Lord of the Flies In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Jack’s unrelenting struggle to have power ultimately leads to his downfall. Jack is first introduced as the choirboy and innocent schoolboy. However, as the novel progresses, we see his demeanor change into that of a savage murderer. It is quite easy to assume that Jack is the most successful, as we see him being chief of the boys and in charge on the Island. However, although he rose from leader of the choir boys to Chief of the Island, he lost himself in the process. By the end of the story, he had lost his conscience, his morals and all good that was in him when he arrived on the island. At first, it is quite difficult him to be evil. He struggles to kill the pig when he finds it trapped, and is adamant about following the rules: "We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at everything" (pg.192). However, as the temptation of freedom and life without rules starts to lure him, he focuses on ways of committing evil acts without being himself. For example, at first, he …show more content…
Throughout the whole novel,Jack and the boys have been using the night as a shield. Most of their fights, deaths and evil acts have happened under the protection of the night sky. However, once Jack was able to mercilessly murder the pig-without the disguise of the dark-then it is quite clear that Jack’s downfall has been complete. At the beginning of the novel, Jack was introduced as the leader of the choir boys and he was soon given the role of chief of the hunters. By the end of novel, he was the Chief of the Island, in charge of all the boys and the most powerful on the island. However, all of this is taken away when the boys are rescued. Not only is he not in power anymore, but when the Navy Officer asks who was in charge Ralph is the one who
In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding describes Jack as someone who promotes unity, someone who is skilled at manipulating people, and someone who idolizes violent actions. Jack has a lot in common with the World War II German dictator, Adolf Hitler, who had also demonstrated desires for unity, the manipulation of others and increased violence. All these similarities between them led to them destroying their society.
Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, has four very important dynamic characters. A dynamic character is a character that develops and grows during the course of the story. Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and Simon are four dynamic characters in Lord of the Flies that adapt to their new lifestyles in different ways. Jack is a very important dynamic character in Lord of the Flies because he goes through the most changes during the novel. While on the island, Jack has many life experiences that change him forever. Jack never thought he would live his life the way he is living his life in the island. Jack’s authoritative figure, savage-like/instinctual behavior, and violence are three qualities that make Jack a dynamic character.
Jack could have been the action hero of the novel. He is strong and tough and usually thinks quickly when there is a problem. When he first appears he is the leader of the choir and he has the ability to keep them under control and make them do as he wants. Later on he becomes the leader of the hunters and is a good example to his followers. Jack is also physically brave and when he, Ralph and Roger went off to hunt the beast "Jack led the way". Unfortunately, Jack is not good at co-operating with Ralph and Piggy and his obsession with hunting leads to the fire going out when a ship is sighted. When the three boys mistake the dead airman for the beast, Jack takes decisive action but does not really face up to the problem. He takes the boys to a part of the island that is safer and tries to buy off the beast by leaving the pig's head as a sort of offering. Jack thus has many qualities required to be a hero but when he is in control he bullies the boys and is partly responsible for the deaths of Simon and Piggy. He is not deliberately evil but his actions often have evil consequences, so Jack cannot really be considered a hero in the novel.
Jack Merridew is the devil-like figure in the story, Lord of the Flies. Jack is wicked in nature having no feelings for any living creature. His appearance and behavior intimidates the others from their first encounter. The leading savage, Jack leans more towards hunting and killing and is the main reason behind the splitting of the boys. It has been said that Jack represents the evilness of human nature; but in the end, Jack is almost a hero. With his totalitarian leadership, he was able to organize the group of boys into a useful and productive society
In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Jack is the character that experiences the most change. Jack begins the novel as a somewhat arrogant choirboy, who cries when he is not elected leader of the island. Jack is gradually transformed into a vicious killer who has no respect for human life. Through a series of stages, such as leading the choir, leading the hunting tribe, wearing the mask, killing Simon, separating from the group and intentionally killing Piggy, Jack degenerates from a normal, arrogant school boy into a savage beast.
