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Characteristics of Jack in Lord of the Flies
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Recommended: Characteristics of Jack in Lord of the Flies
http://www.womenfolk.com/ In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the example of a group of British school boys is used to represent our society as we know it. Essentially they are a microcosm, representing our universe in miniature. They make up the key components of society; with each representing one of the four main components of man's personality. Ralph, the leader, represents law, order, and what is right in the world. He is sensible, putting rescue ahead of fun. Piggy is the rational one of the group. He prefers the use of numbers and logic, and is easily the most mature of all the boys. Simon embodies all that is good, and could be described as the Christ of the island. He is the spiritual component of mankind, and does no wrong in …show more content…
He demonstrates remarkable leadership skills, and a faint callousness, which grows with time. When we are first introduced to Jack, he demonstrates this heartlessness, commanding his choir to ignore Simon when he faints. And despite their reluctance, they agree for the time being. In the choir's minds, Jack almost godly presence rationalizes anything, and everything he orders them to do is done. Hence, Jack is able to use his tremendous skills of persuasion to make sensible, and genuinely good people commit callous and cruel acts. Jack arrives on the island having been both choirmaster and head boy. Hence, he is used to throwing his weight around to get what he wants. He is eager to lead and make rules, yet he consistently breaks them to further his own interests. He is mainly interested in hunting, and while this begins innocently enough with the desire for meat, it eventually leads to Jack wishing to dominant and kill the creatures of the …show more content…
Jack immediately tries to dominate the group, nominating himself for the position of leader, and then when unsuccessful at being established the leader, forcing rules upon the group. Despite this, he constantly bends the rules to his advantage. Jack repeatedly ignores the rule of the conch, frequently stating that it does not count in certain parts of the island, and yelling at Piggy when he (Piggy) has the conch. Yet he then uses the conch to his advantage, calling various assemblies so as to usurp Ralph. Ralph immediately looses interest in the rules, politeness and etiquette of society that existed in the "other" world. For his entire life, he had been controlled by the boundaries enforced by society. Yet on the island, away from the world, Jack reverts to his true self. Hence, he sees no reason to help in building the shelters, keeping the fire going, or any other tasks that will better the group. When the beast is sighted on the mountain, the true dictator in Jack is revealed. He immediately begins plotting a coup against Ralph. He twists Ralph's words, and implies that a leader should be a good hunter. Jack values those who agree with him, and those who he considers useful. To further his goal of leadership, he
This quote is significant because it represents what Jack is and what he has done. Ralph calls Jack these names before they lose their temper and are about to fight. In this quote, Ralph has called Jack out, that he is the reason of all the misfortune that has happened on the island and that he is the beast. That he was the reason of all this savagery and that he caused the evil within the boys, he brought it on through his need for leadership and his want for hunting and killing. Ralph calls him a thief and a swine because of his behaviour towards Piggy. He stole his glasses and turned all the boys against Ralph and Piggy who were the only good people on the island. As well as for making the island a fearful place for the boys. I feel that Ralph is right in everything he has said to Jack. He created the fear on the island all because of his need to be chief. As well as turned everyone against each other at the ending of the novel.
Piggy's literal function in this novel is to be the intellectual and logical thinker to counteract the emotional thinking of the other boys. From the beginning, Piggy viewed everything logically. He quickly came to the realization that the boys may be on the island for a long time, when he told Ralph "Nobody don't know we're here. Your dad don't know, nobody don't know" (9), contrary to Ralph's assumption that his father, who happened to be a naval officer, would simply come and rescue them. While Ralph became the natural leader based on his charisma, "what intelligence had been shown was traceable to Piggy" (18/19). However, it is unfortunate that this intelligence eventually led Piggy to his demise. Piggy's direct way of analyzing a situation and voicing his opinion tended to make him quite un...
One of the things that changes Jack was his hatred and drives him to the point where he was willing to kill. In the beginning he was a choir boy who knew nothing much, but his hatred grew when he was not elected leader. In the book it quote “And you shut up! Who are you anyway? Sitting here telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing-” (91). This quote shows that Jack had
Simon was the first and only one to realise the real beast on the Island. He could be compared to someone like a priest or a good samaraton – someone who tries his best to convince everyone of what’s right.
Piggy was a moral person and an uncorrupted person for his time on the island. he was moral because he believed in guidelines and weighed each decision he made with what the rest of society would say. He was moral because of this and never would he stray from what was moral or good in society so he would be mostly correct. Piggy had very strong ideas. when everyone else was starting out on the island, the rest of the worlds rules were with them. everyone slowly was drawn away from
Jack, on the other hand, is doing nothing but causing chaos. Jack fails to realize that the boys need security, stability, and order on the island. Jack was a leader of the choir before the boys landed on the island. These boys, who were in the choir, still want to follow Jack; however, they have no discipline at all. The only thing that is on Jack’s mind is hunting.
