Drug Tests

January 29, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Drugs come from a variety of sources, both from plants and microorganisms. Drugs used to come from plants only, but recently, many now come from microorganisms, most notably penicillin, which came from a fungi.

Other drugs come from plant sources, such as morphine, which is taken from plant seeds, then the chemicals are concentrated so they can be effectively used for their pain killing remedies.

There is a long and complicated process to ensure the drug is effective, safe, and that the benefits of use outweigh any negative side effects or risks associated with taking it when trying to develop it for markets. The first stage in developing a drug is the finding of an able chemical or substance (for example the drug’s active ingredients), for example, if a disease is caused by a particular enzyme, finding a chemical that reacts with that enzyme. The next step is to test this drug on animals, for example lab mice. Drugs must be tested on animals before they can be given to humans. This testing on animals is primarily to ensure the safety of the drug so it’s safe for humans. This is done because animal lives, especially mice, are disposable and can be mass bred, whilst humans can not. There are some ethical implications, but thinking that there can be progress without seeing if something’s dangerous on an animal and testing it directly on a human is much more ethically questionable.

If these tests go well and there aren’t major complications, then small trials are carried out on small groups of people, whom are volunteers. Here, the medicine is often tested on healthy people, to observe how it works in the body and whether there are any side effects when more of the drug is given. It is often tested against a standard treatment or a double-blind placebo trial (half have the drug, half have a placebo, however neither the patients or doctor knows who has what). Having a placebo allows the doctors to see whether it’s really the drug that’s improving the patient’s condition or just the brain thinking that they think they’re being treated. The standard treatment allows for doctors to observe how the effective the drug is and in this case they know who has what. This is beneficial too because the doctors can pinpoint exactly how the drug will behave within the body and be able to see if there are any major side effects like if the drug triggers the immune system to act in an hostile way towards the body. However, they can also see if its acting as it should in helping the body, for example, with inflammatory responses.

If things continue to go well in the drug tests, then the drug can be prescribed to people who have the specific pathogen in order to test how the drug will react and if it will be effective

Even after all the testing, scientists will scrutinise the tests and actively attempt to find flaws in the experiment, even the tiniest ones; a bit like a lawyer in court. This is done to ensure that there was absolutely no compromised variables. This is crucial because even the tiniest mishandling can have huge implications if allowed into the market. Due to this, there are usually many tests, counter tests and re-runs of tests in order to secure that the drug is in no way dangerous to people. This is why it takes many, many years for a drug to enter the market. The timeline can range anywhere from five to ten years, or perhaps more.

 

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Antibodies

January 18, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Antibodies are a protein which are produced by white blood cells, more specifically B-Cells or B-lymphocytes. They’re produced when the body is invaded or infected by a pathogen which have a certain unique sets of molecules on their surface called antigens.

When the B-Cells come into contact with a foreign antigen, so one that has not been in the body previously, they will start creating antibodies to lock onto the pathogen. This is so that other white blood cells may find them and engulf them. These type of blood cells are in a group which are called macrophages or phagocytes. This process is called phagocytosis. These type of cells are called the T-Cells and when they do kill the invasive pathogen they also save a part of its DNA so if it’s to return, the body would be able to produce many more antibodies to kill the pathogen much more quickly. It’s also worth mentioning that the antibodies created by the B-Cells are specific to that pathogen. This means that after the pathogen has been in the body twice and provided the body defeats it, one is then has natural immunity. This is different from acquired immunity where you have to insert an inactive strand of pathogen into the body for the T-Cells to engulf and remember them.

White blood cells can also be called leukocytes and these are distinguishable from red blood cells due to the fact that they have a nucleus, whilst red blood cells do not.

How does Shakespeare present Macbeth’s deteriorating state of mind?

December 5, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is centered around the exploration of the main character of Macbeth. It presents many different views of Macbeth and his character can be interpreted in many different ways by modern standards. The main focus, however, is clearly on Macbeth’s state of mind and its continued downward slope leading to him from being a healthy, well-minded individual into a paranoid tyrant who is unable to feel remorse. This idea of Macbeth’s state of mind deteriorating over the course of the play will be explored throughout the course of this essay.

