Lord of the Flies In the novel Lord of The Flies, William Golding uses character development throughout the novel to illustrate what raw humanity can become. The characters Ralph, Piggy, and Jack all represent different sides of human nature. Jack is the side of humanity that Golding wants the reader to recognize. Golding’s idea of humanity is that people can easily revert to savagery and a state of being that took us thousands of years to evolve out of. In the beginning, Jack wanted to lead the boys and be the chief, but not to the point of killing. He agreed with Ralph on things like having rules and being rescued. I agree with Ralph. We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best …show more content…
Jack and his tribe have lost their moral compasses and hurt and killed with no reservations, even their own tribe members. Golding uses this moment in the novel to illustrate the things people can do even to their fellow friends, or in this case tribe members, when they revert to savagery and lose reservations and respect for other people. Furthermore, near the end of the novel and at the peak of Jack’s fierce barbarism, Jack plans to hunt and kill another human, Ralph. Jack has been humiliated and shut down multiple times by Ralph’s leadership, so in his savagery Jack doesn’t even think twice about starting a hunt for Ralph. Jack has become so barbaric that while he had his tribe sweep the island to find and kill Ralph, he had Roger sharpen a stick at both ends, to put Ralph’s head on when they caught him. Jack began unable to kill a small pig stuck in a bush and ended up willing to torture and kill fellow humans, and put their head on a stick. “”But what are you going to do when you catch me?” Silence above [...] “What are you going to do—?” From the top of the towering rock came the incomprehensible reply. “Roger sharpened a stick at both ends””(Page
Writer Steven James said, “The true nature of man left to himself without restraint is not nobility but savagery.” This quote can be used to accurately describe Jack Merridew, one of the young boys who becomes stranded on an unknown island in the Pacific. Lord of the Flies was written by William Golding; the novel explores the dark side of humanity and the underlying savagery in even the most civilized person. The novel opens on a group of British boys between ages six and twelve stranded on a tropical island without adult supervision. The boys elect a leader in an attempt to form a civilized society; however, their peaceful island descends into chaos as Ralph and Jack continuously argue over who should be the leader of the island. From the beginning of the novel, Jack is seen as power hungry, envious, and manipulative to further his own agenda, the anti-thesis to Ralph’s concern with social order and their future.
The book Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an exhilarating novel that is full of courage, bravery, and manhood. It is a book that constantly displays the clash between two platoons of savage juveniles mostly between Jack and Ralph who are the main characters of the book. The Kids become stranded on an island with no adults for miles. The youngsters bring their past knowledge from the civilized world to the Island and create a set of rules along with assigned jobs like building shelters or gathering more wood for the fire. As time went on and days past some of the kids including Jack started to veer off the rules path and begin doing there own thing. The transformation of Jack from temperately rebellious to exceptionally
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.
Throughout William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies there is an ever-present conflict between two characters. Ralph's character combines common sense with a strong desire for civilized life. Jack, however, is an antagonist with savage instincts, which he cannot control. Ralph's goals to achieve a team unit with organization are destroyed by Jack's actions and words that are openly displayed to the boys. The two leaders try to convince the boys that their way of survival is correct.
The irony of the plane crashing to start the story, the environment of an unknown island and many other cruel acts function into the work as a whole because it really does set up the major plot in the story. Cruelty will bring out the worst in people and this phrase proves to be true when it comes to Jack. The killing of the pig and the obsession of blood lust drives Jack into savagery and reveals that he is not morally strong. The violence also shows that Jack is manipulative as he uses the fear of the beast to gain power. While cruelty transforms Jack, Ralph stays morally strong and represents civilization throughout the novel. Cruelty proves to shows that Ralph’s character is very intelligent as he is able to think deeply. Cruelty also reveals how strong morally he is and how he will not succumb to savagery like the majority of the boys do. Lord of the Flies by William Golding, just proves to show that the cruelness of our savage, beast like instincts will take over without the order, rule, and conduct that civilized societies have to
In Lord of the Flies, William Golding expresses the idea that humans are naturally immoral, and that people are moral only because of the pressures of civilization. He does this by writing about a group of boys, and their story of survival on an island. The civilized society they form quickly deteriorates into a savage tribe, showing that away from civilization and adults, the boys quickly deteriorate into the state man was millions of years ago. This tendency is shown most in Jack, who has an animalistic love of power, and Roger, who loves to kill for pleasure. Even the most civilized boys, Ralph and Piggy, show that they have a savage side too as they watch Simon get murdered without trying to save him. Simon, the only one who seems to have a truly good spirit, is killed, symbolizing how rare truly good people are, and how quickly those personalities become corrupted.