Even though they are the most vicious boys in the book they are also very well liked and are in sort of a higher class/ ranking than the other boys. When talking about how to reenact the hunting scene of the pig Jack says something deep down disgusting “Or someone to pretend- Use a littlun said Jack, and everybody laughed.” (Golding 115). Jack always disliked the little’uns and in the book it seems as if the reason was because they just simply didn’t do enough. He and his choir boys/ hunters always think that since they complete the task of providing lots of meat they are higher up than the other boys. They do help with feeding the group but also show disrespect and disregard for the little’uns. Many people who may be more respected and even higher up in the working class look down upon others and act as if they are better than them because they are more privileged or successful. When deciding basic jobs ralph suggests "Jack's in charge of the choir. They can be—what do you want them be?" "Hunters."(Golding 23). Jack has the ambition and drive for what he wants as a leader but lacks the selfless aspect and a regard for others. In the book he is always shown as the leader of the hunters, the chief or the head choir boy. The hunters and he even specifically turn into their own separate group when Jack starts his own dictatorship. Public in real life demonstrate similar behaviors
While his situation allowed his personality to blossom into something horrible, the desire for blood and power already flowed through his veins. An example from the beginning, before the corruption of the boys, was when Jack first arrived at the meeting with his choir following behind. They were wearing their cloaks in the heat and Jack only let them rest after Simon had fainted. Jack’s controlling nature can be observed from the very beginning of the book. At this time, decorum still covered his bloodlust, but it was quickly triggered after he hadn’t been able to kill a pig. The text reads that “Next time there would be no mercy”(p.31) He was not only embarrassed of his weakness and wanted to uphold his status, but he was also losing the civility that an organized society ensured. The island was the key that unlocked Jack’s hidden, savage
The fact that Jack acts like this is very important to the story. Jack’s lust for power and blood sped the story up a lot faster. It’s possible that without Jack the boys wouldn’t even become savage. Jack is also a bully, and forces the boys out of fear into what he wants them to do. In, “The Lord of the Flies”, by William Golding, Jack is pretty much equivalent to a middle school bully, but the circumstances he is in, turns him into something even worse.
Jack was defiant from the start and showed how he was giving into the darkness. Since the boys first arrived on the island, Jack seemed to stray away from the beaten path in the sense that whatever the rest of the group decided Jack wanted to question, oppose, or downright argue with until he was finally given command of his own men. On page 22, Jack says, "I ought to be chief,”[…]” because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.” This shows that Jack is selfish and only wants to be in control, never thinking of the others around him. Jack still has some good in him at this time. Early on, Jack was faced with the temptation of the darkness inside of him, but at this point, he was still trying to fight it. Page 51
Ralph, the first character introduced to the audience, is probably the most likable character in the entire story. Although he does not ponder such deeply like Piggy, is not as spiritual like Simon, or as energetic as Jack, there is something in him that attracts the audience. Ralph serves as the protagonist of the story. He is described as being a playful, innocent child in the beginning, but towards the end he matures significantly. In the first chapter where he takes his clothes off and goes swimming like any child would do, he seems to be Adam in the Garden of Eden, a child left to play with the nature.
“The duty of the youth is to challenge corruption,” Kurt Cobain once said. The Lord of the Flies tells a fictional story of a group of kids whose plane crashes on an island. Among these boys is Jack, a choirboy who is eager to hunt and create laws. However, in Lord of the Flies, the character Jack shows himself to be an arrogant tyrant because throughout the novel he acts in a way that is cruel, evil, and violent.
People can do anything that involves fear including turning on someone and attempting to kill them. William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies in 1952 during the cold war. This affects the novel because children were often killed during war.This novel is important because the novel shows how the boys communicate and survive on the island. Lord of the Flies is about a group of boys on an island without any adults. In order to survive, they will have to work as a team. In the essay, I will talk about how Jack and Ralph comparison, how they have changed, and there purpose in the novel.
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.
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.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel that represents a microcosm of society in a tale about children stranded on an island. Of the group of young boys there are two who want to lead for the duration of their stay, Jack and Ralph. Through the opposing characters of Jack and Ralph, Golding reveals the gradual process from democracy to dictatorship from Ralph's democratic election to his lack of law enforcement to Jack's strict rule and his violent law enforcement.