Macbeth over the course of the play goes through significant physiological changes. Macbeth starts with being a loyal subject to the King of Scotland, Duncan and at the climax of the play, with considerable pressure from Lady Macbeth, his wife, killing Duncan to finally becoming a tyrant at the end until his own doings are what made for his downfall. A very important thing to take into account to Macbeth’s deteriorating state of mind is that the deterioration did not necessarily begin when he had met the witches even though they had told him that he would become King of Scotland after Duncan as Macbeth was under the impression that it would come naturally to him. The moment when Macbeth’s mind began to deteriorate is arguably Lady Macbeth telling Macbeth that his place on the throne would not come naturally but only via effort. This is the point when Macbeth begins to equivocate, telling Duncan that he is his loyal subject whilst acknowledging his desires. At this point it is very important to mention the witches, where some interpretations say that they are but a fragmentation of Macbeth’s mind however this is very much not true considering when the play was written (1600s) as this time was when the belief in witches was very widespread and there would be no doubt to the audience listening to the play that the witches were real. Macbeth even knows that his deeds are bad which can be seen from the passage, ‘[s]tars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desire,’ which clearly shows that he knows that his deed which he will carry out is malicious and evil by the key word ‘black,’ a word preconceived to be related to evil. This is all important to Shakespeare’s message because he may be presenting the idea of imminent power corrupts people into thinking and doing things which goes against their values. This idea of mental corruption links back to the idea of Macbeth’s deteriorating mind because Macbeth will later cease to be able to distinguish between reality and fiction. Therefore, Shakespeare’s message throughout the play is how imminent power and power can corrupt normally moral people and this idea was very well known which dates back to Roman times as can be seen via a quote stating, ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ These ideas and discussions which are explored ties well into the rest of the play and the idea of how Shakespeare presents Macbeth’s deteriorating state of mind.

One of the first times when Macbeth starts to show his mind deteriorating is in Act II Scene I, where there is a very famous quote which holds very deep and important meaning which reads, ‘[i]s this a dagger I see before me, the handle towards my hand?’ This quotation shows Macbeth being unsure if the dagger is in reality in front of him and this is a also a quote which expresses a very important view of metaphysics which is a theme throughout the play. Metaphysics is the abstract knowledge of something without hard or any evidence and it is also the ‘understanding’ of abstract concepts, in this case, the imaginary dagger. This idea is fundamental to understanding Macbeth’s state of mind and him at the end of the play. The metaphysics of the dagger and Macbeth not being able to differentiate between reality and the imaginary shows that Macbeth is clearly in a mental state which is not sound. Another important device to take note of is foreshadowing which is something which is also incredibly important to understanding Macbeth. In the quote it says that the daggers handle is faced towards him, almost as if though it is saying that he will be killing Duncan, which he does do later on. If it intended that Macbeth would fail the dagger would perhaps have the knife part facing towards him but as the handle is it makes a very convincing argument that this foreshadows Macbeth’s success in his deed.These sorts of events bring into the question if Macbeth was in control of his own actions and if his fate was already predetermined .This draws into contrast to life in the 1600s where people were deeply religious and where people thought that lives and fates were already determined; perpetuated by the class society. Another very important part in the beliefs of people who lived in the 1600s was that it was believed was that people committed ill deeds from being corrupted from evil, usually the devil. Therefore, the witches and the entire play, for that matter, may be an allegory for fate and what evil and/or power does to you and your mental state.

Another important moment when Macbeth’s mind is seen to be deteriorating is when he shows his first signs of equivocation. The prominent moment is when Macbeth is showing two different views in regard to killing Duncan. This is very clearly supported in Act I, scene VII when he says, ‘false face must hide what the false heart doth know.’ This is not only a sign of equivocation but this is also analytically important as this is also an example of antithesis as the passage shows two conflicting ideas being used in order to draw contrast. This is clearly seen through the use of ‘hide’ and ‘know’ being used in contrast because he is saying that he must show a depiction of himself which is contradictory to his own true ambitions: to kill Duncan. The use of antithesis is done to emphasise the two conflicting ideas and morals of Macbeth, one of which is two serve Duncan loyally but at the same time having another part of him wishing to murder him in order to claim power for himself and this is seen at play within the passage as the word ‘hide’ by definition means to conceal something, and in this case, his ambitions from others but another idea of the knowledge of things is also at play which is shown through the use of the word ‘know,’ and this is critical as Macbeth is expressing that it is vital that he portray a façade to hide his inner ambitions which only his heart has knowledge to, which, again, the ideas of hiding and knowing are conflicting thus antithesis being present. This passage also gives us an insight to Macbeth’s deteriorating mind from the equivocation as equivocatory behaviour is not something someone of a sound mindset is prone to exhibit due to the fact that they are able to clearly portray themselves for what they really are.

