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Lord of the flies character theory essay
Literary analysis of lord of the flies
Use of symbolism in lord of the flies
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In the story the Lord of the Flies we find our characters are stranded on an island and find themselves in a world unknown to them, their main concern if to get off the island, but in the case of the savage tribe leader Jack Merridew this may not be the case. Due Jack’s sudden position of power, his sadistic nature and his lack of care for the tribes well being the reader can come to the conclusion that Jack may not want to be rescued. After Jack and a few other savage hunters leave Ralph’s tribe to make their own Jack is put in an unknown position of power. Jack’s tribe are known for hunting and he brings this up in an argument with Ralph and the rest of the boys by saying “[Ralph is] not a hunter. He’d never had gotten us meat” because Jack is a “hunter” and can provide his own food for him and the tribe the reader can assume that he does not need rescuing (Lowry 126). Throughout the story Lowry reminds the reader that Jack is indeed the leader and may not be in need of rescuing. …show more content…
Jack is known in the story as a sadistic person and this shows in his actions and leadership skills throughout the story.
This sadistic nature is shown in the chant the savage tribe made “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.”, this chant is obviously one of a senseless hunter why has lost touch with the miracle of life itself, or when “Jack held up the head [of a dead pig] and jammed the soft throat down on the pointed end of the stick”, this action can be viewed as a sadistic sacrifice. (Lowry 69/136) This borderline satanic act that Jack commits can give the reader some insight on how deeply sadistic Jack actually
is. In the story it was made known that Jack has a definite lack of care for anyone or anything besides his position as leader. There were many incidents where we see Jack’s lack of care, like in the instance of the signal fire where Jack took the two boys guarding the fire to go hunting and “let the fire go out” because of this action he may have taken the boys only chance of signaling “a ship… and going home”, with this lack of care the boys were not rescued. (Lowry 70) With this the reader could make the assumption that Jack meant to steal those boys away because he did not want to leave the island. With all these actions made by Jack the reader can come to the logical conclusion that Jack’s goal was to stay on the island and become the ultimate leader.
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
After being marooned on an unknown, uninhabited island and desperate to survive, the characters in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies are pushed to the limits of their humanity, and no one is safe from the atrocities from within, not even the seemingly innocent littluns. In an environment where civilization does not exist, the boys of the story attempt to form a society among themselves. Among the group of boys is a young boy who stands out from the rest. Jack Merridew, the leader of the choir boys, strives to take the role of leader of the boys, and he appears to be completely competent. In the beginning, Jack seems to be innocent and civilized. Jack is the cultured leader of the boys’ choir. Although the reader’s first impression of Jack Merridew may be one of an innocent leader eager to be rescued, his true, truculent nature manifests with the development of the novel, and the reader is gripped by Jack’s true schismatic, belligerent, and iconoclastic nature.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Power is very dangerous, as shown in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. The novel explores the use of power in both the hands of good and evil and for success and for failure. Also, how some characters respond to having power. An examination of William Golding’s LOTF will show how fear is powerful and how the characters use that to their advantage. Also, the power shifts between the characters and the aftermath of that.
First and foremost, characters in the novel The Lord of the Flies begin to Come of Age when they learn to cope with change. During World War II, the children are flown to surrounding countries to attend boarding school, in order to be safe from the war. In the process, the pilot loses control of the plane and the plane crashes. All of the adults on the plane die and the children must learn to fend for themselves; however, some minors did not maintain their humanity and they start to imagine the beast. The children were all neophytes, so they had little experience of being the in the position to abdicate someone, so they were in a quagmire. Jack in particular inherits traits of his surroundings causing him to go insane. Through the insanity,
Imagine, your plane crashing and landing on an island. You are stranded with no adults, no communication to anybody, and no food nor shelter. You are scared out of your mind; the only people you have, are the ones that crashed with you. The hardest part about it is that you have to chose your leader, the one who can provide food but is not the nicest person, or the one who can provide shelter and is nicer. Which would you choose? This is one of the many situations for the characters In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. In Lord of the Flies, a group of children are stranded on an island; they learn to fend for themselves, and to accept that they may not be rescued. In the novel, the three main characters are Jack, Ralph, and Piggy. Throughout the novel, Jack is one of the main reasons why bad things happen; such as the death of two young boys. How can Jack be a good person and leader for doing such a horrible thing? Because he is determined to find and catch food, he is
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.