Jack's Dehumanization In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

786 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Lord of the flies how jack changes person

In the Book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, many characters transition from good to evil. However, Jack is the quickest and has the most dramatic transformation. Golding’s presentation of Jack’s transformation into an evil person is plausible and believable. Jack follows three of the seven social processes that grease the slippery slope of evil. Those include mindlessly taking the first small step, dehumanization of others, and being in a new and unfamiliar situation. Jack mindlessly takes the first step, one of the criteria for the seven processes that grease the slippery slope of evil, which undeniably contributes to him becoming an evil person. When Jack first tries to kill the pig and fails, we see that all of the other boys make fun of him. He becomes mindlessly obsessed with killing the pig and vows to kill it. …show more content…

Jack hates Ralph because Ralph is popular and the leader. So instead of attacking Ralph, Jack picks on Ralph’s friend, Piggy. He humiliates, shames, and dehumanizes Piggy. Jack tells Piggy that he cannot go on the expedition around the island with him, Ralph, and Simon. When Piggy tries to argue with Jack, Jack tells him to “shut up, Fatty” (Golding 27). Jack also steals Piggy’s glasses and refuses to give them back, and when Ralph tries to do the right thing, Jack and Ralph start fighting. Jack again doesn’t come to his senses and do the right thing. After Piggy dies, Jack screams that he is really the chief now because the conch is gone. Jack then throws his spear at Ralph and it is clear that Jack is planning to hunt Ralph. He has truly become evil. According to Philip Zimbardo "evil is the exercise of power. And that's the key: it's about power. To intentionally harm people psychologically, to hurt people physically, to destroy people mortally, or ideas, and to commit crimes against humanity." This is exactly what Jack does; Jack has lost all traces of his

Show More
Related

  • Guns n' Roses' Song "Welcome to the Jungle" is Reflective of the Character Jack in "The Lord of the Flies"

    510 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Jack Merridew Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    For the majority of the book, Jack is envious that the boys voted Ralph as leader; he wants to be the hero and lead the boys on the island. He does not act spitefully toward Ralph because he respects Ralph in the beginning of the book. However, he is resents the close friendship that Piggy and Ralph have and alienates Piggy. “We don’t want you,” said Jack, flatly. “Three’s enough.” (Golding 24) When Piggy wants to join the exploration of the island Jack rejects him out of spite. Another example is in Chapter 5, Jack says “That’s right—favor Piggy as you always do—” (Golding 91) during an argument with Ralph over the island’s rules. Jack is primarily angry at Ralph for taking Piggy’s side and coming to his defense. One of Jack’s biggest driving forces is his envy for what other people have, whether it’s a position as leader or as someone’s best

    Read More

  • Jack's Hierarchy In Lord Of The Flies

    682 Words  | 2 Pages

    This first interaction foreshadowed consistent degradation toward Piggy. During the aforementioned feast, during which Simon offered Piggy food, Jack’s intention had been to let Piggy go hungry. Jack claimed “You didn’t hunt,” (74) despite Piggy not being the only boy uninvolved in procuring meat. Due to severe asthma, Piggy was unable to do strenuous work on the island. After the other boys gathered wood for a fire, Jack demeans him again, saying “A fat lot of good you tried,” (42) Jack was clearly unappreciative of Piggy’s condition. At one point Jack even insulted Ralph by stating that he “isn’t a proper chief,” (126) due to thinking and speaking similarly to Piggy. Later on, Jack struck Piggy, breaking a lens of the glasses which both afforded Piggy sight, and afford the ability to make fire on the island. Piggy’s sight, already hampered by the absent lens, was nearly nonexistent after Jack sent hunters to steal the remains of the specs during the night. Jack’s hatred for Piggy was due, in part, to his passion for order, a trait shared by Jack’s other enemy

    Read More

  • Assertiveness In Lord Of The Flies

    467 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Transformation of Jack in William Golding's Lord of the Flies

    1016 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • How Does Jack Change In Lord Of The Flies

    1303 Words  | 3 Pages

    A person is not born evil, it is the surroundings that makes the person evil. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the personalities of the characters transmuted while living on the island and one character whose personality significantly changed is Jack. Being stranded on a deserted island altered the lifestyle of all the characters, however this change made Jack’s personality show psychopathic tendencies. In the beginning of the novel, Jack was a fine choir leader and as he spent more time on the island, his nature became more violent. He started arguing and torturing the boys, sacrificing a dead pig’s head, and beating his tribe members for no reason and by the end of the novel, he was trying to kill Ralph. These actions how how the

    Read More

  • I Ought To Be Chief Analysis

    691 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Piggy is killed, Jack doesn’t seem to care. In fact, he takes credit for it. Jack says on page 181, “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that!” I think that Jack and this point is more worried about losing the respect of his tribe and seeming weak than the fact that someone was just obliterated in front of him. This shows that he doesn't care about anything but leading his tribe, killing pigs, and killing Ralph. When he becomes obsessed with these things, it really shows how far gone he is. Jack is obsessed with killing Ralph and will do anything to kill him. In chapter 12, Jack is so focused on killing Ralph that he sets the forest on fire to try to smoke him out. This shows that Jack wants there to be no doubts that he is a true leader and that he doesn’t care what he does as long as he can kill. Jack really will struggle after they are rescued from becoming good again since he has fallen so