He tries to keep a democracy, but Jack's aggressive nature does not allow it to last very long. Ralph is probably the most likable person in the book, because of his good nature and his handsome looks, "His size and attractive appearance". Ralph means "counsel" in the Anglo- Saxon language, and he's the one who calls all the meetings by blowing the conch, and he's chosen as the leader. The conch is seen as a powerful symbol, and he holds it. Ralph does not specialize in any area of human behaviour, except maybe for having common sense (building shelters, climbing the mountain to see if it is an island) and Jack can be seen as his opposite.
This shows how he is a good person and an excellent leader because, everybody on the island knows, that Jack is the only person who has the confidence and ability to kill animals. ” ‘Listen all of you. Me and my hunters, we’re living along the beach by a flat rock. We hunt and feast and have fun. If you want to join my tribe come and see us. Perhaps I’ll let you join. Perhaps not.’ “. (140) Without Jack, they will not have food and the children know they need that, but Piggy and Ralph could not provide that for them. Therefore, they had to leave them.
Throughout the entirety of the story Jack had difficulty with accepting his role as just a hunter, he wanted to be chief. “Jack and Ralph smiled at each other with shy liking. The rest began to talk eagerly”(?) in this scene the group of boys were voting for who should lead them, Ralph was chosen without complaint from Jack because he was perfectly content with being given a bit of power. This scene in particular highlights that in the beginning of the novel Jack didn't care for leading the group as long as he got some power. In spite of Jack’s reluctance to step forward in the first meeting he soon became unmotivated to follow Ralph’s orders and rules. Jack refuses to bid by Ralph’s laws because he does not agree with many of his survival tactics, which is shown here: “"I'm not going to play any longer. Not with you" (127). This shows that Jack is beginning to chose his savage instincts by going off on his own because he does not agree with the rules. Finally, when the boys are rescued from the island the soldier asks who's the leader and Ralph declares that he is, which Jack began to deny: “A little boy who wore the remains of an extraordinary black cap on his red hair and who carried the remains of a pair of spectacles at his waist, started forward, then changed his mind and stood still.”(?) this shows that even through everything that occurred in the duration of this novel Jack has accepted what he has
Ralph first takes on the position as leader at the beginning of the story, when the rest of the boys vote him in as chief. He carries this position until Jack and his fellow hunters break away from the group. Ralph makes it his job to set out the rules to organize a society. Ralph always thinks of what is best for everyone and how they will all benefit from his decisions. Rules and standards are set when Ralph is the chief. He orders the group to build the basic necessities of civilization, shelters, and most importantly to keep the fire going, in hope that they will be rescued and return to humanity. "But I tell you that smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one" (Golding 75). Jack, on the other hand, takes on the idea of every man for himself. He does not care about making homes, only about hunting. When Jack is the leader, evil takes over and all good is destroyed. Under Jack's power both Simon and Piggy are killed.
The fact that Jack acts like this is very important to the story. Jack’s lust for power and blood sped the story up a lot faster. It’s possible that without Jack the boys wouldn’t even become savage. Jack is also a bully, and forces the boys out of fear into what he wants them to do. In, “The Lord of the Flies”, by William Golding, Jack is pretty much equivalent to a middle school bully, but the circumstances he is in, turns him into something even worse.
Just giving orders that don't make any sense—” (98). Jack clearly shows his disagreement with Ralph. Anger from not being elected leader plus being ordered by under Ralph creates conflict with Jack. As he starts to get tired of the responsibilities, the rules and orders begin to lose all meaning to him. While Ralph keeps telling people what to do to help them get rescued, Jack totally does not care about that, all he wants is to haveing power and hunting.
As the leader of the choir, Jack enters the meeting on the shore with the belief that he should naturally be leader because “[he’s] chapter chorister and ... can sing C Sharp,” (Golding 22). He is instantly characterized by Golding indirectly through his words which display both his arrogance and his want to be leader of the boys on the island because he had been of his choir before. Jack has the end goal of getting the control simply for the sake of having the authority, and he is not interested in the greater good of the group. This is shown through his actions, where after failing to kill a pig on first meet, he swears no future mercy and slams his knife into a tree. Jack becomes obsessed with his pig hunts instead of doing duties that would aid the collective group.
Jack continues to show his negative human nature through his leadership during the entire
After Jack abandons the group and the boys collaborate on what to do next, Simon wants to speak. Like the boy with the birthmark, Simon is too shy and his voice is squandered by the pressure of the group. He immediately sought and received empathy from Piggy. The caring of others and being able to put others first are two tremendous qualities in being a strong