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Leadership in the Lord of the Flies
Character development in the lord of the flies
Analysis of the characters in Lord of the Flies
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Jack should be chief on the island. He should be chief because he knows what the boys need, food and shelter, and Ralph only wants fun, and Piggie can’t get people to listen to him. Jack has the choirboys, and they are the hunters, he came up with the idea of hunters. Jack is strong, and he knows how to survive. Jack knows that the boys need food and shelter, he has the ability and the follower size to provide both of those. Jack also has a strong pushing force towards others, even though he is too harsh sometimes, he always gets people to listen to him. He promised himself that he would do anything to kill a pig, showing no mercy next time. After not being able to kill the pig, Jack thought “next time there would be no mercy” (Golding 29).
The island boys ultimately choose Jack as “Chief” for his confidence, self-assertiveness, and charisma. His certainty convinces the stranded boys that they can conquer the “beasties” that lurk in the jungle. Jack tells Ralph, “ ‘Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong – we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat!’ ” (Golding 92) Jack proves to be a self-assured and strong hunter, telling them that he will
Jack is the leader of the boys choir group in civilization and he is the complete opposite of Ralph. Jack wants to be leader and won’t let anyone stand in his way he rules through fear and shows signs of militarism and dictatorship. He is cruel, sadistic and preoccupied with hunting and killing pigs to help the rest signal for help. His sadism only gets worse throughout the novel, and eventually turns cruelly on the other boys. Jack pretends to show an interest in the rules of order on the island, but he views the differently because they only allow him to inflict punishment. Jack represents greed, savage and the anarchic aspects of man.
This does not work for the boys are missing the necessary stability that they need. Jack said that they need to decide about being rescued. Everyone starts talking at once. The boys decide to elect a chief to establish rules, so they have a vote and elect Ralph chief (Golding 22). This shows that the boys start this type of government on the island, but it goes downhill when Jack takes over without being elected.
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
Jack has always been an ill-natued boy even from the start of the book when he told Piggy to "Shut up, Fatty." (p.23). Dispite Jack’s unpleasent personality, his lack of courage and his conscience preventing him from killing the first pig they encountered. "They knew very well why he hadn’t; because of the enormity of the knife decending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood." (p.34)
A few positive leadership qualities Jack possesses are qualities such as bravery, authoritativeness and dedication. Jack illustrates bravery when he grabs a hold of the boar and risks getting wounded. The dedication Jack exhibits is apparent throughout the novel by the way he dedicates his time to finding meat for the helpless boys. Lastly, Jack's authoritativeness is depicted when the boys and littuns all obey his orders. Jack's authoritativeness is apparent when he says “Go on!” and the two savages respond together by saying “The chief has spoken” (155). These lines demonstrate that the two savages think highly of Jack and respect his authority. To conclude, Jack Merridew possesses many positive leadership qualities that would make him an effective leader of the group of lost and scared boys.
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
During the novel, the reader becomes increasingly aware of Jack’s dominating and violent tendencies. Specific actions taken are when Jack suggests using one of the younger children as a substitute pig, ties up Wilfred, and hunts Ralph. Things begin to get out of hand when the group’s game turns into a cruel beating. Not long afterwards, Jack suggests that the group
One of the things that changes Jack was his hatred and drives him to the point where he was willing to kill. In the beginning he was a choir boy who knew nothing much, but his hatred grew when he was not elected leader. In the book it quote “And you shut up! Who are you anyway? Sitting here telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing-” (91). This quote shows that Jack had
First, Jack is a cruel human being who says many sadistic and heartless things. This is first mentioned in the novel when Jack says, “There were lashings of blood… you should have seen it!” (69). This quote is evidence of Jack’s barbaric nature because it reveals that he enjoys the blood of the wild pigs. Also, his enjoyment of the blood leaves
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. He doesn’t care about anything else, except capturing and kill the pigs for some food.
As the story progresses it shows how the boys change from disciplined school boys to savages. Jack is the first to show the transition. When Jack, Simon and Ralph go exploring for the first time, they come across a piglet caught in a curtain of creepers. Jack couldn't kill it "because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood (31)." From that moment on, Jack felt he needed to prove to himself to the others that he's strong, brave and isn't afraid to kill. When Jack says, "Next Time (31)" it's foreshadowing his future of savage hunting.
In the novel, Jack, more so than the other boys, mindlessly takes the first step towards evil. Mindlessly taking the first step is commonly known as “evil starts out small” (Tomasulo). Jack demonstrates one minuscule first step by possessing a knife before the boys crash onto the island. This shows that Jack was violent before the crash. Jack also forced his choir boys to march through the dense tropical heat in their long black cloaks. In this instance, Jack shows that he is unsympathetic towards the feelings of the other boys. Jack
While Jack and Ralph are exploring the island, they encounter a piglet which Jack supposedly attempts to kill. After gaining the courage to kill the baby pig, Jack rectifies the situation by saying "I was just waiting for a moment to decide where to stab him (Golding 31)." This event clearly illustrates that along with inherent evil, "man is [also] capable of being good and kind, and has to choice and free will to choose which one he will become."(Ridley 97) Jack's mercy is short-lived, however, and when they encounter another pig, Jack and his hunters are relentless.
Always, since he was just a tot, he had dreamt of power, and on that island he had taken it. He had been so disappointed when Ralph was made chief, but his time had come in turn. That wonderful island had taught him many things. For one, rules are useless you back them with force. Everyone had left Ralph’s tribe, yet no one had dared leave his. Two, the principle of the carrot and the stick. People would not join you because of merciless discipline. You must offer them rewards. Three, there is no such thing as good and evil. People could so what they liked, but when faced with a threat would follow you, and your commands to do whatever was necessary. Back in England, no one would have followed his commands to murder Simon and Piggy, or his unfortunate failed attempt at the same with Ralph. All of the boys would have said no, but on that incredible island, faced with force, they had not. When he was older, he could tell men to slaughter innocents, and they would follow him. And finally, Jack had learnt that murder felt good. All of the other boys would say that it wasn’t murder that they hadn’t known, or didn’t mean it. Nonsense. It was murder, but why was murder bad. He had dreamt of murder, of killing those who had stood in his way, practically forever, and now he had finally had a chance to kill. He had pulled away from the wonderful island, but the murders he had gotten a chance to perform had given him such a