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Leaders in Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies moral codes
The use of symbolism in Lord of the Flies
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Recommended: Leaders in Lord of the Flies
Ralph, a leader devoted to the welfare of his peers, is surrounded by the pressures of foreboding chaos; one by one the boys fell into favor of savagery rather than saving themselves, gifting Ralph’s power to someone who knew how to wield their emotions at the cost of their well being. There is a clear comparison between the values of both Ralph and his rival, Jack Merridew, in chapter four, when Jack not only fails to keep the fire going as a ship passes by, but is also called out for avoiding helping the construction of the huts. We see this in Jack’s following thoughts, “...knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink,” (70) showing that Jack, even though he’s …show more content…
Jack shows the boys that they don’t need rules to function when he disregards an important symbol of order, “We don’t need the conch anymore.”(22) the conch being the one instrument that would bring peace and order amongst the boys, especially when rules were involved. This develops into an entirely new group with a clear hierarchy and savage morals, demonstrated in conversation of some of the members, “‘He’s going to beat wilfred.’ ‘What for?’ (...) ‘I don’t …show more content…
He, from early on, starts building a hierarchy and demonstrates his abilities when placed in power. Jack “stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach” (71) at a time Jack was vulnerable, sending a message that he was powerful and could take control over any situation. In possibly one of the most dramatic moments in the story, Jack leads a crowd in a barbaric ritual, a crown consisting even of Ralph and Piggy, not to mention the rest of the boys. Simon, center of the ritual felt the “sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle crunched and screamed (...) arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abominable noise,” (152) a horrific scene carried by the horrors of what an influenced crowd is capable of. Jack wants to be in control, he wants to be a god, bending the lives of others at his will. He desperately clings to this after a power trip from murdering Piggy, proclaiming “ See? That’s what you’ll get! I mean that! There isn't a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone,” to Ralph, explaining his position on being a leader. Unfortunately, his ideas only bring harm to his peers, a deep hopelessness that cannot be escaped amongst his rein. There is no order. There is no hope. Jack is a sadistic
With such rigid and different identities, Jack and Ralph have very different priorities, making it challenging for them to work together. Ralph’s identity is threatened when Jack lets the fire burn out to go hunting, so he lashes out at him, accusing him, “I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts-then you go off hunting and let out the fire-”(70, 71). By ignoring what Ralph told him to do, Jack threatens numerous aspects of Ralph’s identity. Ralph identifies with being elected Chief based on his plan to get rescued, so Jack’s insubordination threatens Ralph. Meanwhile,
Societies were constructed by both parties. With no authoritative figures to control what is decided, it enabled them to create whatever laws to their liking. The characters become more savage-like every day as the upkeep of their laws starts to become more lenient. As the intelligent Newt explained, “‘That’s one of the reasons we run this place all nice and busylike. You get lazy, you get sad. Start givin’ up. Plain and simple” (Dashner 77). Explaining that a societal type of order had to be established in order to keep their spirits up, the quote retaliates that believing what they have contributed to their small society will grant them into finding a way out soon. However, even this type or societal order came crashing down when... After Piggy was killed, tragically and the conch shattered, Jack had tried to kill Ralph. Consequently, after running away from Jack’s chaotic takeover, Ralph, “. . . argued unconvincingly that they would let him alone, perhaps even make an outlaw of him”, but then becoming aware (to his own knowledge) that, “These painted savages would go further and further” (Golding 184). Ralph realizes that Jack and the rest of the boys have become barbaric. Without the conch’s overwhelming reigns holding the boys back from becoming savage, all order is forgotten. With prior knowledge that the conch was what held the boys together, it can be seen that once it was destroyed, humanity was lost. Proving that once order is lost, humanity is then
From the beginning of the novel Jack intimidates the other boys with his flaming red hair, his long black cape, and the brutal way he shouts orders to his choir. Although he is not a good-looking boy, he is amazingly arrogant. He always has to look good in people's eyes. Not that he cares if people like him, but more that they respect him. The only way he knows how to gain people's admiration is by getting them to fear him. He spots Piggy as an easy target and immediately starts to humiliate him in front of the others: "You're talking too much," said Jack Merridew. "Shut up, Fatty."(21) He sizes up Piggy right from the beginning knowing that Piggy wouldn't stand up to him and by making fun of him he was letting the other boys know that he not one to be messed with. When he feels that people are about to think him to be weak or gutless, he uses his knife as if it were a symbol of his superiority: "Jack slammed his knife into a trunk and looked round challengingly"(33). His knife gives him power, a weapon that he would use against anyone who dares to mock him.
This democratic society does not last very long as the children (especially Jack) have a lack of respect for the conch and the rules. We can see this when Jack decides, “We don’t need the conch anymore, we know who should say things.” As the conch represents democracy, we can see that civilisation on the island is breaking up and savagery is starting to take over. We can also see a break up in society when Jack says, “Bollocks to the rules!” Here we can see that Jack contradicts himself while managing to diminish the assembly and the power of the conch.
When Piggy is killed, Jack doesn’t seem to care. In fact, he takes credit for it. Jack says on page 181, “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that!” I think that Jack and this point is more worried about losing the respect of his tribe and seeming weak than the fact that someone was just obliterated in front of him. This shows that he doesn't care about anything but leading his tribe, killing pigs, and killing Ralph. When he becomes obsessed with these things, it really shows how far gone he is. Jack is obsessed with killing Ralph and will do anything to kill him. In chapter 12, Jack is so focused on killing Ralph that he sets the forest on fire to try to smoke him out. This shows that Jack wants there to be no doubts that he is a true leader and that he doesn’t care what he does as long as he can kill. Jack really will struggle after they are rescued from becoming good again since he has fallen so
He used to blow it and then his mum would come…” (15) After this point, the conch become very valuable and is what calls the boys to the meeting. Throughout the book, the conch shows how it influences the boys with its power. In this case, the conch holds the power of order, and Ralph in particular make it so that whoever is holding the conch has the power to speak. With order desperately needed on the island and among the boys, the conch gives them the idea to vote for a leader, and “this toy of voting was almost as pleasing as the conch.”
