Jack's Power In Lord Of The Flies

In Lord of the Flies, each character has their own distinct characteristics, Jack coveted the power Ralph obtained as chief, held back by his asthma Piggy contributed to the group with his intelligence, and while Ralph did not abuse his power, Jack’s influence tarnished his ability to lead. Though all four of the boys personally, Simon shone through as an example of character and staying true to one's beliefs.

Golding’s character Jack loves power and abuses it, he never thought of the full ramifications of his actions, and while on the island, no grown-ups can tell him what to do. Golding emphasized this when Jack allowed the fire to go out while he went hunting, “Ralph spoke. ‘You let the fire go out.’ Jack checked, vaguely irritated by this

irreverence but too happy to let it worry him. ‘We can light the fire again. You should have been with us, Ralph. We had a smashing time [killing the pig].’ “(Golding 69) Golding these moments, where Jack obsessed over hunting (and killing) the pig, and as he brought all of the boys hunting no one watched the fire and it went out. To Jack catching the meat seemed like the most important thing in the world, which led him to become lost in his mind and to rarely look outside of his bubble to see the effect his actions would carry.
Similarly to Jack, Ralph came naturally to power, and he never abused it, though throughout the novel Ralph seems oblivious to the power Jack holds and what he will do to achieve what he wants.

Even after he won the election for chief of the island, Ralph never understood how power affected Jack: “Jack’s in charge of the choir. They can be-what do you want them to be?’ ‘Hunters.’ Jack and Ralph smiled at each other with a shy liking.” (Golding 23) Ralph shared power with Jack in an attempt to include Jack after he lost the lost the election for chief, although this gave Jack an opportunity to abuse his power, foreshadowing the events to

come.
All throughout the novel, Golding portrayed Piggy stayed as the closest thing to a grown-up on the island; he surpassed the other boys in intelligence, but circumstances such as his asthma, held him back physically. Piggy experienced the effects of his asthma at the time
Ralph … was pointing into the lagoon. Something creamy lay among the ferny weeds. ‘A stone.’ ‘No a shell.’ Suddenly Piggy was a-bubble with decorous excitement. S’right. It’s a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone’s back wall. A conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It’s ever so valuable-’ (Golding 15)
Soon after he and Ralph met his intelligence shined through as he helped to find the conch, although he could not retrieve it from the waters due to his physical limitations, so Ralph did, Without Piggy, Ralph wouldn’t have found the conch shell and therefore finding the other boys, or calling for assemblies could prove impossible.

Piggy, in essence, represented the “grown-ups” and in that, he held on to the only representation of social order that was left on the island the conch. He did not comprehend that everyone else (or at least Jack) no longer cared for the rules, and when he did realize this he could not let

go.
In contrast to Jack, Piggy, and Ralph, held no firm belief in one subject of order, he went with the flow, while he still showed kindness to others. Simon showed kindness to Piggy when Jack breaks his glasses and when Jack refuses to feed him, without thinking about the consequences (or not caring) he picks up Piggy's glasses and gives him his food even as Jack criticizes him. In these actions, although Simon is helping Piggy, he shows a certain form of regret which slightly diminishes his prior actions. “Simon, sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it. The twins giggled and Simon lowered his face in shame.” (Golding 74) Through these actions, Simon is kind, wise, and in a way, more mature than the other boys, which is a model for what I hope to be like.