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Jack transformation in Lord of the Flies from mean and domineering choirboy to bloodthirsty savage is quick and swift. His character is already cruel at the beginning of the novel and as the story develops this cruelty is enhanced and morphed into something brutal. Golding utilizes the island and the concept of human nature to inspire the darker parts within Jack, and through his use of diction show us the transformation of a civilized young boy into a untamed, animalistic being who relies on instinct. Golding depiction of Jack as “tall, thin, and bony” with a face that is “ugly without silliness” parallel’s with Jack’s cruel and controlling personality (20). Jack is very prideful, very confident, and very controlling, and with these traits comes his sense of reasoning that he is entitled to being leader. When the prospect of having a leader comes up Jack is the first to claim “I ought to be chief…because I’m chapter chorister and head boy”(22). Jack is used to authority and knows what to do with the power he has over others, but because of his abuse of this power he comes off as unlikable and like a dictator, …show more content…
Through hunting and his failure to make anything of it, Jack loses the fear of bloodshed and starts to revel in the fact he can make his prey afraid of him. You can see the island and Jack’s determination to kill the pig transform him. Golding describes Jack like an animal searching for prey “dog-like, uncomfortably on all fours” with eyes that are “bolting and nearly mad” (48). His savagery is unexplainable except by explaining the innate primal instinct to do whatever it takes to survive. Even when he tries Jack can’t “convey the compulsion to track down and kill” to others but can only convince himself that he must do it (51). Jack’s need to prove himself caused an obsession, which has now turned to an unsatisfied
Golding's Lord of the Flies is highly demonstrative of Golding's opinion that society is a thin and fragile veil that when removed shows man for what he truly is, a savage animal. Perhaps the best demonstration of this given by Golding is Jack's progression to the killing of the sow. Upon first landing on the island Jack, Ralph, and Simon go to survey their new home. Along the way the boys have their first encounter with the island's pigs. They see a piglet caught in some of the plants. Quickly Jack draws his knife so as to kill the piglet. Instead of completing the act, however, Jack hesitates. Golding states that, "The pause was only long enough for them to realize the enormity of what the downward stroke would be." Golding is suggesting that the societal taboos placed on killing are still ingrained within Jack. The next significant encounter in Jack's progression is his first killing of a pig. There is a description of a great celebration. The boys chant "Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood." It is clear from Golding's description of the revelry that followed the killing that the act of the hunt provided the boys with more than food. The action of killing another living thing gives them pleasure. The last stage in Jack's metamorphosis is demonstrated by the murder of the sow. Golding describes the killing almost as a rape. He says, "Jack was on...
Jack’s authoritative figure, savage-like/instinctual behavior, and violence are three qualities that make Jack a dynamic character. In Lord of the Flies, Jack is the most important dynamic character because he goes through the most changes while on the island. Once again, a dynamic character is a character that changes throughout the novel. Unlike Ralph and Piggy, the id emerges in Jack because he believes that one’s desires are most important and should be followed, no matter what the situation may be.
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.
“I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you.” (127). Jack leaves Ralph’s tribe because Ralph is a coward and he makes the rules. Jack’s leadership qualities comes back with a force and he makes his own tribe. Jack does like anyone telling him what to do and he is frustrated because of Ralph taking over him. Another reason to make his own tribe is that Ralph does not appreciate Jack hunting and he accuses him to let the fire out. His leadership skills become stronger but in a negative way. His behavior has changed because of hunting and by spending time on the island. Jack has become a sociopath. Even his hunting style has become more violent. After hunting a sow, he tortures the pig physically until the pig has a painful death. He also cuts the throat of the pig and places the head on the stick as a sacrifice. This action shows psychopathic tendency and how he was not able to kill the pig in his first attempt in hunting and now he abuses the pig and sacrifices the head. “He squirmed and looked down.”(160). When Stanley, a member of Jack’s tribe asks Jack about the death of Simon, Jack replies him by nervously saying no. This response by Jack portrays that Jack is trying to tell himself that he his not responsible for his own actions. During Simon’s murder, Jack was wearing a mask on his face and that makes him not responsible for Simon’s murder. During the end of the novel, Jack starts wearing his mask all the time because he does not want to be responsible for his own actions. ““He’s going to beat Wilfred.” “what for?” Robert shook his head doubtfully. “I don’t know. He didn’t say. He got angry and made us tie Wilfred up. He’s been”-he giggled excitedly-”he’s been tied for hours, waiting-”” (159). This quote from the novel clearly shows how Jack has been treating his tribe members. He is beating them for no reason by tieing them up for hours. Jack shows no emotion and he has become cold blooded. The
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.
