Similar to Lord of the Flies, people in the modern world are constantly in a fight between being a good and evil person. Golding takes the reader on a journey with the boys, and demonstrates a theme of good vs. evil. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding is a story about teenage boys trapped on an island that are separated from civilization. The two main characters in the book, Jack and Ralph struggle for power and drive the story forward. In this book, William Golding addresses the theme that men are good rather than evil and he must save himself from the corruption surrounding him. He supports his idea by using the character Ralph to support his theory. When Ralph kills the boar he says, “I hit him alright, the spear stuck in him!” The narrator goes on saying, “Ralph talked on excitedly- Ralph's voice ran up.” If Ralph was alone, perhaps he wouldn’t have killed the boar and it was an act of group-think. This event supports the idea that there is evil within us all however we must protect ourselves from those who cause the evil to rise within us. Jack and his tribe are beginning to influence Ralph and his fixed mindset. Although Ralph plays the role of a leader he is still influenced by Jack and the littluns following in his …show more content…
Jack is no longer afraid of killing the pig and he begins to find it amusing. “He giggled and flicked them while the boys laughed at his reeking hands. Then he grabbed Maurice and rubbed the stuff over his cheeks.” Rather than using the pigs as a source of food, Jack chooses to kill them for fun. Using Jack as his role model, Roger joins his tribe and becomes evil as well eventually causing Piggy’s death. Roger stabs at the pig multiple times showing no mercy. In this case, the author uses Roger to show how a he has been overtaken by the evil surrounding him. Jack quickly gains more followers and evil begins to take over the
Jack then blows the conch and tells the boys that Ralph is a weakling and wants to a the leader, but the Ralph still remains as the leader. Jack is fed up and tells the boys whoever wants to leave Ralph's group with him can. Ralph now doesn't know what to do, but Piggy quickly reassures him by telling him that they should make a signal fire closer to shore. On the mountain, Jack makes himself chief among the boys that moved with him. Roger kills a sow and they put the sow’s head on a spear.
After Simon’s death, Jack sends his hunters to grab Piggy’s glasses in order to light fire, and that breaks the tension between Ralph and Jack, finally resulting in Piggy’s death. At this point, Jack transforms into a blood-thirsty killer and targets Ralph. The twins reveals Jack’s plan to Ralph and say: “‘the chief and Roger-’ ‘-yes, Roger-’ ‘They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you.’ ‘They’re going to hunt you tomorrow’”(188).
Roger throws stones at little kids, Jack starts trying to take control, and the twins begin to distance themselves from each other. By the time they completely overcome their fear of killing, the island has descended into the chaos of true nature. When they stick the pig’s head on the stick they are fearless. No longer afraid of the beast, they believe they can take on anything including each other, and they end up killing two of their own because they have no fear of the consequences of their
Following the desperate chase after the sow, “Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife. Roger found a lodgment for his point and began to push...the spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands” (Golding 135). Unlike before, this scene conveys that Jack and the boys in his tribe are capable of killing and committing brutal acts. While Jack hesitates to kill a pig at the beginning of the book because of his fears of blood and death, he eventually becomes obsessed with hunting and violence, killing a sow by vigorously “stabbing downward with his knife” and slitting the sow’s throat.
Roger, though a minor character in the novel, plays a leading role in the evil doings on the island. Demonstrating his twisted mind in little ways by smashing sandcastles and throwing rocks at the other boys, he gains a special authority, one brimmed of threats and fear. He is eventually the one to murder Piggy, rolling a boulder onto his head, though he shows no compassion after this dead. The witnesses of Piggy’s death go into an uproar, however, and when “ yelling ceased, Samneric lay looking up in quiet terror. Roger advanced upon them as one wielding a nameless authority” (182).
Lord of the Flies is a novel by William Golding. The novel is about British schoolboys that are involved in a plane crash where they are stranded on a tropical island. The boys elect Ralph to lead, but Jack wants to lead too. Ralph is the protagonist of the story whose main focus is to keep the fire lit, and Jack is the antagonist of the story who is also the leader of the hunters later in the book. Jack changes some of the boy 's mindsets from civilization to savage survivalism.
He gradually calls a meeting as he sees that the littluns are being driven by fear. He precedes to ask if the beast was actually seen by any of the boys and if it is real like a true leader would. As the littluns talk, they are made fun of by Jack but Ralph still insists on learning what they are afraid of. He understands that if the beast is real he must be able to defend the group from it as he is the leader. Ralph remains to be fair and starts to say, “we’ll have a vote on them; on ghosts I mean; and then go to the shelters because we’re all tired” (90).
Ralph screamed of fright and anger and desperation. His legs straightened, the screams became continuous and foaming.” ( Golding 221). When Jack has finally had enough of Ralph he decides that the best option is to hunt him and kill him. He gathered his tribe and they make up a plan.
Lord of the Flies Are people born evil or good? Some people believe that humans are born good but get tempted into sin. Some people believe that humans are born evil and stay that way. Some people wonder if there is an inner debate of the soul. Because everyone is different could we be born with different souls.
He swung back his right arm and hurled the spear with all his strength. From the pig-run came the quick,hard patter of hoofs, a castanet sound, seductive, maddening-the promise of meat. He rushed out of the undergrowth and snatched up his spear. The pattering of pig‟s trotters died away in the distance.” (golding 47) in this chapter, jack complete changed to a totally different person, he has no hesitation when encounter the pig, it was just his naturally behaviour.
After being on the island for a long time, the boys start to become uncivilized too. After Roger already becomes a criminal by aiding in the murder of a boy, Simon, he murders Piggy on his own. Roger understood that he was committing murder, so he should be fully responsible for his actions. What Roger did is unacceptable, he murdered someone by choice. Because even though “We are born with evil in us...
Roger begins to lose his innocence when he kills the piglet, he is the only one to chase after the piglet instead of the mother like the rest of the hunters. This shows that Roger’s innocence is being replaced with darkness. When Roger finally loses his innocence is when Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and his tribe members start to argue over Piggy’s glass, which are seen as a symbol of hope. Roger, who is Jack’s right hand man, is on top of a perch with a giant boulder held by a stick. Finally losing all sense of morals, Roger pulls the stick which drops the rock on top of Piggy, instantly killing him.
In addition to Jack, Roger also represents the true evil in mankind. Roger arrives to the remote island as a shy kid who barely has the courage to talk. The longer Roger stays on the island the more violent and careless he become, “Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever” (180). At this point Roger is acting off of his primitive instinct, and becoming the biggest savage on the island. Speaking about his savagery, Roger kills Piggy with a huge boulder which not only kills Piggy, but destroys the conch into smithereens.
He goes hunting with other boys on the island, and they successfully kill a pig. Unfortunately, they let the signal fire out in the process. Ralph tries to look for the boys, when they come marching in, carrying a dead pig. The boys, led by Jack, are chanting “kill the pig. Cut her throat.
For example, “[Piggy’s] specs” (60) are used to start the fire, which in itself, is a symbol of hope and returning home. However, Jack is preoccupied by his instant gratification in killing the pig that he forgets to keep the fire going. Ralph and Jack argue, and Jack is tempted to attack; he smacks Piggy’s head, causing the lens of his glasses to break (60). Jack’s id, and his desire to satisfy his anger without foreseeing the consequences, results in the boys decreasing their chances at being rescued. Additionally, after Jack and Ralph develop their respective tribes, Jack is driven by the need to stay “on the right side of [the beast]” (144) as well as prove to his tribe that he holds all the power.