    Read More

  • Evolution of Jack's Character Depicted in Golding's Novel, The Lord of the Flies

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Jack: Almost the Hero of Lord of the Flies

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Inherent Good And Evil In Lord Of The Flies

    1533 Words  | 4 Pages

    While Jack and Ralph are exploring the island, they encounter a piglet which Jack supposedly attempts to kill. After gaining the courage to kill the baby pig, Jack rectifies the situation by saying "I was just waiting for a moment to decide where to stab him (Golding 31)." This event clearly illustrates that along with inherent evil, "man is [also] capable of being good and kind, and has to choice and free will to choose which one he will become."(Ridley 97) Jack's mercy is short-lived, however, and when they encounter another pig, Jack and his hunters are relentless.

    Read More

  • guilty as charged

    597 Words  | 2 Pages

    In addition, Jack treated Piggy with extreme cruelty. Jack's brutal behavior toward Piggy exposed his evil side. This could be why he wanted to kill him, as they began arguing since they had first met. Jack also felt a desire for power; Piggy would never grant him this supremacy, which led to violence either physically or verbally. After Jack let the fire go out, Piggy reprimanded him leading to frustration in Jack; “This from Piggy, and the wails of agreement from some of the hunters, drove Jack to violence. The bolting look came into his blue eyes. He took a step, and able at last to hit someone, stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach ” Jack could have hit anyone else but struck Piggy, showing his deep hatred for him. All Jack needed was the opportunity to kill Piggy, and he would have taken it just like when he punched him in the stomach.

    Read More

  • Ralph Lord Of The Flies Essay

    1545 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jack almost represents the evilness of human nature; he lives only to kill and it does not seem to occur to him the possible outcome of being stranded on the island. This reflects why Golding used the name Jack for this character; Jack used force more than logic. " Jack turned fiercely. ' You shut up!'". Jack finds Piggy irritating.

    Read More

  • Jack's Loss Of Humanity In Lord Of The Flies

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    On the dystopian island of Lord of the Flies, authored by William Golding, one can observe the boy's’ descent into madness. When a group of young children were abandoned on an island without adult supervision, chaos rampaged. This loss civility is most clearly demonstrated by Jack and his effect on others. The text illustrates how quickly he succumbed to the savagery, the way his thirst for power and his dire situation brought him to barbarity, and how the boys followed suit, losing all their humanity.

    Read More

  • Lord of the Flies: The Beast Within Us All

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Everybody has good and evil within them. All we're trying to say is that people are not all good or all bad. People are more complicated than you think, and one has to be more knowledgeable about the complexities.” This quotation from Stephen Schwartz establishes that even the best of people can be bitter by their own nature. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding removes the restraints of society to prove that it is human nature to live primitively and that evil lies within all of us. The sanctions of society begin to deteriorate due to the loss of communication, Jack’s obsession with hunting, and the inhumane nature of Jack and his “tribe”.

    Read More

  • Contrasting Ralph and Jack in Lord of the Flies

    1114 Words  | 3 Pages

    but himself and how he can benefit.   Jack simply wants to hunt and have a good time.  He makes fun of Piggy, humiliating him, making him feel small and unworthy.  "You would, would you? Fatty and Jack smacked Piggy's head" (Golding 78). Jack is a lost boy who begins to discover the evil within him.  When he proposes to the group that he should be the new chief, they do not respond in his favor, and Jack runs away, hurt and rejected.  He swallows his hurt ego and throws all of his energy into the only thing he seems to know how to do - hunting.  He puts on face paint and hides his conscience.  This changes him into a savage, evil, The colorful mask allows Jack to forget everything he was taught back in England.  "The mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness" (Golding 69).  As the plot progresses he becomes less and less attached to any societal norms. Near the end of the novel, he feels no shame about the deaths of Simon and Piggy, or his attempt to kill Ralph. & nbsp;                   Another difference found is that Ralph symbolizes innocence, whereas Jack symbolizes experience and the inner shadow that Golding believes Ralph, Piggy and Simon represent the good side of the boys.  Simon is pure, and the only one who realizes what the beast really is.  Piggy is the voice of reason and stands for the world the boys once knew- adults, discipline, rules and civilization. As chief, Ralph knows right from wrong.   When everyone followed Jack except for Piggy, Samneric and himself, he did not just give up and follow what he knew was wrong, he tried to reason with the rest of the boys and tried to talk some sense into them.  At the end of the novel though, he too realizes that man is not a kind creature by nature.  "Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man' followed, regardless of reason or morals. "

    Read More

More about Jack's Dehumanization In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

Open Document