Masculinity is a Responsibility of a Boy
Although purity vacates as children age, society expects virility to leech onto boys' development, being forced to abandon moral traits and form an egotistical community. Using the archetypal theory, in Lord of the Flies by William Golding Jack is progressively aroused by hyper-masculinity, rejoicing in his robustness that exploited his moral qualities on the island, contributing to the hunter archetype. Jack encapsulates hyper-masculinity as he uses killing as an outlet, losing touch with his childlike morality; like most hunter archetypes. After the littluns “encounter” the beast they are spooked by his monstrosity, disregarding their feelings and attempting to restore some sort of normality. Jack depends on his assertiveness to set the boys on the right path. Jack reassures the littluns by
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Being able to cheer the littluns up by being certain that no creature lived on his island. Jack outwardly keeps up this “macho” persona being able to defend all the boys from any imminent danger and as more challenges arise he confronts them with his brawny behavior. As more allegations about the beast emerge, Jack is bombarded with the boy's trepidation as they become a nuisance. Jack quickly ridicules the innocent boys for being apprehensive of the beast, referring to their masculinity “because you’re like that-” (Golding 83). These lines allude to Jack’s toxic masculinity and the fact that he feels superior to being more manly. He fears confronting his emotions specifically with the beast and masks it by spewing his authoritative demeanor on the island. Jack embodies the hunter archetype, only focusing on his
In the novel, “Lord of The Flies,” the author, William Golding, relies on the characterization of Jack to develop the central idea that it is the natural evil and immorality in all humans that ultimately leads to the destruction of a society. Before Jack is even introduced as a character, he is compared to a creature of darkness when Golding describes, “the eye was first attracted to a black, bat-like creature that danced on the sand.” This comparison foreshadows Jack’s true darkness before he was made known to the readers. Jack’s archetype as “The Ruler” is established right from the moment he is introduced. One of the boys, Roger, suggested that they vote for chief but “Jack started to protest”, which demonstrates his desire for control.
He is jealous of Ralph being a leader so he makes his own tribe, all the littluns join Jack except Ralph, Piggy, and the twins Sam and Eric. When the littluns get scared, Jack uses his chant about killing the beast to influence them which leads them to murder
Jack doesn’t only lean on physical fear to manage situations, he manipulates the boys to be alarmed about “The
He is prepared to resort to violence in order to achieve his objectives and keep authority over the other youths on the island. He is also portrayed as selfish and without empathy since he is more concerned with achieving his personal needs than with the group's well-being. Throughout the story, Jack's actions and conduct demonstrate his domineering and manipulative attitude. For example, he used fear and violence in order to keep control over the other males and fulfill his objectives. He also demonstrates his lack of empathy by hunting and killing pigs without guilt.
He approaches it with a very interesting mindset, he believes that it is something anyone can easily kill. Jack was not a hunter in England, but the island presented an opportunity to create a new persona for himself. Perhaps, the savagery is some sort of sanctuary for him, away from scrutiny and just decisions. On this island, with a tribe of his own, he is able to create his own rules. The boys that blindly follow Jack give him something very valuable.
The boys are scared of the beast, and Jack does a better job of easing their fear because Ralph doesn't care about easing the fear of the beast among the boys, and focuses on rescue, but Jack focuses on the beast, and eliminating it. The boys’ main fear is the beast, and since Jack hunts, he makes the boys feel comfortable with him leading them to defend them from the beast. Jack has found out what motivates the boys by understanding what they want most. The boys feel less scared in Jack’s tribe is when the boys are scared to go to the mountain because of the beast, but Jack gives them a sense of safety that they can kill anything, and be stronger than anything or anyone. To illustrate, Jack says “And about the beast.
Jack uses ethos by reassuring that since he is a hunter, he would be the one to know if there was a beast on the island. Jack expressing that he is a hunter implies that he wants the group to think that he is strong and
Since he is not loyal to Jack, or more importantly aligned with the boys’ idea of acceptable moral behavior, Jack orders that he be found and killed. The littluns, the older boys’ savage henchman, unhesitantly are ready to do their bidding because of the culture fostered on the island. They are ready to hunt and kill, taught perception, another defiant “immoral” being. At this point, the society of boys is now a “tribe”(186) dancing around a “glowing fire”, and the littluns, so helplessly, make up the embodiment, void of a “common sense’ point of view, who just “couldn’t help it”
In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, the character Atticus Finch is different from the other men of Macomb in many ways. One major difference is him displaying positive qualities not seen in Macomb's other men. It can be argued that Atticus represents a new concept of masculinity because of his personal qualities. There two are qualities that strongly support this argument; Atticus is respectful to all people and he does not do the daily tasks that the other men do, although some people argue that his behavior is only because he is under pressure to set an example for his kids. Atticus one of the few respectful characters in To Kill A Mockingbird which sets him apart from the other Maycomb men.
Jack’s arrogant and spiteful attitude with the rest was very well known in the beginning. Jack’s touch with civilization has diminished as time went on and he turned into a wild savage, with an “animal-like” personality. “‘I ought to be chief,’ said Jack with simple arrogance, ‘because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.’ …
This quote demonstrates how Jack's behavior becomes more animalistic and savage as the story progresses, which makes him a memorable and intriguing
Jack needs the boys to trust and believe him so he creates the idea of the beast so the boys follow him blindly. As time goes on, the boys start to believe everything Jack says. When it comes to the beast, Jack is the man that the boys go to for help, they view him as a solution to the problem. Jack uses the tactic of fear to be more dominant over the boys. The reason he does this is for his own pride and needs, not the boys.
Unfortunately, toxic masculinity plays a role in every society, therefore many people, mostly men, put on a “mask” to hide behind in order to make a false impression of their best selves. No matter who it is, everyone has a way that they want people to know them by, which is why it plays such an important role. The book Lord of the Flies is a fiction text about a group of young boys whose plane crashes after it was shot down during a war. The boys turn from civilized to savages on their long journey on the island as they become less and less of a society. Toxic masculinity affects society in more ways than one and often is used to get ahead or to be seen as superior.
Jack dislikes the littluns he treats them with harshness calling them crybabies and weak. This shows that he does not care about anyone. The children trust Ralph more, so when the beastie appears they call out for him. “And I was frightened and started to call out for Ralph and then I saw something moving among the trees, something big and horrid.
Jack has changed greatly, over the course of William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies. Crashing onto an island without adults and having to survive put a strain on all of the boys, but Jack’s personality altered the most due to this experience. He went from living as an ambitious choir boy, to being a vicious, brutal, beast. Many things changed Jack on the island, but most of all, he created the monster he became.