The techniques and symbols used to convey Jack and Ralph’s responses to different situations inform the reader on there different characteristics and personality’s. In William Golding’s novel ‘Lord of The Flies’ we come to a decision that Ralph demonstrates better leadership skills and responses to all situations positively, while Jack response to situations with a negative reaction.
When a situation is confronted Ralph used the opportunity to show his leadership skills and kindness for all the boys on the island. He had a goal to create a society just like they had before they were abandoned on the island. William Golding used symbolism to show the strength in Ralph and the savagery in Jack. Throughout the whole novel, Ralph tried to keep his peace with humanity and kept persisting to make sure that the fire was always burning, this is a sign of hope in being rescued. The conch was also a very significant symbol in the book. It was a sign of authority, the order of civilization and a chance to be heard. “He can
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hold it up when he’s speaking. And won’t be interrupted’ (33) Once the conch was broken it was a sign that the order on the island was broken and Ralph had lost his power. As the novel progressed, the boy’s appearances become less civilized. Their appearances are a reflection of the way they were feeling inside, messy and disordered. “...hair much too long, tangled here and there, knotted round a dead leaf or twig; clothes, worn away, stiff like his own with sweat, put on, not for decorum or comfort but out of custom; the skin of the body scurfy with brine-- (110) Conversely, Jack responded to situations very differently.
He took these situations as opportunity’s to gain power and control. Throughout the novel we come to see that while Ralph is the rational side of humanity, Jack demonstrates the dark side side of human nature.
Jack has lots of experience in being in control since he’s the head boy of the choir. "I ought to be chief," said Jack with simple arrogance, "because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp." (1.228-30)
Once he arrives at the island he wants to be the one in control, make many rules and punish those who brake them. “Jack was the first to make himself heard. He had not got the conch and thus spoke against the rules; but nobody minded.”
As soon as they realise what must be done to survive on the island, jack has the desire to kill a pig for meat. This is the first sign of his savagery. Soon his urge to kill a pig turns into the desire to kill and hunt other living
things. The beast is something that starts to consume Jacks every action, and every chance he gets he will be out hunting for it. The best represents humanity’s inherent of evil. The more the Beast gets talked about, the eviller the boys become. The forest near them burst into uproar. Demoniac figures with faces of white and red and green rushed out howling...stark naked save for the paint and a belt was Jack (140). They attack Ralph and Piggy in an attempt to gain power and authority. They do this by stealing piggy’s specs. Piggy’s specs represent a clarity of vision, and the solution to warmth, safety and hunger. Before Jack turns savage and leads his own tribe, he starts showing signs of evilness and anger. The masks used by Jack show the anonymity of savagery. They display how Jack used the masks to feel freedom and liberty. While he was wearing it, he felt like he could do anything without shame. The mask liberates Jack from his inhibitions, giving him the boldness to act, freeing him from "shame and self-consciousness" (64) Towards the end of the book, Jack feels successful and makes his move to gain power over the island and usurp Ralph. Jack uses the threat of the beast and the easy way to gaining food and shelter to manipulate the others. ‘I gave you food," said Jack, “and my hunters will protect you from the beast. Who will join my tribe?" (150) William Golding used many writing techniques to endorse the messages he was trying to get across. The deaths that occur throughout the book lead a path to the savagery. The first death in the book, was the death of the mulberry birth mark boy. His death was accidental and a sign to be more careful. The second death on the Island was Simons. His death symbolizes the end of any civilization on the island. The hunters and Jack have turned into savages filled with the urge to kill. "Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood (69)". The last death on the island was not an accident and was Piggy’s. Golding used Piggy’s death to symbolize the complete end of any civilization and order. The way he dies ‘being smashed by a boulder’ is violent, meaningless and senseless. The death shows civilization and order against chaos and savagery. The end of the novel reminds the reader that these boys are only children and raises the question ‘how does society view a situation where children are guilty of evil’? When the sailor asked who’s in charge, jack fails to step forward. This is a sign Jack knows what he’s done is wrong and doesn’t want to suffer the consequences. William Golding used many techniques to convey Jack and Ralphs responses to different situations. These techniques help us to come to a conclusion that Ralph responds positively to these situations, while Jack responds negatively, with anger and control.
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.
...r hand, Jack attempts to murder Ralph because Jack has become so savage-like. Jacks plan to kill Ralph is to set the entire island on fire. Unfortunately, for Jack, Sam and Eric tell Ralph what is going to happen to him before it happens. Ralph escapes the fire unharmed. This is how Jack’s violence shows he is a dynamic character in the beginning of the novel.
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.
