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A critical commentary on william golding's 'lord of the flies.
Attempt an appreciation of golding's use of symbolism in lord of the flies
Attempt an appreciation of golding's use of symbolism in lord of the flies
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Jack, William Golding’s antagonist in Lord of the Flies, reveals through his experience on the island that it is an individual’s assertiveness, manipulative abilities, and charisma which dictate who commandeers power and privilege over others, and that possessing these traits often negatively impacts the lives of the people leaders seek to control.
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
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They often obey his destructive orders just to avoid being punished. Jack tells Ralph, after Roger kills Piggy, “ ‘See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone—’ -He ran forward, stooping- ‘I’m chief!’ ” (Golding 181) Jack threatens Ralph and the boys by reminding them of the consequences of not succumbing to his authority. They are physically and emotionally tormented, forced to participate in Jack’s violent acts. As time goes by, they willingly join in on Jack’s brutal endeavors, such as hunting Ralph down in an attempt to sacrifice him to the beast. He eventually turns the boys into frenzied savages, undaunted by the barbaric orders he decrees. The boys focus more and more on hunting and exploring, neglecting their primary objective: returning home to their families and civilization. The island boys experience manipulation, intimidation, and brutality while under Jack’s authority, revealing that the impact on those under reckless control can prove to be extremely harsh and
The influence of power, or “power hungry”, has had a huge effect on many people who feel that they must be in charge. These people often have trouble being told no or being told that they can’t be in charge. People throughout history have done it in many ways. Our own government displays this when we elect a new president every four years. These candidates often tell the public what they want to hear and how they’ll make it a better place, when, in reality, they only mean half of it and they just want to be able to have the power of the president. In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the antagonist, Jack, shows throughout the book that he craves power and feels that he deserves it more than anybody else.
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.
After being marooned on an unknown, uninhabited island and desperate to survive, the characters in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies are pushed to the limits of their humanity, and no one is safe from the atrocities from within, not even the seemingly innocent littluns. In an environment where civilization does not exist, the boys of the story attempt to form a society among themselves. Among the group of boys is a young boy who stands out from the rest. Jack Merridew, the leader of the choir boys, strives to take the role of leader of the boys, and he appears to be completely competent. In the beginning, Jack seems to be innocent and civilized. Jack is the cultured leader of the boys’ choir. Although the reader’s first impression of Jack Merridew may be one of an innocent leader eager to be rescued, his true, truculent nature manifests with the development of the novel, and the reader is gripped by Jack’s true schismatic, belligerent, and iconoclastic nature.
When the boys first arrived on the island, their behaviour was civilized and they attempted to convince themselves that they would soon be rescued by their parents. As the days passed, the boys began to open their eyes and realized that sitting around was not going to benefit them in any way, and most importantly it would not help them survive. Because of their new unrestricted life on the island, the boys become ruthless and replaced their previous identity.
The desire to have power on the island creates the corruption of power within all who crave it, leading to their transformation to become evil human beings. In the novel, the boys arrive on an island without any guidance and the lack of civilization which makes it impossible for them to survive for a long time. To ensure the boy's safety and survival, the boys have to choose a chief who can keep order within the boys. Jack, the strongest character in the novel, believes that he is the most eligible to be the chief because he is the “chapter chorister and head boy”(34) of the choir boys. Jack already has power and he wants to become even powerful to point that he can control all the boys on the island. However, when voting for the chief, the
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.
When the boys initially land on the island, they have tons of fun and are completely carefree. Only a couple of days later though, the “little ‘uns” begin to have dreams about beasts attacking them at night.
In Lord of the Flies, Golding’s portrayal of Jack’s growing power on the island aligns with Thomas Hobbes’s assertion that humans naturally tend to act violently and contentiously, but Golding’s depiction of Jack as a leader also ridicules Hobbes’s idea of an absolute monarchy.
William Golding’s timeless classic, Lord of the Flies, reflects Philip Zimbardo’s observations on the power of power through the transformation and development of the character Roger and his personality. The more power available to Roger, the more savage he becomes until it reaches a point where he can violently murder a peer and put his head on a stick for all to see and feel no remorse. Power can corrupt even the greatest of men and if a man can have power and not be corrupt, he has passed the ultimate test of character.
