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Literary analysis essay lord of the flies
Literary analysis essay lord of the flies
Examine Lord of the Flies as a psychological novel
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The book The Lord of the Flies by William Golding has great character development and an interesting storyline.The main character Jack, is one of the most developed characters in the book. He started of as a jerk, but by the end of the book, he was quite the villain. This happened over time, starting with the children’s decision to elect Ralph as chief instead of Jack. The savagery on the island, the loss of society, and the fear of the imaginary ‘beast’ all contributed to his descent into madness. In the end, there was no good left in him -- he had turned into a caitif. At the beginning of the book, Jack minded his manners, did what he was told, and even was friends with Jack."I ought to be chief," said Jack with simple arrogance, "Because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp." He was still arrogant, which is important because it takes over him and turns him into what he is at the end of the book. The suffusion drained away from Jack's face. Ralph waved again for silence. “"Jack's in charge of the choir. They can be—what do you want them be?" "Hunters." Jack and Ralph smiled at each other with shy liking. The rest began to talk eagerly.” Here, Ralph was smart and diffused his power so that Jack …show more content…
would not be his enemy. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. You can slowly see changes overcome Jack throughout the events of the book.
“Jack tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up. “I went on. I thought, by myself—” The madness came into his eyes again. “I thought I might kill.”” Here you can see that Jack is overly obsessed with the idea of hunting and killing something. The boys don’t need meat (they have plenty of berries to eat) yet Jack still wants to kill. “He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger. He spilt the water and leapt to his feet, laughing excitedly. Beside the pool his sinewy body held up a mask that drew their eyes and appalled them.” This is another thing that lead to the murders. Jack hid behind a mask of
savagery. At the end of the book, Jack’s condition had deteriorated dramatically. He not only justified killing Simon and Piggy, he was willing to do it again (to Ralph). “We'll raid them and take fire. There must be four of you; Henry and you, Robert and Maurice. We'll put on paint and sneak up.” This shows Jack as a dictator, making people do what they wouldn’t normally want to do. “Viciously, with full intention, he hurled his spear at Ralph. The pint tore the skin and flesh over Ralph's ribs, then sheared off and fell in the water. Ralph stumbled, feeling not pain but panic, and the tribe, screaming now like the chief, began to advance.” This is the climax of the savagery in the island. Jack is willing to go so far as to kill Ralph to eliminate the last threat to his power. All in all, Jack is an interesting character. He is arrogant and power hungry, and would have stopped at nothing to be the savage chief. He ends up being the death of several characters, but feels no remorse for it -- he even makes fun of Piggy’s death. His level of bloodlust has never been seen before in a high school English book.
He has started to show his urge for killing after he failed to kill the pig. When he failed to kill the pig he thought of himself as weak therefore making the urge to kill even more important for him. It was more important than even being recused. He has an obsession with hunting and anything else can wait. With the failure of his first attempted kill his foreshadows that Jack will got worse as the novel progresses. He somewhat still has control over his instincts to kill but he is losing that control. As soon as his first kill has been done, he will become a more fearful person because he has killed. Nothing is stopping him from killing anyone because he can’t control his
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.
is far too much for them. They are in fear of him as they obey his
Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, has four very important dynamic characters. A dynamic character is a character that develops and grows during the course of the story. Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and Simon are four dynamic characters in Lord of the Flies that adapt to their new lifestyles in different ways. Jack is a very important dynamic character in Lord of the Flies because he goes through the most changes during the novel. While on the island, Jack has many life experiences that change him forever. Jack never thought he would live his life the way he is living his life in the island. Jack’s authoritative figure, savage-like/instinctual behavior, and violence are three qualities that make Jack a dynamic character.
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.
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.
Jack and Ralph’s motivation is used in the novel to show their interest and needs expecting from the island through the narrative; for Jack, it is mostly to impress the boys with his singing and hunting skills. The two foil characters Jack and Ralph have different desires. Jack who thinks one of the ways to survive on this island is by hunting pigs and he gives no importance to the rescue fire. Ralph who is eager to get back to his parents is always keeping an eye on the fire hoping to be rescued. After Ralph was disappointed because they missed the ship that could have rescued them, Ralph called an assembly to do a small speech. “‘The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don’t keep
When it comes to Jack’s fear of not being chief, it brings out the worst in him and it has an effect on others. For instance, when the boys are deciding on who should be the chief, Ralph wins by a landslide. “Even the choir applauded; and the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification” (Golding 19). That is the first physical evidence of Jack being humiliated by Ralph and judging by Jack’s personality, he is not used to failure so it has a big impact on him. This motivates him to destroy Ralph and the rivalry between the two begins. Another point is that Jack uses fear and threats to control the boys. For example, when Robert tells Roger “’He’s going to beat Wilfred.’ ‘What for?’ Robert shook his head doubtfully” (Golding 176) it shows that Jack is violent and is using his...
...e and begins a wild chant, dancing around a fire. Towards the end of the book, the reader can fully see Jack’s brutal and savage nature as he orders a fire to kill Ralph. This extreme growth in Jack’s sinister side is very significant as this is what gives him the ability to have control over the group. It is also important as Golding is showing that human nature can be unforgiving and that there is a good and bad side to everyone.
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
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 and Jack are characters that hold important symbolism in Golding’s novel and the significance of their relationship is quite evident as events begin to unfold. When Ralph gets elected as leader of their group, Jack Merridew is evidently mortified at the prospect of losing leadership against Ralph. In an effort to pacify Jack’s anger, Ralph negotiates with Jack and gives him authority over the choir boys. Satisfied with Ralph’s courtesy, both boys develop mutual respect and their relationship advances into acquaintanceship which only takes a matter of time to fall apart.
Jack says,“Ralph is like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn't a proper chief”(Golding 159). Ralph is obviously jealous, and also thinks that being smart is near to nothing in comparison to strength and ability to hunt when it comes to anything. Jack also says,"Come on! Follow me!"(Golding 20). This little quote shows that Jack is acting like the main leader and he thinks everything he wants is the best for the tribe. Jack states, "And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can't hunt, you can't sing—"(Golding 91). This again shows that Jack thinks the best quality to have is hunting and even singing is important to Jack. Singing is important to Jack because he was the leader of the choir. Being controlling and forceful. Anybody would list controlling and forceful as characteristics for a
The phrase “Lord of the Flies” is often used to describe a situation in which order dissolves into chaos. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, from which the phrase originates, is quite fittingly the epitome of discord’s dissolution of harmony. In Golding’s novel, a group of young boys crash on an island and attempt to set up a pseudo-society until their hopeful rescue. Two different ideologies soon develop and eventually split the island into two, one led by Ralph, the protagonist, and the other by Jack, the antagonist. Jack’s purpose is to contrast Ralph. At nearly every decision, they are on opposing sides. Jack’s motivations, actions, and even physical description directly differ from Ralph’s. In Lord of the Flies, Jack serves as the direct