During an assembly once, Jack declares: “We don’t need the conch anymore...It’s time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of us” (Golding 101, 102). In this section, Jack proclaims how most people accomplished nothing speaking to the audience and the decisions should be left to the leaders, an anti-democratic idea. Desirous for power, Jack believes himself to be among the most useful on the island, even though he is clearly selfish and incompetent, never accomplishing anything outside of hunting. Proposing the idea that somebody as corrupt as Jack may try to consolidate power as a leader, or even an absolute ruler, Golding challenges the very core of the idea of absolute monarchy. The full effect of Jack’s “leadership” is shown near the end, when he and his “tribe” have completely split off from Ralph’s group. During this time, one of the hunters said: “[Jack’s] going to beat Wilfred up….[Jack] didn’t say [why]...made us tie Wilfred up” (Golding 159). Jack has ordered his hunters to tie up one of his hunters for no reason, and proceeds to beat him up as a scare tactic for the other boys. He does this solely because he just has the power to hurt others, which he demonstrates once again when he goes on a hunt for Ralph later in the story. This event clearly shows Golding’s opposition to absolute rule, as Jack acts selfishly and arrogantly, and most of the decisions he makes are completely useless to the survival of the group. All his hunters unanimously respect him out of fear, or as Hobbes described in his support of a monarchy, universal awe. In the end, while all the citizens obey a common leader and do not argue among themselves, the tribe still remains broken and unproductive, unified under a corrupt leader. It can be argued that Golding’s
On the other hand, Golding tries to show the evil within man through Jack. Jack is a character in which he almost symbolizes cruel political leaders, such as Castro, Hussein, Hitler, etc. He is the leader of the hunters, the first time they find a pig, Jack stops, and couldn't kill the pig. That revealed how Jack was civilized, yet later on he would kill the pig without hesitation. "'We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at everything.
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.
The portrayal of the pig demonstrates his rationality of being a chaotic savage. He tends to cover up his actions with reasoning that only deems to be true through the eyes of insanity. “He rubbed the charcoal stick between the patches of red and white on his face [...] A rounded patch of sunlight fell on his face and a brightness appeared in the depths of the water. He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger. He split the water and leapt to his feet, laughing excitedly.”(Golding 63). There is no room for civilization on the island, and Jack takes advantage of this opportunity. Jack, compels himself to distance himself from social normalities through the exterior of the world. The paint on Jack’s face represents his cover up to society and to make himself believe that he is doing the right thing. Consequently speaking, Jack desperately desires confirmation of his actions from one of his peers. However, none of his peers condone of these certain actions, so, he relies on the tangible aspects of life to give him a sense of comfortability. “All that makes sense to him is his own need to control others and impose himself, and hunting, because it is a kind of power assertion” (Lord of the Flies, Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations). On the island, Jack’s role is the leader of the hunting party. Although, this seems
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’s negative effects on others are shown when “Maurice pretended to be the pig and ran squealing into the center, and the hunters, circling still, pretended to beat him” (75). This quote displays Jack’s evil influence because he has made perfectly normal British boys act like mindless savages and participate in this sadistic ritual. The hunters seem to regress to more prehistoric times as they enjoy performing this act. Jack also changes the boys’ behavior when, “The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (153). This quote is essential because it conveys that Jack has altered the boys’ minds to such a degree, that they are blinded by their bloodlust and can’t even tell that the “beast” that they are mutilating is really Simon. It also shows how delirious Jack has made these once civilized children. As you can see, Jack is not a necessarily evil person, but he creates evil
Then Jack abandons his citizens needs in order to protect his position and power. This was a reflection of Hitler during World War 2. HItler oppressed and fed his citizens propaganda in order to Maintain control over them. When this did not work he would punish his citizens by locking them up in jail or killing them. This led to his citizens to be afraid of their leader and of the outside world as well. As World War 2 continued and Nazi germany started losing the war, Hitler became more desperate as he wanted to win, sending in suicidal missions in order for him to maintain his power. But as we saw because he was willing to sacrifice his people for his mission he in the end lost and had nothing left. Golding Wants to show a leader is supposed to be responsible for his people and must try to complete his responsibility. Golding shows that a leader who does not respect this responsibility is able to throw his citizens away just to accomplish their desires. But a leader is not a leader if they have no one to
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.
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a peculiar story about boys stranded on an island, and the plot and characters relate to many prevailing events and problems. A specific problem that is currently occurring is the mutual hatred and enmity between North Korea and South Korea. This is a current event, but the North and South’s hostility has been ongoing since 1945, when Korea was split into North and South, Communist and Capitalist. When the 38th parallel(Border between North and South Korea) was created, Kim Il-Sung ruled the North, and Syngman Rhee ruled the South. As of now, a power hungry dictator, Kim Jong-un rules the north, and an optimistic president who wants to see change was recently elected in the South, named Moon Jae-in. In Golding’s book, Ralph is a character who aimed to keep everyone alive and to stay together. Jack on the other hand, wanted to have fun and hunt, and although he also wanted to be rescued, he made no effort to help. In this sense, North Korea is a clear representation of the character Jack and his quest for power, and opposingly, South Korea is a representation of Ralph and his strive for order, democracy, and civilization.