The extract provides a very different view of Macbeth; a view that almost shows Macbeth having gone full circle going from sane and being able to distinguish between reality and the metaphysical, going to being in doubt of his own mental state and what is real and not to finally coming back into knowing what is real. This is proven when Macbeth says, ‘[t]o the last syllable of recorded time, and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle.’ Here Macbeth is seen brooding upon life and its insignificance which can be seen when he makes the statement  that time works only to bring people closer to their deaths. Notably, Macbeth and to an extent Shakespeare, as he is the one who is conveying his words through Macbeth, is leaving out the good things in life such as marriage to wealth. This may have been intentional as all of these things happen by chance and are not guaranteed and Macbeth is seen brooding upon life and the very real nature of it: you live, you die, you disappear, you’re forgotten. This shows a very different Macbeth than to the mentally unstable one and the optimistic one as here Macbeth is stating the very simple facts of life. Considering this, here Shakespeare is portraying Macbeth as a realist which is almost the complete opposite to the Macbeth a few scenes ago which shows that Macbeth has gone from being unable to recognize the real and the metaphysical to being able to and going further to recognize the simple facts of life. This is plays significantly due to the fact that during the course of the play Shakespeare has been portraying Macbeth’s mind to be in a deteriorating state, something which is quite evident, but here with the realism which Shakespeare portrays Macbeth to be expressing shows that no matter how high up you reach, no matter what status you obtained, no matter what you carved yourself out to be, you will always diminished into the only facts of life; be you peasant, bourgeois or King (like Macbeth, in this case), you will always end your life with death. Therefore, Shakespeare is showing that no matter how much your mind may deteriorate due to the actions which you committed for power or what has been done to you, two important aspects of the character of Macbeth, you will always come to the realisation of your demise and won’t deny it and instead accept it and accept life for what it is which is what Macbeth can be seen to be doing in the quote, discussing how every single day you have lived brings you closer and closer to ‘dusty death.’

In summary, Macbeth’s mental state is seen throughout the play can be best described as being deteriorating but at the very end, moments before he is killed, he is released from this fabricated world which he had created through his frankly damaged mind into a sense of realism. Therefore, Shakespeare throughout the play has shown what the effects of imminent power has done to a man and what it ends in when gotten via unorthodox means and going against fate, which is another theme of the play Macbeth. Shakespeare clearly portrayed a message that Macbeth’s mind was deteriorating due to the position of power coming to him via unsavoury means which he brought upon himself and that when fate is disturbed it may have detrimental effects on you as a person and your mental health. This is how Shakespeare has portrayed Macbeth’s deteriorating mind.

 

Stem Cells Research

October 18, 2016 / / 0 Comments

A stem cell is a general cell whose purpose is to turn into a more advanced and specialised cell. There is controversy behind these cells because you are able to grow body parts with it but it requires you getting what you need from an embryo. Depending on when one believes life begins, this could be seen as murder.

Science Work 26.09.16 (By Daian and Dylan)

September 26, 2016 / / 0 Comments
  1. In order to set up a microscope, you will firstly need your specimen.In the case that you have a light microscope, you will be needing to plug it in so the light may emit the light necessary in order to look at the specimen. The chemical necessary in order to see the specimen so that it will not be contaminated is to add a few drops of immersion oil. Then you adjust the knobs to suit your pleasure of how you want to study the cell.

2.Microscopes are useful in studying biology, in particular cell biology because you can study the use of cells and you can study the organelles of them.

3.The difference between magnification and resolution is that magnification is by how much an image is magnified, i.e how much bigger it appears to be when studying it. The resolution is the clarity of an image, technically, how many pixels per inch.

a. One advantage of using a light microscope is that it is inexpensive which is why it is present in most laboratories. Another advantage is that it produces colour images for a more accurate display of the cell. A disadvantage is that they can only magnify up to 1000x. It can also not be used to view anything smaller than 1 nanometre.

b. One advantage of using an electron microscope is that it has a much higher magnification than a light microscope. It may magnify up to two million times the size of the actual object. It also uses electrons to create an image of what is being seen, making it more reliable. One disadvantage is that it is extremely expensive. Furthermore, so is it sometimes necessary to coat the specimen with a layer of gold.

