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Use of symbolism in Lord of the flies
Use of symbolism in Lord of the flies
Use of symbolism in Lord of the flies
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We all have evil inside us but the decisions we make and what we do with that evil shape who we are. In William Golding's Lord of the Flies Jack follows the decline character arc. When the story begins Jack is helpful, he is willing to follow orders from Ralph. That quickly changes when he reaches a turning point that plunges himself into savagery. He only goes downhill from there, Jack loses all his civility and disregards others as human beings. Although Jack appears relatively normal at the beginning but he does show flaws that will eventually lead to decline. Jack can follow rules he listens to Ralph the leader and contributes the the tribe as a whole.”Ralph-ill split up the choir-my hunters, that is-into groups, and we’ll be responsible for keeping the fire going” (Golding 42). He obeys Ralph and delligates jobs out to his …show more content…
hunters, this shows he can listen. This is short lived due to the simple underlying flaws that eventually consume him. ”I ought to be chief said jack with simple arrogance”(18). His arrogance and righteousness are some of the flaws that will drive him to create his own tribe near the end of the story. The more concerning things about Jack are his aggressiveness and his bloodlust. “He snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk. Next time there would be no mercy”(29). He is a natural born hunter that loves the chase but this quality will overcome him till it is what he lives for. Those flaws are what start him on the decline arc and he just continues to go downhill from here. There is three key moments in this story that demonstrate he is following the decline arc that will eventually transform him into this monster. When Jack gets his first taste of blood.”I cut the pigs throat said jack proudly, yet twitched as he said it”(73). It all starts with the killing of the pig and jack taking ownership and being proud of slitting its throat. His bloodlust and hunger for death just continues to grow from this point. It’s not that dangerous on it's own but when he starts to disobey orders as well, it’s a deadly combination.”I’m sorry. About the fire, I mean. There.”(76). This is the first sign of rebellion from him. Everyone is mad at him for letting the fire out, this puts the idea in his head to leave. Lastly jack divides the tribe and breaks the rules of civilization.”I’m going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too.”(140). This gives everyone a choice to either go be a savage and have fun with Jack or to follow rules and Ralph. Jack is nearing the end of the decline arc he is the antagonist of this story. At this point jack is no longer a man, he is a bloodthirsty animal.
He loves to kill pigs so it was only time before he switched to something a little harder to kill.” At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock lept onto the beast,screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws.”(169). If he can disregard a human life we know he has completed the decline arc. Jack is bored he has followers and he wants to start conflict. So he goes and takes the last symbol of power Ralph’s tribe has.”From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses.”(186). Now that he has the glasses Ralph’s tribe will try and take them back which will cause conflict, exactly what Jack wants. Ralph falls right into jacks trap. He confronts Jack but he wants to kill Ralph when he oppresses and tries take back what is rightfully his. “They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you. They’re going to hunt you tomorrow.”(209) Jack wants to hunt a human being, he is tired of boring old pigs he wants a challenge. Jack has hit rock bottom on the decline arc there is nothing else he could do that would be
worse. Jack has completed the decline character arc. Jack was a decent human being but declines into an evil animal. In the beginning he was okay, able to follow simple orders he was given. Then he disobeys and rebels, which makes everyone question Ralph’s leadership. Finally he snaps and turns bloodthirsty that only finds joy in hunting and killing. Jack was the reason this island fell apart, he was the root of evil.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
A person is not born evil, it is the surroundings that makes the person evil. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the personalities of the characters transmuted while living on the island and one character whose personality significantly changed is Jack. Being stranded on a deserted island altered the lifestyle of all the characters, however this change made Jack’s personality show psychopathic tendencies. In the beginning of the novel, Jack was a fine choir leader and as he spent more time on the island, his nature became more violent. He started arguing and torturing the boys, sacrificing a dead pig’s head, and beating his tribe members for no reason and by the end of the novel, he was trying to kill Ralph. These actions how how the
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
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.
William Golding’s novel ‘The Lord of The Flies’ tells the story of a group of English boys isolated on a desert island, left to attempt to retain civilisation. In the novel, Golding shows one of the boys, Jack, to change significantly. At the beginning of the book, Jack’s character desires power and although he does not immediately get it, he retains the values of civilized behaviour. However, as the story proceeds, his character becomes more savage, leaving behind the values of society. Jack uses fear of the beast to control the other boys and he changes to become the book’s representation of savagery, violence and domination. He is first taken over with an obsession to hunt, which leads to a change in his physical appearance This change of character is significant as he leads the other boys into savagery, representing Golding’s views of there being a bad and unforgiving nature to every human.
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
The impulsivity in Jack’s commands, usually fire back on him and he is immediately self conscious about not being taken seriously and acts off of those actions with no remorse. While on the island, Jack, who has had trouble with asserting his dominance in a confident way, lacks stability in himself when he fails to succeed trivial tasks. “He licked his lips and turned his head at an angle, so that his gaze avoided the embarrassment of linking with another’s eye”(Golding 127). Jack, has challenged Ralph’s authority as a leader by assembling a vote to see whom believes who should be leader of the tribe. Neither the Biguns or Littluns reflected approval towards Jack’s tyrannical party, which immediately confounds Jack’s expectations as leader.
In conclusion, Jack was overall an unique leader and person, he went from killing pigs to killing humans, and being the nicest person, to not so nice. With great power comes great responsibility; having determination, being intelligent, and possessing great outdoors skills, is what Jack had to be, to be a great
“Everybody has good and evil within them. All we're trying to say is that people are not all good or all bad. People are more complicated than you think, and one has to be more knowledgeable about the complexities.” This quotation from Stephen Schwartz establishes that even the best of people can be bitter by their own nature. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding removes the restraints of society to prove that it is human nature to live primitively and that evil lies within all of us. The sanctions of society begin to deteriorate due to the loss of communication, Jack’s obsession with hunting, and the inhumane nature of Jack and his “tribe”.
Inside all of man is inherited evil that is concealed by our surroundings, and the society around us. Lord of the Flies reveals that without a structure, man is an evil savage beast. The young group of boys show that humankind is inherently evil through aggressive control and power. When the boys are put to do their duties, Jack starts become more demanding and belligerent towards his group of choirboys. When Jack tells Ralph, “I’ll split up the choir-my hunters that it, “ (Golding 42). Jack tries to show his suppirouness over the choirboys and how they are becoming more and more like savages. Jack then begins show his need for control and power by breaking the rules and doing his own thing, for example he says, “ Bollocks to the rules! Were strong- we hunt! If there’s a beast , we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and b...