The Importance of Jack's Character in Golding's Novel Lord Of The Flies

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The Importance of Jack's Character in Golding's Novel Lord Of The Flies

Golding's novel 'Lord of the Flies' follows the story of a group of

boys stranded on an isolated desert island. There is no figure of

authority on the island and as their delicate sense of order fades,

their behaviour stats to take on a more savage significance.

At the beginning of the novel, Jack is the most obvious leader. The

reader is introduced to Jack near the end of the first chapter, as he

leads the choir to the meeting. Jack is described as 'the boy who

controlled them' before Golding even tells the reader his name. The

word 'controlled' hints that Jack is a dictator, as is shown later in

the novel.

The first real description of Jack links Jack to the devil, and also

shows his temper,

'Tall, thin and bony; and his hair was red…turning or ready to turn to

anger'

This hints that Jack will become savage later in the novel. He also

wears a black cape which is directly linked to death. Golding mentions

that Jack is the Chapter Chorister for more than one reason. One of

these reasons is to show that although Jack has experience at being a

leader, he is still not chosen as Chief, but the other reason is to

remind the reader that Jack not only is Jack part of the choir, but

head of the choir, and supposedly the closest to God on the island.

This is ironic as the Choir become hunters, and should be remembered

when Jack eventually starts his own tribe, overpowering Ralph as Chief

and turning the island into a murderous, savage place. The fact that

it is the head of the choir that turns out to be the most savage shows

that even the most pure have t...

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...dictatorship, as Hitler did. Jack works through fear and

uses fear to control the others. Although he doesn't actually believe

in the beast himself, he uses it to make the others feel unsafe.

Jack is the leader of anarchy on the island and it is initially him

that leads the other boys into savagery. He comes up with the idea of

masks, allowing the boys to hunt freely without feeling shame or

guilt, and he creates his own tribe, feeling nothing when killing

Simon, Piggy or attempting to kill Ralph. Jack shows what Ralph would

and could have been if he had chosen savagery, and is so immersed in

savagery by the end of the novel that he is 'recognisable only by his

red hair and personality'. Jack shows the evil in mankind and what

mankind has the potential to be if aggression outbalances leadership,

logic and compassion.

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