4.Prokaryotic cells are cells which lack organelles. This means that they lack a nucleus, however, they still have one piece of chromosome so they can continue to asexually reproduce. Eukaryotic cells, by definition, are cells which HAS a nucleus and has all of their organelles inside their membrane.

5. Prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells differ in structure and function. For example, prokaryotic cells do not have a nucleus. Prokaryotic cells are also single cell organisms that have no organelles whilst eukaryotic cells have organelles

Lichens

September 19, 2016 / / 0 Comments

‘Explain how lichens are environmental indicators’

Due to lichens being sensitive to environmental changes and disturbances it is a good environmental indicator. An environmental indicator is something which tell us of what’s happening in the environment, for example lichens reacting with air pollution. If they are exposed to air pollution, especially bushy ones, they can stop growing and die. This means that scientists may use them to study pollution levels in different areas by observing how lichens cope.

Short Story

July 12, 2016 / / 0 Comments

The tall, fair haired man lay in his bed exhausted from his tiring job, where it seemed that all his hard work and preparations were thrown away daily. When he slept, he was tormented from memories of the war. Whenever he closed his eyes he could feel the sand in his face and hear the shouting and despair. It was almost as if he was tortured by stress be it awake or asleep. Soon enough though, he fell asleep, ready for work.

The alarm clock blared before the sun had risen, and the man issued only a faint grunt saying to himself, ‘five more minutes.’

Five minutes passed. Fifteen minutes had passed. Two hours had passed.

The alarm blared once more and the man yelled in frustration shouting, ‘I’m going to be late, I’m going to miss congress!’

He dressed himself and ran out of the door, without a care if or if he didn’t lock it, or for the matter, even close it. Even taking the bus was out of his mind and he just ran all the way from his house towards congress without being too exhausted as he was young and in good health. However, he only got to sit down for a few moments before he got up to give his speech. As he got up and walked towards the front, no one even looked, they just kept chatting or playing games on their phones.

‘Good morning, honorable delegates of congress,’ he said with slight glee.

‘It’s twelve-fifteen! It’s not morning!’ one congress member shouted.

After he paused for a bit after having been humiliated by one of his peers he continued with a more stern, stricter tone,

‘Good afternoon. As you all know, country is once again edging on war and we cannot risk instability in the region again. We all remember the failed intervention nineteen year ago and now…’

He was abruptly interrupted by a chorus of laughter from the congress with one person shouting,

‘Get off you Communist hippie!’ 

He was so traumatised that he just walked off, exited the room and ran home, choking back his tears. He ran through his door which he only now noticed he had left open, slammed it shut and collapsed on the floor of his living room. He just thought to himself, ‘I’m a failure, I’m a failure! I…’ something had caught his eye: a headline. ‘4 MORE YEARS SHE VOWS.’ The man wiped his tears with a new goal in mind and a new determination. ‘If I can’t the country from ruining itself, then there is only one option left.’

He took himself to the streets, with scruffy hair, an uneven tie and untucked shirt. He took himself to the Town Square and attracted a large crowd. Here people would listen to him without laughing. Here people would applaud instead of roll their eyes. He spoke for two hours, and yet no one lost interest. It became clear that the people were with him.

‘UNDERDOG SWEEPS SUPER TUESDAY,’ ‘PRESIDENT UNDER PRESSURE,’ all the headlines of all newspapers read. Within only four months he had gained support from North to South, including places which usually vote Red. A huge crowd was gathered outside his hotel, cheering, eager for him to speak, even though no event was planned there. He was followed around like he was a magnet.

‘Well, that’s a lot of people,’ he told his campaign manager. ‘I can’t believe I’ve gone from speaking to just a few hundred people in my hometown to now address a crowd of ten-thousand people,’ he said with slight disbelief. He straightened his tie, tucked in his shirt and went outside for his speech. Just as he exited he was greeted with cheers, applause and general happiness.

He began speaking with enthusiasm, ‘Good morning ‘The Sunny State!”’

