John C. Maxwell claimed, "There are two kinds of pride, both good and bad. 'Good pride' represents our dignity and self-respect. 'Bad pride' is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance." The fine line that exists between these two types of pride is one easily crossed, and in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a boy named Jack does just that. The novel takes place on an uninhabited island, where a group of boys have become stranded. As time wears on, the boys become increasingly bestial and savage, and are led by Jack to lash out against the remaining civilized group, led by Ralph. Through the actions he performs throughout this novel, it is apparent that Jack is an arrogant tyrant because he is egotistical …show more content…
His ego clouds his vision in what is right and wrong, and therefore he resorts to actions no human with good conscience would do. This is shown when savages from Jack's tribe are praising Jack for being a "proper chief". "He's going to beat Wilfred." "What for?" "... He didn't say"(159). Even without good reason, he resorts to violence to force the others to acknowledge his power. He feels that he is above basic morals a human has, and thus he uses pain, torture, violence, etc. to force obedience from his tribe. As the book goes on, he constantly keeps abusing natural human rights. For instance, when Sam and Eric refused to join his tribe, he lashed out with physical abuse, now having no respect for life within him. "The chief snatched one of the few spears that were left and poked Sam in the ribs...What d'you mean by not joining my tribe?" (182). He has abandoned any care towards the boys, and harms them because he feels that as a higher being, he has the right to. Anyone not under his rule, or cowering from his power deserves to be hurt. Not only is he oppressive in his violent actions, but he also is oppressive by presenting himself as an idol. This is shown when Ralph and Piggy go to Jack’s tribe to talk and see Jack garbed in items to make himself look like a king. “…A great log had been dragged into the center of the lawn, and Jack, painted and garlanded at …show more content…
His overgrown ego causes him to be boastful and prideful, always putting himself up on a pedestal. His oppressive actions often disregard basic morals, and he harms many of the boys. Jack plays a huge role in many of the themes of Lord of the Flies, but he is especially involved in the theme of reason versus destruction. No matter how many times Ralph or Piggy tried to talk logically and reasonably, he ignored their statements, preferring instead to be wild and free. He brought down civilization, creating havoc and destruction all over the island. He set the negative precedent and murder was made into a game, something normal. He was involved in both the deaths of civilization (Piggy) and the truth (Simon). The title “arrogant tyrant” may even be too weak a title to fully encompass just how dastardly he actually
Then jack tries to overthrow ralph's authority. He then successfully overthrows ralph leading to the first power change. But admits the boys another potential leader arises by the name of rodger. The author shows how quick the boys are to
At this point, Samneric go against their belief that Ralph is a better leader and that they are civil people in order to join Jack’s more secure but more savage
He kills people as a game and the people try to get away. Another similar conflict is person vs society. In LOTF Ralph is always fighting to keep the rules and the conch. Jack is always trying to disobey and get his way. Jack fights with ralph and piggy because they represent rules, adults and society.
The boys divide into two major groups as the story goes on. the hunters, led by Jack, and the "civilized" group led by Ralph. Each group strengthens its commitment to its core motives as they come to agree on actions and choices. In the end this mob mentality and groupthink result in hostility and violence between the two groups.
In Lord of the Flies, a group of British boys ended up stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashed. After establishing Ralph as the leader of the boys, he attempts to establish order by assigning roles to everyone and a system in which the holder of the conch may speak during an assembly. However, Jack, the antithesis to Ralph, sets up a hunting culture and disregards the use of the conch, preferring to speak openly, and sets up an authoritarian rule. In both of these groups, both establish right or wrong based on what is deemed beneficial to either Ralph or Jack. While Ralph seeks to uphold democratic values, opting to minimize the amount of time on the island, Jack looks for a more permanent solution through brutality and total power.
Lord of the Flies Quote Study Throughout “Lord of the Flies” many of the characters seem to revert to a more primitive animalistic way of living. The reversion in the characters seems to be caused by a lack of civilization. During the sixth chapter, the uncivilized behavior of some of the boys becomes apparent when the conch, a tool used for calling order, is disregarded “‘conch, conch!’ shouted Jack. ‘We don’t need the conch anymore’”.
#3 The boys were competing with each other that made the boys more savage. Evidence to Back up Claims Evidence #1 “ Kill the Beast, Cut his throat, Spill his blood” Evidence #2 “ I’m not going to be part of Ralph lot--....
Eventually, the boys get to a point where all they want is violence. This following piece of evidence shows that the tribe dislikes Ralph and is even going to hunt him for no reason, “‘They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you.’ ‘They’re going to hunt you tomorrow.’” (Golding 188).
“Let him be the chief, the one with the trumpet thing”. The kids on the island had to choose a chief, someone who would help them if needed, someone who is brave and caring. Their options were either Jack or Ralph. To begin with, Jack was a strict leader; he would force the kids to wear their uniforms and listen to him. Granted, he thought that he was always right and demanded the kids to obey him and respect him.
Near the end of their time on the island, Piggy, Sam, and Eric are the only ones left with Ralph, and Jack, who appears as “a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear” (Golding 168). Jack starts to get violent, and what was fun when they first got to the island become attempts to kill. At this point, Jack has fully taken over, and the only thing left for him to do is kill Ralph. Lord of the Flies exemplifies how when one person has all of the power, there is always somebody else that wants it more than that person. Ralph is not against Jack, nor does he want to fight with him for the chief position, but ambition and violence overtakes Jack, and he turns into a dangerous savage.
In the novel, Lord of the Flies, over a dozen boys are stranded on an island with no adults and to fend for themselves. One individual in Jack Merridew, a boy who is turned cruel and ruthless, is being charged with 1st degree murder for the deaths of two boys, Piggy and Simon. First degree murder is characterized as deaths that a person committed was the individual either plans and commits the murder conscience of their actions. Jack is guilty of first degree and should be charged with 1st murder degree murder because of his direct involvement in Simon’s death, his dictatorial of leadership leading to the other boys’ savage behavior, and his disregard for human life.
He promises the boys food, and most importantly, safety, “ and my hunters will protect you from the beast. Who will join my tribe?”. Jack not only uses the beast to create fear, but also the lord of the flies itself. The lord of the flies is a symbol in which signifies what stepping out of line results in. It is this head upon the two-headed stick which frightened Ralph so drastically that sent him into hiding.
In the first chapter “The Sound of the Shell,” all of the boys elect a chief. The way that Jack acts toward Ralph expresses how he is unhappy with the decision of Ralph being chief. The quote “[...] and the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification,” expresses how much he wanted to be chief and when he was not elected as chief, he was embarrassed and upset. In chapter 11 “Castle Rock,” Jack wants to become chief and behaves more violently towards Ralph. The text explains that the boys have became more vicious without adult supervision.
He loved power, which came from the culture of the time, and his personality, which formed during his childhood. However, because he misused the desire for power, this power corrupted him: He became ruthless and used extreme methods to control his men. After he tasted the sweetness of power, he started scheming and murdering to secure absolute power. His people disagreed with him, which led to the final corruption of his kingdom.
The quote found in chapter six of “Lord of the Flies” impacted me greatly because Jack desires to violate the order set by Ralph which was adapted in order to maintain balance between the young men on the isolated island. Also I became amaze by the manner in which Jack wanted disrupt the balance that have been able to accomplish by Ralph. In this quote, one can observe the symbolism of the conch which is power and authority. However, Jack have the ambition to break or overpower the force of authority the conch illustrates. Furthermore, one can also predict that in the future Jack will break the order set by Ralph since from this moment he is not believing that everyone have equal rights of giving their word.