In William Golding’s novel, the Lord of the Flies, even though Ralph became chief of the stranded boys, Jack eventually rose to power through scare tactics, confidence, determination, and control. When Jack demonstrated his leadership skills, it was evident that he was superior to Ralph and would use his sense of Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest) and his oratory skills to surpass and isolate Ralph completely. Regardless of Ralph’s strengths, such as his conch, democratic maneuvers, firm motives, and kind demeanor, Jack’s mere presence ousted Ralph’s chances of taking effective leadership. By using propaganda against Ralph, gaining support from his partisan tribe members, and overpowering Ralph through his persuasive techniques and appearance, Jack clearly demonstrated how his leadership of the island was inevitable.
In the “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, Golding had described Jack in many different ways. In the book, the author proves Jack is an arrogant tyrant who is revealing an exaggerated sense of his own importance or abilities. Jack has a desire for power and uses violence against others. He also represents savagery which the other boys follow. 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 violent, mean, and savage.
The boys are drawn away from a civilized way of living. Comments made by Ralph and Jack show the boys that Jack is resorting to savagery. Ralph and Jack both agree in the beginning while they are reasoning in a civil manner. Throughout the novel the two leaders stray from one another because of differences in motivation. Jack told the boys "We've got to decide about being rescued" (Golding 20). This statement illustrates Jack's civilized concern for the whole group. Jack seems to put the group before him. This unselfish concern soon dissolves as the internal beast prevails over the civil Jack. "I ought to be chief because I'm chapter chorister and I can sing C sharp" (Golding, 21), displays Jacks own arrogance. However, the narrator has more insight into this power struggle, "This toy of voting was almost as pleasing as the conch" (Golding 21). The narrator sees this act of voting through the boy's eyes. The narrator implies the boy's failure to understand the importance of a leader.
Like Jack, the boys no longer value kindness, compassion, or empathy, Instead, they resort to violence and force. This is shown when the boys do their dance and chant “kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding 168) This chant is one of violence and savagery. When the boys see Simon crawling out of the jungle, they don’t care if it’s a human or a beast, their first instinct is just to kill. Another example of the boy’s lack of compassion and empathy, is when they participate in tying up Wilfred and allow Jack to beat him for no apparent reason. Jack’s tribe continues to slip further into savagery. They rebel against, and destroy everything that represents kindness, order and civilization. This is evident when Jack, Roger, and Maurice go to Ralph’s camp, taunt Piggy, steal his glasses to make a fire, and beat up the civilized group. Piggy’s death and the breaking of the conch also represent the group’s disintegration of humanity. Piggy says while holding the conch: “Which is better-to be a pack of painted niggers like you are, or be sensible like Ralph is?” (Golding 200) The tribe chooses savagery over order when Roger releases the boulder that kills Piggy, and shatters the conch. The evolution of savagery is complete when the group’s morals and values become the laws in which they abide
In a democracy, there are roles and responsibilities of citizens; but there are also rulers who decide that a democracy is not enough to satisfy their hunger for power. In the exquisite novel, The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a young boy portrayed as Ralph is elected chief. Ralph is soon faced with the challenge of yet another young boy named Jack. Hungry for power, Jack breaks away from the boys and becomes his own ruthless leader of a savage tribe. This savage tribe turns to murder and hunting to satisfy their needs on the lost island. Ralph Jack and many other boys are using persuasion, usurpation, and not upholding their responsibilities.
1. The boys on the island start developing tensions. One group of boys was assigned to build huts and the other was supposed to keep the signal fire alive. During the time that the boys were building shelter, they began fighting amongst themselves about the conspiracy of the so-called ‘beastie’ and whether monsters are real or not. Meanwhile, while Jack is supposed to be watching the signal fire, he decides to lead his group to hunt a pig. Although Ralph strongly disagreed with this idea, Jack still believed that hunting is a priority. Jack’s group successfully murders a pig but while they were gone, a ship had passed by the island. Ralph gets very angry with him because if Jack were on the mountain, maintaining the fire, the ship