Terminator: Attack of the Drones – It Went Like This Badge

May 26, 2016 / / 2 Comments

The short old man with a long, grey beard was standing on the lone mountain, seeking solitude. The sun was setting, with the sky being painted with a beautiful cream orange like it were a canvas and the setting sun: the artist. Just as he was about to lose himself in his deep thoughts, his eye caught a very different orange. With his state of meditation broken, he turned his attention to the orange which had disrupted the sky and saw an orange-yellow cloud rising towards the sky. The machines had come back.

As he was walking home, he thought to himself, ‘how much more will these machines torment our village?’ He arrived back at his home just as the twilight of the sky had passed and the isolation of the night had come. His house, just like many other houses in the valley village, was nothing more than a simple dwelling, usually only one or two moderately sized rooms with open-cut windows to let the warm air in to cool themselves. The houses were made from sandstone and wood, much of which has been worn down throughout the years. As he opened the door to his home, he smelled the smell of food and saw his wife cooking over an open fire in the main room on the stone floor.

‘Come, you’ve been out for a long time, you need to eat,’ she said.

‘Yes, yes… I’ll eat a bit, but I need to head to bed straight after – I need to clear my head.’

The wife knew exactly why he was feeling like this, everyone in the village did, so she simply nodded.

The next day the man woke early in the morning, even before his wife. He dressed himself and head out to the market to go to work. He set up his stall and sat down patiently, waiting for customers to come. As sky changed from the same creamy orange of the evening to the blue of the seas of day the flow of customers continued to increase. There was mutter all around the market about the large, sudden sound yesterday.

‘Did you hear that sound yesterday?’

someone said to their friend. Another passing woman said

‘I think the machines are back.’

At midday, the man was still sitting by his stall not having had taken his break yet, and just as he was about to get up to eat his lunch, two boys approached his stall.

‘Hello Sir,’

the boy said. He was accompanied by a slightly taller boy with dark hair.

‘Hello young boys. What can I do for you two?’

the old man asked the two young boys.

‘We heard another explosion yesterday. We think that the machines are back and we will take one out. We just need one more thing, like something shiny…’

The boy paused for a few seconds and then resumed,

‘Do you have anything?’

The man nearly went white in shock and felt faint. He reminisced to the previous day and the thought of these children dead was something he could my live with. After all, they all knew eachother there; it was a small village.

‘No, I don’t. – don’t go after that drone,’

he said sternly. The boys frowned and walked away.

The man was very old and it was well into the Muslim month of Ramadan. The man, who was content on keeping his fast closed his shop early to rest, at the expense of profits. He arrived at home, changed his clothes from his work clothes into to his much thinner home clothes. It was beautifully woven which felt like as one was being smothered by dozens of sheep.

The old man woke at twilight in time for Iftar. He and his wife broke their fast with dried dates and water. He then hiked up to the mountain once again to clear his head. He has been doing so every night for the last twenty years. Once more he stood on top of the mountain in solitude. Once more the beautiful canvas of the sky was destroyed by a yellow-orange cloud. He would not allow his mind to drift to conclusions. All he knew was that violence never changes and ignorance is bliss.

Short Story

April 21, 2016 / / 1 Comment

He wandered around reckless on the busy street of the city. His head was spinning and he was feeling ill. He had just been handed the biggest challenge of his career: negotiate with an insurgency in their own territory. Suddenly, thoughts of worry began to overcome him; would anyone know where he was, would anyone come to his rescue? Evening was approaching and he decided to forget the challenge which rests upon his shoulders and headed to the nearest national train station. The hustle – bustle of the monotony of everyday life was everywhere with people rushing home only to repeat their work cycle day after day after day.

He finally found a train which would be going out to the countryside but the train was about to depart. The man ran as fast as he can towards the train and just before the train doors, he managed to climb on board. As the man took his seat he sighed with relief and looked out the window to see themselves quickly departing the city. After an hour, the train arrived deep into the countryside. The man disembarked, took a deep breath of clean, unpolluted air. Just one breath was enough for the worries to flow out of him like a river. He was free of thought and free of burden.

He takes a walk and spots a nice a beach. He walks to it and can feel the ever so satisfying texture of the sand on his bare feet. As the sun was setting and the moon was rising, the glistening of the moonlight illuminated something on an island. The man scratched his head in confusion. He hadn’t see that island before so he was curious to see what was on the island. The man was looking around to find something to help him across the lake. In the corner of his eye, he sees something in the shape of a boat. He quickly shifts attention on it and it confirms it; it’s a dinghy. He pushes it into the water, gets in and starts rowing. However the further away he gets the more his enthusiasm deteriorates. He begins having doubts whether or not it’s a good idea to even continue. Perhaps it was hidden  away on the island. Perhaps no one wanted it to be found. Nevertheless he continued forward.

