Comparative Essay Sample: The Quote by William Golding and Pale Blue Dot Speech by Carl Sagan

In Carl Sagan’s speech, Pale Blue Dot, he shows how so many different types of people live on the same planet, from “every saint [or] sinner” to “every hero [or] coward” (Sagan 1). We all live on this one dot in this vast universe. We’re the microcosm in the macrocosm. As Sagan points out, nobody is coming to help “save us from ourselves”, and it’s up to us to change things while caring for this planet because it’s all we’ve got. William Golding, the author of The Lord of the Flies, said that for us to make these changes it’s up to the individual “towards some kind of ethical integration” because that’s “the only real progress”, and this change of the individual will have “[consequential] effects on the people around him.” Carl Sagan’s speech, Pale Blue Dot, and William Golding's quote can be directly related and go hand in hand with each other.

A way these two ideas can be connected is through the character Ralph in William Golding’s book, The Lord of the Flies, and the way Ralph’s thinking changes. The changing of the individual is represented through Ralph, in chapter one, as he was a stupid school boy who thought they got dropped off onto the island. In reality the plane they were on got shot down. Golding uses clues throughout chapter five to show how Ralph is thinking differently with phrases such as, “in this new mood of comprehension”, “with a convulsion of the mind”, and “lost himself in a maze of thoughts'' (Golding 76). With his new ways of thinking Ralph’s values were adjusted, now he recognized Piggy’s valuableness. Ralph realizes “thought [is] a valuable thing” and that nobody on the island can think like Piggy can (Golding 78).  Later in the book, Ralph takes a look at the sheer size of the ocean, and he has an existential crisis when he is “painfully gripping” the rock with his “body arched” and mouth wide open. This is the beginning of where Ralph realizes that nobody is coming to save them (Golding 109-111). Sagan mentioned this too, “there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves” (Sagan 2). Ralph’s changing of thinking is the perfect example of Golding’s quote of changing the individual and connects to the Pale Blue Dot speech because his change of thinking brings change to the island, representing the world, and how things are run. This consequently affects the other kids on the island, and as Golding said this is a consequence of individual change.

When Jack splits from the rest of the group and established his own tribe, which most of the boys ended up joining, Ralph knew it was wrong and stood up for change anyways even though he knew he might be killed. This action by Ralph connects with Sagan’s speech and Golding’s quote. Sagan is saying in the second paragraph of the speech that it makes no sense that so much “blood [has been spilled] by all those generals and emperors” just to rule over a part of a planet that is a speck in the whole universe. Jack represents the demagogue trying to control others and the world in the story. Ralph is the one who realizes he can’t allow this and knows he has to do something. Ralph tries to have an effect on Jack’s tribe when he comes up with the idea of going to them “looking like [they] used to” with “washed and brushed hair”. Then Ralph says, “After all we aren’t savages really.” After Simon and Piggy were murdered, however, Ralph realized that the kids were no longer kids, now they were savages that won’t leave him alone until he was killed too. Golding, in chapter twelve, started calling the kids in Jack’s tribe “savages”. This was a first-hand account by Ralph of seeing how fast civilization can fall into savagery when led by the demagogues and tyrants mentioned by Sagan. Unlike everyone else, Ralph stood against the current and didn’t join Jack’s tribe trying to bring change as an individual, like Golding’s quote. Sometimes it takes more than an individual to make big changes though.

The quote by William Golding and speech by Carl Sagan are related to each other. This is demonstrated through Ralph’s actions and character development throughout Golding’s book. He is a perfect example to use when connecting both these pieces of literature.