During this whole story so far, Jack and Ralph have had a bad relationship and it eventually leads to Jack leaving the group of boys which shows the theme of Individualism vs. Community. When Ralph and Jack are arguing over who should be chief, Jack points out, “Who thinks Ralph oughtn’t to be chief?” (pg. 127). The lack of unity and comradery between these two significant characters illustrates the message of Individualism vs. Community. These two characters carry a big influence over all of the other boys and their actions are often repeated by the
This shows order and leadership now throughout the group because they all took the time to elect a leader and Ralph suggested a better way for talking to make order on the island more smoothly than everyone talking at once. Towards the end of the novel, Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric go over to Jack’s “tribe” but a tragic event happened. When they were over at the fort, Roger pushed a rock off a ledge and “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from the chin to the knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (Golding 181). This shows that leadership and order have now disappeared because the conch was order and leadership, but after it broke, there was no longer order and Ralph lost his leadership to Jack. After that happened, Jack stabbed Ralph with a spear and had all the boys go after him.
Ralph is one of the few boys who realize that the only way to survive is through peace and order. Because he summons the boys at the beginning of the novel with the conch he and Piggy find, they look upon him as the most responsible of the boys and elect him as a chief over the humiliated Jack. Ralph creates a stable and peaceful society for the children to live; this significantly bothers Jack because he wants to have fun and do things that he never did back in the civilized society. Jack is eventually successful of pulling nearly all of the children out of Ralph’s control to form savages. Ralph represents the civilization, and Jack represents the primitive society.
In Chapter 8 Jack says “He’s like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn’t a proper chief.” He says this because Jack thinks his point of view is the right one, and it can only be the right one. This is similar to dictatorships in the past when people believe their right and anyone who doesn’t agree is the enemy. Later in the book Jack tries to get more followers by promising them psychological needs. Jack states “We’ve killed a pig and we’ve got meat. You can come and eat with us if you like.” Jack is trying to take away any of Ralph’s remaining supporters, so that Ralph is forced to follow him when all he has left is Piggy, Samneric, and a few clueless littluns. Later in this book Ralph is on his own a few hours after Piggy dies, he is considering joining Jack’s tribe because he will have food and protection. In the forest he thinks about the thought of eating fruit, and then remembering the feast and that maybe they would let him back. After that he realizes that the hunters killed Piggy and Simon, so they would kill him
When Jack loses the election to become chief to Ralph, it becomes apparent that Jack is schismatic and wholeheartedly intends to act against Ralph’s actions and decisions. From small nuances such as churlish remarks to fights, it is obvious that Jack intends to eventually either dethrone Ralph or form his own tribe. In one instance, Ralph assigns Jack a very simplistic task of watching the fire on the mountain, yet Jack decides that his appetence for blood and meat is more important than fulfilling his duty to the fire. Disobeying Ralph’s orders, Jack defects from his post to hunt and does not attempt to have another person tend the fire in his absence. Because of Jack’s actions, Ralph verbally scolds Jack and states to Jack, “You talk. But you can’t even build hut...
He had always wanted control over the boys and wished to be the leader at the beginning. Jack believed that he would be the best leader because he was in charge of the choir boys. Even though the boys voted him out he still gave orders to them. In the novel, Jack states, “Shut up, fatty!” (Golding 20).
Jack, on the other hand, is doing nothing but causing chaos. Jack fails to realize that the boys need security, stability, and order on the island. Jack was a leader of the choir before the boys landed on the island. These boys, who were in the choir, still want to follow Jack; however, they have no discipline at all. The only thing that is on Jack’s mind is hunting.
Jack recognizes early on that although the conch unites the boys through social agreements, fear of the beast is an even greater power over the boys. He adapts, and "now [he's] going to get more of the biguns away from the conch," (Golding 133). The conch is a representation of the common power of unity and democracy. Jack notices that respect for the conch gives power to Ralph, who was elected democratically as the leader. In order to increase his own following, he draws the boys away from the conch, and towards the thrill of his hunt.
Contrasting Ralph and Jack in Lord of the Flies & nbsp;& nbsp; & nbsp; Ralph and Jack are both powerful and meaningful characters in William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies. Ralph is an excellent leader; responsible, and stands for all that is good. Jack is a destructive hunter, selfish, and represents evil. These two main characters can be compared by the actions they take as leaders, their personalities, and what they symbolize in the story. & nbsp; Ralph first takes on the position as leader at the beginning of the story, when the rest of the boys vote him in as chief.&nbs Rules and standards are set when Ralph is the chief. He orders the group to build the basic necessities of civilization, shelters, and most importantly to keep the fire going, in hope that they will be rescued and return to humanity. " But I tell you that smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one" (Golding 75). Jack, on the other hand, takes on the idea of every man for himself. He does not care about making homes, only about hunting. When Jack is the leader, evil takes over and all good is destroyed. Under Jack's power both Simon and Piggy are killed. & nbsp; Not only do the two character's decisions clash so do their personalities. Ralph is caring and considerate, being kinder to Piggy, making friends with him and constantly confid Ralph represents law, order, organized society and moral integrity. Throughout the novel he is constantly making common-sense rules for the boys to follow. Unlike Ralph, Jack is unkind, caring about no one