When he arrived he was shocked to have found nothing. He could’ve swore that he saw a small, glistening box but when he arrived it’s as it vanished into thin air. He started to explore the island, with its lush, untouched trees and undisturbed plants. Then, as if they came out of nowhere, three men dressed in ragged black clothes appeared. The man was shocked, he was  hyperventilating but the men calmed him down. They explained that they were spies from the insurgency and were there to ‘deal with him.’ This phrasing spooked the man who began yelling for help which promted one of the spies to cover his mouth. What they said next absolutely terrified the man.

They explained that they were not there to do what the man thought, but rather to discuss with him. The man was given the task of negotiating with their leader, and he was well aware that whatever he negotiated would change the future of his country and of the future of their insurgency. The man was suspicious to what these cloaked men wanted. Then it all became clear. They begged him to save them. They begged him not for him to persuade their leader to surrender. All of this baffled the man so naturally he asked why, after all, they were disrupting the safety of their host country. He asked them of this, and the men were shocked to how the media portrayed them. They explained how their people were being oppressed and killed by their government. Their brothers and sisters were being killed yet they were putting up the image of them being democratic and free and of these insurgents threatening their way of life. No, they were fighting for freedom. The man, overwhelmed with emotion fainted.
The moon was setting and the sun was rising, painting the dark blue sky with colours of orange, red, yellow like it was a canvas. The man woke only too see the men gone. He made his way back to the dinghy, rowed back and got on the morning train. The man was determined with his eyes opened to new ideas to make things right. He wasn’t going to be a slave to conformism anymore. It was time to make a change.

What are the main events and characters that most influence the power dynamics of the group in Lord of the Flies?

April 12, 2016 / / 1 Comment

One of the main characters who most influence the power dynamics of the group in Lord of the Flies is Jack. Jack is able to manipulate the group when they grew discontent by Ralph’s leadership.There’s a growing schism between the ideologies between Ralph and Jack which is one of the main reasons that Jack is able to take power away from Ralph by forming his own group. Ralph’s ideology focuses more on the idea of being saved and maintaining the fire, whilst Jack wants to go hunting and have fun on the island. This schism becomes well known and the split effectively occurs when Jack and Ralph disagree on going to the mountain or staying by Castle Rock. Jack, in open defiance, walks towards Castle Rock. This is demonstrated when it says, “Jack led the way down to Castle Rock.” This suggests that Jack is leading a large part of the group down to the rock. Earlier it also says, “Mutinously, the boys fell silent or muttering,” after Ralph made it clear that he was the chief. The important word here is ‘mutinously,’ an adverb, because this sets the mood. The root word ‘mutinous’ means that they boys were feelings ready to rebel or not listen to Ralph anymore. This shows that the boys are discontent with how Ralph is leading the group and also suggests that they are much more likely to leave Ralph and find a new leader. This becomes important later in the book where it becomes evident that Jack completely despises Ralph’s leadership and makes his own group. This becomes clear when Jack says, “I’m not going to play anymore, not with you. – He’d never have gotten us meat.” This discontent and pointing out of flaws and lack of luxuries is what Jack has manipulated in order to gain support of the group and eventually the entire group defected to Jack’s tribe except for the littleuns, Samneric and Piggy. This schism may be the representation of the ideological war between Communism and Capitalism, the main driving force behind the Cold War. Noting that this book was published soon after the beginning of the Cold War, it is likely that it had a significant impact on the book with Ralph, the mostly democratic of the two, representing Capitalism and Jack, the totalitarian who wants to make examples out of people, would be the representation of Communism. What Golding wanted to show with this allegory was the incompatibility between these two boys and how they would not be able to work together. Jack’s way of leadership would never fit into the style of Ralph’s leadership. Their priorities are different and their ideology is different.

