it. Scandalous things have been happening since the beginning of time, and each time we think our youth is losing their innocence. To some extent we are right, the media and society in general play an influential role. But we rarely find things scandalous while we are growing up in them. It's when we are grown and look back that we press our fingers to our lips in grim, pursed repugnance. It seemed to me that Golding was making more of an allegorical remark on society in general than merely the psychological behaviours of children. But to each their own. d) I pay very nice attention in my English classes. I also do not believe everything I am told. Do you have faith in people? What about yourself? 031216 ... mekeria The point, (regardless of how they got there, how old they are, or any other useless fact), is that this is a story of innocence lost, in a forced situation to behave in a way these people have no reference for. They are mimicing a society, with no realistic comprehension of one. You can interpret it as you will, but this is what the author meant to get across. Sorry if I lost the point of the argument you're all having, but this is what this book is about. Chaos is human instinct. We are loyal to our own selves for survival - before we see a benefit to taking responsibility for nurturing our tribe. Apply it to the world today, and the one who says we've learned nothing from history, is correct. 031229 ... i_have_no_name the fucking point is that magicforest made a joke and niska just didn't seem to get it and she made the joke because she understands the book enough to be able to make fun of it. 040105 ... niska relax, i_have_no_name. i'm never really riled up - i just say fuck a lot... i have my own opinion about that book, because that story represents a theory to me. and the point of expression is that we can all express - so as for arguments about how we choose to look at what an author meant, we could all be wrong entirely. i like that misstree brought up the matter of subjectivity, because how we see everything really IS subjective. interpreting a message in a story was something that lead me to find valuable connections between action and consequence. if you find something else, that's for you to enjoy. 040220 ... . . 060825 what's it to you? who go blather from