The Importance of Jack's Character in Golding's Novel Lord Of The Flies
Golding's novel 'Lord of the Flies' follows the story of a group of
boys stranded on an isolated desert island. There is no figure of
authority on the island and as their delicate sense of order fades,
their behaviour stats to take on a more savage significance.
At the beginning of the novel, Jack is the most obvious leader. The
reader is introduced to Jack near the end of the first chapter, as he
leads the choir to the meeting. Jack is described as 'the boy who
controlled them' before Golding even tells the reader his name. The
word 'controlled' hints that Jack is a dictator, as is shown later in
the novel.
The first real description of Jack links Jack to the devil, and also
shows his temper,
'Tall, thin and bony; and his hair was red…turning or ready to turn to
anger'
This hints that Jack will become savage later in the novel. He also
wears a black cape which is directly linked to death. Golding mentions
that Jack is the Chapter Chorister for more than one reason. One of
these reasons is to show that although Jack has experience at being a
leader, he is still not chosen as Chief, but the other reason is to
remind the reader that Jack not only is Jack part of the choir, but
head of the choir, and supposedly the closest to God on the island.
This is ironic as the Choir become hunters, and should be remembered
when Jack eventually starts his own tribe, overpowering Ralph as Chief
and turning the island into a murderous, savage place. The fact that
it is the head of the choir that turns out to be the most savage shows
that even the most pure have t...
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...dictatorship, as Hitler did. Jack works through fear and
uses fear to control the others. Although he doesn't actually believe
in the beast himself, he uses it to make the others feel unsafe.
Jack is the leader of anarchy on the island and it is initially him
that leads the other boys into savagery. He comes up with the idea of
masks, allowing the boys to hunt freely without feeling shame or
guilt, and he creates his own tribe, feeling nothing when killing
Simon, Piggy or attempting to kill Ralph. Jack shows what Ralph would
and could have been if he had chosen savagery, and is so immersed in
savagery by the end of the novel that he is 'recognisable only by his
red hair and personality'. Jack shows the evil in mankind and what
mankind has the potential to be if aggression outbalances leadership,
logic and compassion.
The group participated in a variety of crimes like, robbery and forgery to fundraise for its goals and schemes. The Order plotted many assassinations of important Jewish public figures. Several members of The Order, however, were eventually convicted of the murder of a Denver Jewish radio talk show host Alan Berg, who becomes the focus of the play. The full spectrum of racial hate in this play is placed in the audience by moving from intense interactions between Order members and their families, to Order ceremonies and actual transcripts of courtroom interrogation.
On November 16th, 2013, I attended a concert choir, fall choral concert. This event took place on the Wheaton College Campus, in the Edman Chapel at 7:30 pm. The chapel was well-lit, with long pews for the audience to be seated. The concert began with the audience looking up into a balcony, where the ensemble stood in neat rows. They watched the conductor, who stood on a stage in front of the audience, waiting for their cue.
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.
Lord Of The Flies is possibly one of the most complex novels of the twentieth century. This complexity and depth is evident when the characters are compared to the psychological teachings of Freud. The book shows examples of this psyche in the characters Jack, Piggy and Ralph and how they change during their time on the island.
Golding's motives for choosing the island setting for the novel, Lord of the Flies was to have the characters isolated, where the laws of their governments could not reach them. The boys on the island represented a microcosm of world society. Golding chose children because they have not yet been fully conditioned by society to understand right from wrong, and thus are guided by their instinct and what is inherent within them. Golding uses a great deal of symbolism throughout the novel. Different characters provide different symbols. Jack is a symbol of savagery and anarchy. Golding relates the inherent evil with Jack to the evil and cruelty of the larger world, which we all share.
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.
Lord of the Flies, a suggestive name for the Devil, a devil whose name proposes that he is devoted to decay, destruction, demoralization and panic, exactly what William Golding had in mind when using symbolism in this novel. The Lord of the Flies (1954), is a novel in which interpretating the symbols are a main key to not only understanding, but also enjoying the novel. After tying many of the symbols together, you can figure out more about what the author is trying to depict, the overall scene.
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.
With the turn of the century, society and technology evolved and so did the minstrel shows. The introduction of the television gave the shows a new platform to broadcast their content to more American audiences. While not as harsh as the shows in the 19th century’s shows, the modern minstrel shows were “vestiges of their racial stereotyping and performance aesthetics that persisted for decades in various performance mediums. ” (7).
During the performance I attended, two pieces were performed. The first was a Mozart piece by the name of Symphony No. 41 or Jupiter. The second and final was the Lord Nelson Mass composed by Joseph Haydn. In this concert, the two performances differed greatly unlike the last performance that I went to. The previous one that I attended had music that all sounded very similar to me. That could just be my lack of experience with American music, especially music that was composed hundreds of years ago. This time, there was vocal accompaniment with the second piece which clearly made it much different than the other works that I listened to. The Lord Nelson Mass was one that I enjoyed more and I feel that is because of the choir that performed. Although it is not the type of music that I usually listen to, it is still has some more similarities than the symphony by Mozart.
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.
A Chorus Line is a musical that focuses on Broadway dancers who audition for spots on a chorus line. Throughout the play, the different backgrounds and struggles of the different dances are shown to the audience, explaining the behavior of the dancers. As the past of each of the dancers unfolds, the audience understands and appreciates the musical more and more. Not only does A Chorus Line portray the difficulties that performers must overcome to be successful, it also demonstrates the real world fact that not everyone can “make it.” While A Chorus Line had an interesting plot, the actors brought it to life.
In a 20th Century production the chorus perform a seemingly less essential role. As there would be ample amplification of sound the chorus could be projected to the role of town folk who would fit into the structure of the play neatly.