Archetype In Lord Of The Flies

Christina Ma

ENG1D6

Mrs. Abram

May 2nd, 2016

Lord of the Flies Media Assignment The character Jack from the novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding first made his entry into the story wearing “a square black cap with a silver badge in it. [His body], from throat to ankle, [was] hidden by black cloaks which bore a long silver cross on the left breast and each neck was finished off with a hambone frill” (Golding, 15). Based on his attire, he was perceived as a stereotypical choir boy, who is holy, pure, righteous, well-mannered and also one who worships god. Those who honour God are expected to be free of sins and should not possess any sinful thoughts. An archetype of Jack would be the shadow because he is a representation of

A significant event that happened in the novel was when “Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife…then [he] found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands. ‘Look.’ He giggled” (Golding, 149), this showed how Jack felt satisfaction, pride and no remorse for what he had done. This also destroyed his stereotype of a holy person, since killing is deemed as a sinful act. Not only did Jack felt the drive to hunt, but “Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was overmastering” (Golding, 125). Both were tempted to kill and lusted after the blood of the animals. Jack depicts the darker side of humanity and their capabilities since they can either overcome or be consumed by their temptations and fears. In this case, Jack was the one who was consumed by his bloodlust, whereas Ralph did

It is also in black to represent darkness, symbolizing how he was consumed by evil. In addition, both the dove and cross are in white and is used to illustrate his stereotype as a choir boy, since they are known to represent purity, good and innocence. Moreover, the blood dripping from the cross at the front of the shirt symbolizes how his temptation to kill took over, which is the symbolic representation of Jack’s archetype as the shadow. The blood also shows how he has broken his stereotype from a holy person to a sinner. At the back of the shirt, red paint strokes are seen painted over the dove. This is used as the symbolic representation for Jack’s archetype of the fall. The dove is being drowned out by the red paint since it overshadows the bird, portraying how Jack has left his past life as a young, innocent British boy to one who has descended into savagery when he used the paint as a mask. Furthermore, the use of the colour red for both the blood and paint were used to symbolize danger, violence, lust and as well as dominance to portray his image as a