Contrasting Ralph and Jack in Lord of the Flies & nbsp;& nbsp; & nbsp; 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. & nbsp; Ralph first takes on the position as leader at the beginning of the story, when the rest of the boys vote him in as chief.&nbs Rules and standards are set when Ralph is the chief. He orders the group to build the basic necessities of civilization, shelters, and most importantly to keep the fire going, in hope that they will be rescued and return to humanity. " But I tell you that smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one" (Golding 75). Jack, on the other hand, takes on the idea of every man for himself. He does not care about making homes, only about hunting. When Jack is the leader, evil takes over and all good is destroyed. Under Jack's power both Simon and Piggy are killed. & nbsp; Not only do the two character's decisions clash so do their personalities. Ralph is caring and considerate, being kinder to Piggy, making friends with him and constantly confid Ralph represents law, order, organized society and moral integrity. Throughout the novel he is constantly making common-sense rules for the boys to follow. Unlike Ralph, Jack is unkind, caring about no one
A civilization is an advanced habitat of many levels and a dignified social structure. A place where its inhabitants live by rules, made so people stay in order, with a purpose to everyone's life. A job, so everyone can succeed and pursue their own form of happiness. As depicted William Golding's Lord of the Flies, when one is alone on an island with nothing but the companionship of a group of boys, one resorts to its savage behaviors, dark powers to control the mind. In this time of need and desperation, wisdom and good-heartedness is ignored, only the purest form of savagery accepted. In civilization, one relies on one another, and when food is scarce, a new leader is born. Golding expresses many symbols to explain
In Lord of the Flies, William Golding illustrates how people are naturally savage and uncivilized, not inherently good or evil, as their environment and circumstances influence their behavior. Before they crash-landed on the island, the boys were all good, but as the story unfolds, we see the boys become more hostile and much more violent. Golding portrays this transformation through characters like Jack, who initially embodies kindness but undergoes a significant shift toward aggression and violence on the island. Jack's descent into savagery illustrates how environmental factors can overrule inherent goodness, leading to destructive behavior. “Jack made a rush and stabbed Ralph's chest with his spear...
The characters Ralph, Piggy, and mostly Simon, represented the good of the island. Ralph was the elected leader who did everything in his power to be fair. For example, on page 23, the quote “ …the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification. Ralph looked at him, eager to offer something. ‘Jack’s in charge of the choir, so he will lead the hunters’ ,” shows how fair Ralph is because even though Ralph was elected was leader, he felt bad for Jack, so he appointed Jack to be the leader of the hunters (Golding). Piggy was the rational one who tried to help people realize the situation and to take responsibility. Piggy looked out for every single boy on that island, including Jack, who was cruel to him. Simon was the Christ-like figure who always knew what was good and bad. An example of Simon being Christ-like is described on page 56 when Golding writes, “Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands.” This quote represents Christ because Simon is described as a provider of food; providing fruit in the way that Christ provided bread. Lord of the Flies has different levels of aspects for both good and evil. William Golding did a great job explaining the true meaning between benevolence and malevolence, which is
Robert Louis Stevenson once said, “In each of us, two natures are at war – the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer.”. This internal conflict couldn't be more evident than in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, as he uses a group of boys stranded on an island, liberated from authority, as they fight between their good and bad sides. In this novel, William Golding demonstrates how all human beings have a natural capacity for brutality and evil. One way that William Golding conveys that all human beings have a natural capacity for brutality and evil is through the character of Jack.
In the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the symbolic relationship of Ralph and Jack makes the thematic statement that maturity tries to work with ego but eventually fails. This is one of the most compelling thematic storylines in the book as it evolves so theatrically while teaching the reader a lesson along the way. These underlying themes are found throughout the book and the representations of Jack and Ralph fit perfectly within. During the election held by Ralph, the group appoints Ralph as their leader due to his maturity, despite Jack's egotistical attempts to take control. The boys recognize Ralph’s mature nature immediately and cling to the comfort of his “grown up” authority during the election when it is said, “The clamor
The Innate Evil Within Mankind: How Golding Portrayed the Truth of Humanity. Practically everyone ever alive has witnessed some sort of conflict. Whether it be a small spat that soon subsides or a war spanning years, people are known for their fights. In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding depicts a group in which the only success lay through bloodshed, and in this way, he portrays the true malicious nature of human society.
The abrupt moral decline of the boys in The Lord of the Flies, resulting in a savage tribe, can be traced back to faults within the individual characters. Without the imagained, imposed barriers of civility, the primitive tendencies of the characters are expressed. From the beginning, Jack targets Piggy, both of whom are older boys in the novel. The first instance of this is when Jack says Piggy is ‘talking too much,’ and calls him ‘Fatty’ (17). Through Jack and Piggy’s relationship, Golding introduces the hierarchy of strength that will form the basis of the boy’s savage tribe.
Golding creates a world of increasing violence as time goes on throughout this book by showing the characters’ differences in personality, allowing the setting and events to force the boys to make choices, and by allowing the boys to behave in unthinkable ways which allows for both us as readers and the characters to be able to understand how violence can occur without humans being fully conscious of what actions, impulses, and desires they are acting upon. The boys who have become stranded on this island have extremely strong and prominent personalities which causes them to argue and fight over what to do and how they should figure out ways in order to survive the new world they have to learn to survive in. In chapter one of Lord of the Flies, we first meet Ralph and Piggy. Then, as the chapter continues, we are also introduced to Jack, Simon, and a few other