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Essay analysis of one character lord of the flies
Essay analysis of one character lord of the flies
Lord of the flies jack
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In the book, Lord of the Flies, character Jack Merridew represents Id. From the beginning of the book, Jack has anger and savagery and also a slight childish character. One reason I think Jack is the Id is because he could care less about order or rules. For example in the novel Jack leaves the original group because he didn’t like the rules Ralph ordered. “He’s not a hunter. He’d never have got us meat. He isn’t a perfect and we don’t know anything about him. He just gives us orders and expects people to obey for nothing..” (Golding 126). Since Jack is the Id he comes with temper and wildness. All the other boys are younger and will tend to go with the person that seems more fun and where they will have to be less likely to follow rules.
Which in this case is Jack and not the chief, Ralph. This is because Jack is barbaric and doesn’t want any order or structure. One reason showing this, Jack wants there to be any rules, bad things will be more likely to have bad things happen. As Thomas Hobbes believed, “People need a government to keep people in check.” (Hobbes). A weird thing though is he wants to be in control of everyone but he doesn’t want anyone to control him and he doesn’t want order. He simply wants the title of chief. One incident that happened was when the boys speared Simon to death. This is the result from Jack starting his own tribe and being an Id.
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.
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.
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.
In the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the concept of good fighting evil is clearly shown to be a big picture. In many cases, Jesus Christ represents good and bliss in the universe, while the devil represents evil. In this novel the reader sees the when good fights evil, the evil is a good turned evil. For example, before the devil became evil, he was an angel. He was good turned evil and is now fighting good. Simon represents the good and bliss, he is the Christ figure on the island while evil and savagery is shown in the other boys on the island. Both Simon and Christ share common qualities, actions, and deaths. Simon shows this throughout the novel, from the beginning until the time of his death.
Civilization is the force that keeps us all in line. We are taught from an early age that if we break a rule, we are punished. Why? Because that’s how society works. What would happen, though, if we took away society, civilization, and punishment. Would we keep up the rules that had been etched into us since birth and keep living in a civilized manner? In Lord of the Flies, Golding explores this scenario. In his opinion, a person would abandon all ideas of society and revert into a savage, relying on primal instincts to survive. The main character that goes through this is Jack. Throughout the book, Jack goes from being a civilized choir boy to a savage tyrant.
Jack is a low down dirty character who feasts on the imaginations of little boys to gain power amongst himself. Being only ten years old you would wonder how a little kid could become so rotten so early well Jack is living proof of that. Being in control of others brings Jacks happiness sky high its almost as if something comes over him every time he speaks to someone, it's as if in his past life he had horrible experiences with the world and has come back just to tarnish the lives of many young boys during the most tragic tragedy of their lives.I most deeply admire the fact that Jack knows what he wants which is essential in a life that we are living in today because it may interpret your future. What I dislike is that Jack knowingly arrived on this famished island with a plan even though the crash was not expected.The plan was to take existent land that was not entitled to anyone and turn the island into "Jacks World", a place where you will be taken
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.
The name Jack began to appear in medieval times as a derivative of John. Since then it has only grown in popularity all around the world. However, in 1940’s England Jack was much less common than it’s proper form, John. So why did author William Golding name his antagonist “Jack Merridew” in his award-winning novel, “Lord of the Flies”. The pale boy with freckles and fiery red hair uses the fear of the younger boys to create his own society of savages on the island. The characterization and name of this character create a subconscious feeling about the character before you get to know them. This is particularly significant in the case of Jack Merridew. This character is the becomes the embodiment of his name, both first and last, and mirroring
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.
In literature, as in life, people struggle with the principles and beliefs they hold. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, Ralph represents order, civilization, and leadership. On the island, Ralph is conflicted with his principles and beliefs that he has acquired over the years of living in a civilized and humane world and is caught between holding on to them or submitting to the barbarism that seems to have taken over the other boys.
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, each of the theories discussed apply to the characters in the lord of the flies in some way. Jack shows his potential evil and stops suppressing his inner savagery, he responds to his id and his super-ego starts to have a lessened effect on his it, and he breaks both of the agreements in the social contract. Piggy and Ralph are able to suppress their inner savagery, and act as certain parts of the psyche, interacting together they are able to make ethically correct choices, and stay in the social contract they have entered.
The whole entire story could've had an entire different outcome if Jack didn’t have so many personality blemishes. Jack seems like he has something wrong with him as far as handling his emotions go. He is always very mean to Piggy and was the first to thirst for blood.