The phrase “Lord of the Flies” is often used to describe a situation in which order dissolves into chaos. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, from which the phrase originates, is quite fittingly the epitome of discord’s dissolution of harmony. In Golding’s novel, a group of young boys crash on an island and attempt to set up a pseudo-society until their hopeful rescue. Two different ideologies soon develop and eventually split the island into two, one led by Ralph, the protagonist, and the other by Jack, the antagonist. Jack’s purpose is to contrast Ralph. At nearly every decision, they are on opposing sides. Jack’s motivations, actions, and even physical description directly differ from Ralph’s. In Lord of the Flies, Jack serves as the direct …show more content…
Jack shares this mentality in the beginning of the story but quickly replaces it in favor of his own desires. The pursuit of fun motivates Jack first and foremost – a sign of childish immaturity. Laurence Steinberg, professor of psychology at Temple University, stated that regions of the brain undergo significant change during puberty “. . . that are important for planning ahead, anticipating the future consequences of one’s decisions, controlling impulses, and comparing risk and reward.” Jack consistently avoids his responsibility as the leader of the fire watch, which he himself agreed to, and instead spends most of his time hunting with the choir. When Ralph reminds him of his job in chapter three, Jack apologizes but states he would “. . . like to catch a pig . . .” before their rescue (Golding 53). Then, in chapter eight, he splinters off from the rest of the boys, saying he will not “. . . play any longer” with them (127). He invites others to join him, and eventually all but Ralph and Piggy accept. He does not care, or simply does not understand, the direness of their situation. Jack’s motivation, his desire for fun, is the greatest difference between him and …show more content…
Jack is a redhead, and Ralph is blond. The color red is associated with both natural and moral evil along with natural good, but never is it connected with moral good. This is in stark contrast to Ralph, whose blond hair is closer to the color white and related to natural and moral goodness. Jack also initially sports a black cap, which represents two aspects of his character; the cap in and of itself is the suppression of intellect, and the color black represents natural and moral evil. Jack is also quick to discard his clothing in favor of being naked, which signifies him casting off societal norms; Ralph, in contrast, continues to wear clothes even though they become “. . . stiff like cardboard, and unpleasant. . ..” (Golding 76). Jack paints his face in chapter four, which further separates him from Ralph. The mask of paint is “. . . an awesome stranger.” to Jack, and he is able to become a new self, a better self, with it on (63). It also enables him to kill a pig in the same chapter and torture Wilfred in chapter ten, even though in the first chapter Jack could not kill so much as a piglet. An item he often carries is a spear – a manifestation of his dominance and an extension of his power. Ralph, meanwhile, is associated with the conch, which represents order and democracy on the island. Jack’s physical appearance is nearly the opposite of Ralph, showing visually how Jack
The Lord of the Flies is a gruesome story about young boys stranded on an island, who underwent a transformation from polite British choir boys to savage hooligans. One of the main difficulties the boys face during their adventures upon the island, is their method of government, they either follow the path of Ralph, the democratic leader whose main focus is to escape the despairing island; or Jack a power-hungry monarchical leader who won't ever take no for an answer. The two boys are constantly bickering and arguing over who deserves the leader-position. We all understand Ralph wants to be leader so that he can ensure that the boys will return back home, but in Jack's case, it is a constant mystery to us about why he wants power over the other children. But we do get much small hints from the author, William Golding, that Jack's biggest fear among the other children on the island is public humiliation. This becomes more and more evident the farther on into the book, and his fear seems to be what persuades him to reach for a powerful position.
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.
In William Golding’s “The Lord of the Flies”, it can be seen that Jack’s obsession with hunting and the discord he creates in the group is prohibiting the development of the boys’ society. Jack has become so obsessed with hunting that he does not want to help with anything else. The first time Jack refused to help was on page 52 with Ralph saying, “You wouldn’t care to help with the shelters, I suppose?” Then Jack replied with, “We want meat-.” In this passage, Jack clearly refuses to help Ralph with building the shelters because he has prioritized hunting over everything else. As the book continues, Jack becomes more and more obsessed with hunting. Thinking of new ideas to help him hunt such as painting his face or surrounding the prey. In
A plane abruptly crashes into an abandoned island, risking the passengers in the plane. Luckily, the boys in the plane survive this devastating event. These boys, isolated from the supervision of adults, cooperate for rescue. A particular boy, encouraged that he can lead the boys successfully, instructs the others. Unfortunately, this responsible boy disguises himself with a mask, which brings a major transformation. For this boy, Jack, a major character in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, his desire for power is greater than his hope for rescue. By Jack putting on the mask, Golding displays a responsible British boy, who focuses on survival, transform to an irresponsible, aggressive human being who is consumed by violence.
When Jack first arrives on the island he is excited to have rules for their new settlement. Jack exclaims," We'll have rules!' he cried excitedly. 'Lots of rules" (33)! Jack Merridew is a young boy, probably the same age as Ralph, possibly older. Golding describes Jack as "tall, thin and bony; and his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness. Out of this face stared two light blue eyes, frustrated now, and turning, or ready to turn, to anger" (20). Jack's eyes are always used in the novel to depict his emotions, as they are in the quote above. When the boys land on the island they are all wearing their school uniforms, but Jack and his choir are wearing cloaks and caps. Oddly enough, Jack is one of the only boys whose last name ...