An important event which dramatically changed the power dynamics was the death of Piggy and the destruction of the Conch. The death of Piggy is significant because Piggy was the one who safe guarded the Conch and informed Ralph of logical thinking and ways to keep power. In this sense Ralph’s legitimacy only comes from Piggy and him safe guarding the Conch. The death of Piggy and destruction of the conch symbolically hands over power from good to evil. This is because Piggy represents the good in humans and their morality. It’s also important to note that Piggy’s death is of high importance and is arguably more of an impact than the death of Simon or of the little boy.This is because Piggy’s death lead to the complete collapse of society and Piggy’s death was deliberate; they meant to kill him, whilst the little boy’s and Simon’s death was somewhat accidental. The legitimacy of the conch is also demonstrated when  after its destruction Jack says, ” The conch is gone. I’m chief.” This shows that Jack was trying to earn legitimacy and now that Piggy was dead Jack is able to claim all the power away from Ralph. Therefore the destruction of the conch is able to completely change the power dynamics. Furthermore the conch represents law and order and the destruction launches them all into anarchy. This shows how the conch is a feature of symbolism. The conch represents something more than what is shown.This is demonstrated in the hunt for Ralph which is shown by the quote, “Kill the beast. Cut his throat. Spill his blood.” This shows how the tribe has descended into full fledged savagery. This can be seen clearly from the changing of the pronoun ‘she’ to ‘he’ in the chant. The chant was altered because of them hunting Ralph and the murderous tone of their chant makes it clear that they want to kill Ralph. Before the conch was destroyed there was only one death due to savage behaviour but now the entire tribe are going willingly against one person. This shows how the destruction of the conch and to a lesser extent the death of Piggy has led to a change in power dynamics. Golding may have included this to show how fragile civilization is and how faith in something is one of the main reasons society is able to function. The conch was symbolically able to prevent the boys from falling into savagery early, but when it was destroyed they abandoned what was left of society. Golding included this to make the reader feel the importance of the conch and how big of an impact the destruction had.

Another event which demonstrates how power dynamics have changed is how the weather is able to drive the boys to kill Simon. During the dance to kill Simon which they called the Beast, the weather’s actions are described because it says, “again the blue-white scar jagged down and the sulphurous explosions beat down.” This shows how violent the storm is which resonates with the actions of the boys. This is a pathetic fallacy because the weather affects the mood and actions of the boys. The pathetic fallacy is further demonstrated with the rhythmic chanting of ‘Kill the Beast. Cut his throat. Spill his blood,’ in line with the violent beating down of the lightning. This creates the sense that there is a sense of chaos as the boys are turning murderous and are turning against one of their own which they haven’t done before the storm came. The fact that they are turning on one of their own is very important too, as Simon was a part of the Choir, Jack’s group. However, the boys were more than happy to kill Simon under the pretext that Simon was the Beast. Golding might have included this in the story to resonate how on both sides of the Cold War there was unjust prosecution on ideological fronts. For example, in the United States, in the 1950s the McCarthy Trials occurred. This was at the height of the ‘Red Scare,’ where people were being prosecuted for having leftist views, even if they were moderate leftist views. People were liable to them being fired from their jobs, having trouble taking out loans, getting a house or getting prosecuted. This is very similar to Jack and his hunters turning on one of their own, Simon, just as America started turning on their own citizens. What Golding wanted to show with this was that everyone has evil within them and under the correct circumstances people will turn against each other, even their own friends.This shows how pathetic fallacy and the death of Simon has been used by Golding to show the break-down in civilization and the changing of power dynamics.

In conclusion, the main events and characters that have changed the power dynamics are the ones that are seen when the boys are starting to turn into murderous savages. For example, after the death of Simon it was very easy for Jack and his tribe to be able to pass of the murder with him saying that Simon was the Beast in disguise, whilst Ralph and Piggy kept with their moral side and acknowledged that it was murder, with Ralph saying, “That was Simon. – Piggy. – That was murder.” This shows that Ralph still holds on to civilization with Piggy and is able to distinguish reality from fiction, whilst Jack managed to convince himself that Simon was the Beast. Another event which shows that the main power dynamics changes when the boys start turning murderous is with the death of Piggy. His death launches the entire group into anarchy with Jack’s hunters launching an attack towards Ralph to kill him. This is also very important because they want to kill him because they deliberately killed Piggy and had no problem with it.This can be seen when Samneric says to Ralph, “They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you.” These events show that the power dynamics drastically change with each savage action. Therefore, the main events which change the power dynamics are the chaotic, savage ones, and the main characters that change the power dynamics are the ones who are able to commit these acts, such as Roger when he threw the stone which killed Piggy.