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.
At the opening of the novel, Ralph and Jack get on extremely well. We are informed Jack, “shared his burden,” and there was an, “invisible light of friendship,” between the two boys. Jack changes considerably throughout this novel. At first he tells us, “I agree with Ralph we’ve got to have rules and obey them,” This shows us that at the beginning of the novel, just like Ralph, he wants to uphold a civilised society. We are also notified, “Most powerfully there was the conch.” As the conch represents democracy we can see that at the beginning of the novel the boys sustain a powerful democratic society.
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 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.
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.
Ralph’s main motivation is to go home. Everything that the boys do on the island is somehow directed at finally going home. They set up a system so that the fire is always burning in case a ship goes by. When the boys let the fire go out and a ship actually does go by Ralph is deeply affected. He vows to keep the fire going through the night from this point on to make sure that next time they will be rescued. When this happens a certain decline happens as well in the book. Jacks rise begins at this point. Jack is beginning to think that they will not be rescued. When Jack begins to break away from the group that Ralph leads. Ralph always optimistic that they will be rescued and Jack sees this as a sign of weakness hence Jack leaves the group. Ralph has many key attributes but optimism and courage are the things that stand out most.
He tries to keep a democracy, but Jack's aggressive nature does not allow it to last very long. Ralph is probably the most likable person in the book, because of his good nature and his handsome looks, "His size and attractive appearance". Ralph means "counsel" in the Anglo- Saxon language, and he's the one who calls all the meetings by blowing the conch, and he's chosen as the leader. The conch is seen as a powerful symbol, and he holds it. Ralph does not specialize in any area of human behaviour, except maybe for having common sense (building shelters, climbing the mountain to see if it is an island) and Jack can be seen as his opposite.
However, at the end of the book, he simply stood for a common human being. In the beginning of the story, before a formal introduction, Ralph was described simply as “a fair boy.” This already sets him out in a favorable light. Then it further describes how he is apparently good-looking and has the natural air of leadership. Of course, the conch played a big role when the kids voted him for leader, but his appearance played a large role as well. For the good first part of the book, Ralph has always symbolized leadership. As the story progresses and the kids became more and more distant from the idea of civilization, Ralph became more like a representation of common sense. Golding wrote, “‘I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts-then you go off hunting and let the fire-’ He turned away, silent for a moment. Then his voice came again on a peak of feeling. ‘There was a ship-’” At this part, Ralph criticized Jack for not doing the necessary civilized things in favor of quenching his thirst for a hunt. As more and more of the kids become more and more uncivilized, Ralph became one of the last voices of common sense. When Simon and Piggy died, Ralph was the last one who retained that common sense and yearned for civilization. He had no leadership powers left anymore, and he stood for nothing more than a
Ralph's society becomes a symbol of the democratic society, where everyone has their rights and an equal say. He assigned the choir as hunters and Jack the position of being the leader of them. The conch becomes an important symbol for authority and civilisation, anyone who holds it has the right to be heard. In Ralph's society everyone works for the benefit of the whole group. Building shelters, looking for food and keeping the fire alive are the three most important issues.
Ralph and Jack are both powerful and meaningful characters in William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies. Ralph is an excellent leader; responsible, and stands for all that is good. Jack is a destructive hunter, selfish, and represents evil. These two main characters can be compared by the actions they take as leaders, their personalities, and what they symbolize in the story.
Ralph. In the novel Jack and his tribe represent anarchy and the downward spiral of civilisation. This is most seen when the conch. which throughout the novel is the symbol of humanity and civilisation. is smashed by the sand.
From the opening pages of the novel, Jack’s dominating attitude is reflected. He is eager to make rules for everyone to follow and punish those who break them, yet he breaks the rules constantly himself. He has an obsession with shedding the blood of animals by hunting. At first, Jack could not overcome his emotions and kill a pig for survival , but by the end of the novel Jack kills numerous pigs for only blood and power without a second thought. This action represents how at first the good in him overcame the evil, but the longer he spent on the island without the pressure of society to uphold certain values and morals, the evil in him overcame the good which leads to his ruthless killing of the pigs. Jacks entire life in civilization he was taught to follow the rules set by society, however on the island without society’s rules and the pressure to follow them, he quickly looses interest in actions such as: trying to keep the fire going or attending the meetings the other boys hold. He continues to loose all morality, he once held, he quickly turns into a dictator like leader, he convinces the younger boys that there is a beast on the island, and he can protect them from the beast, and give them meat. “We don’t need the conch anymore. We know who ought to say things.” By saying this Jack suggests that the conch is useless, and that they know who