First and foremost, characters in the novel The Lord of the Flies begin to Come of Age when they learn to cope with change. During World War II, the children are flown to surrounding countries to attend boarding school, in order to be safe from the war. In the process, the pilot loses control of the plane and the plane crashes. All of the adults on the plane die and the children must learn to fend for themselves; however, some minors did not maintain their humanity and they start to imagine the beast. The children were all neophytes, so they had little experience of being the in the position to abdicate someone, so they were in a quagmire. Jack in particular inherits traits of his surroundings causing him to go insane. Through the insanity,
At the beginning of the novel, Golding describes Jack's physical appearance as "inside the floating cloak he was tall, thin and bony; his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was crumpled and freckled and ugly without silliness" (20). Jack's original intentions were to keep an organized group on the island. Jack agrees with Ralph when he brings the group together, saying, "I agree with Ralph. We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are the best at everything. So we've got to do the right things" (42). Although originally portrayed as a pretty normal boy, evidence of his hostility begins to emerge. While Piggy is talking, Jack exclaims, "you're talking to much. Shut up fatty" (21).
When placed on a deserted island, a group of strangers banded together to try to survive. They decided on a leader, problem-solved, fought off a beast, and formed their own society, even if it was somewhat flawed. This was the situation in the famous TV show, Lost. The Lord of the Flies and Lost are similar in these many different ways, with the exception that the show featured a tribe of adults instead of children. That just proves how difficult it is to maintain order in a society; even the adults struggled with keeping it peaceful and civilized. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding presents a broken society of savage boys fighting one another to suggest that man’s capacity for evil is brought out by the need for power and control.
The author, William Golding uses the main characters of Ralph, Jack, and Simon in The Lord of the Flies to portray how their desire for leadership, combined with lack of compromise leads to the fall of their society. This desire for leadership and compromise led to the fall of their society just like multiple countries during times of wars.
On the dystopian island of Lord of the Flies, authored by William Golding, one can observe the boy's’ descent into madness. When a group of young children were abandoned on an island without adult supervision, chaos rampaged. This loss civility is most clearly demonstrated by Jack and his effect on others. The text illustrates how quickly he succumbed to the savagery, the way his thirst for power and his dire situation brought him to barbarity, and how the boys followed suit, losing all their humanity.
When Ralph blows the conch, Jack is introduced to the reader for the first time. He is represented as an audacious and selfish boy who likes to order others around when he says "I ought to be chief, because I'm chapter chorister and head boy"(Goldberg p.22). It also confirms his hunger for power and wanting control over everything. His choleric and petulant personality can be seen when he says "Shut up, Fatty."(p.23), also revealing that he is rude and inconsiderate of others. Despite his obnoxious personality, his conscious of civilization keeps him from killing the first pig they see. He even recommends that the boys should have rules to keep things in order.
As Jack hunts his “frustration seemed bolting and nearly mad” which shines in his slowly deranging eyes (Golding 67). In Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, stranded boys struggle to find order and civilization on an island with no other humans. After their plane crash lands, a few boys, such as Ralph and Piggy, are quick to set up standard rules. But, not everyone agrees that rules and rescue are what is most important. Jack, a boy who cares more about hunting, disrupts the goodness and order that remains in the boys. When a simulated hunting influenced and led by Jack goes awry, the boys kill Simon. The now deceased Simon is the purest and kindest of the boys. Jack leads the elimination of the only good left on their island. Whether it is his intention to kill him or not, Jack should be held responsible for Simon’s demise because he leads the group to kill him, regardless of his age.
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.
At the beginning of Lord of the Flies, the boys create a democratic government. As the story progresses, the initial democracy on the island is ignored, and a dictatorship rises in its place. This dictatorship fails to keep the boys in order. The author, William Golding, shows that without the institution of a strong government and set of rules people will become impulsive and seek instant gratification. In the absence of order, people tend not to become disciplined of their own accord, but rather dissolve into destructive chaos.
but himself and how he can benefit. Jack simply wants to hunt and have a good time. He makes fun of Piggy, humiliating him, making him feel small and unworthy. "You would, would you? Fatty and Jack smacked Piggy's head" (Golding 78). Jack is a lost boy who begins to discover the evil within him. When he proposes to the group that he should be the new chief, they do not respond in his favor, and Jack runs away, hurt and rejected. He swallows his hurt ego and throws all of his energy into the only thing he seems to know how to do - hunting. He puts on face paint and hides his conscience. This changes him into a savage, evil, The colorful mask allows Jack to forget everything he was taught back in England. "The mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness" (Golding 69). As the plot progresses he becomes less and less attached to any societal norms. Near the end of the novel, he feels no shame about the deaths of Simon and Piggy, or his attempt to kill Ralph. & nbsp; Another difference found is that Ralph symbolizes innocence, whereas Jack symbolizes experience and the inner shadow that Golding believes Ralph, Piggy and Simon represent the good side of the boys. Simon is pure, and the only one who realizes what the beast really is. Piggy is the voice of reason and stands for the world the boys once knew- adults, discipline, rules and civilization. As chief, Ralph knows right from wrong. When everyone followed Jack except for Piggy, Samneric and himself, he did not just give up and follow what he knew was wrong, he tried to reason with the rest of the boys and tried to talk some sense into them. At the end of the novel though, he too realizes that man is not a kind creature by nature. "Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man' followed, regardless of reason or morals. "