The desire for power can make a person do the unthinkable. When you want to be in control your impulse can guide you to do or say something that under ordinary circumstances would never cross your mind. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding’s character, Jack, always wants to be in control so when he sets his mind to do something he will get it done no matter what he has to do. At the beginning of the book Jack intends to hunt for survival. As it gets later on he starts getting better at it and begins to enjoy it. Jack goes from being a boy in power to what he thinks is a man who is savage. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses Jack’s transformation into a complete savage to illustrate that one can no longer be held back without any rules …show more content…
The boys have now developed a daily routine and are talking about the “beastie” lurking around the island. Jack is now obsessed with the idea of killing a pig, so he paints his face and approaches the jungle chanting, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in.’ Ralph watched them envious and resentful. Not till they flagged and the chant died away, did he speak. ‘I’m calling an assembly.” (p.75) Jack is so intent on killing this pig, he is leading a chant about how they’re going to kill it. He describing ways of over kill. He has no remorse and is starting to enjoy the killing of the pigs, that he doesn’t care about anything else going on on the island and with the other boys. The rumor about the beast has become more serious than it did before, and Jack is starting the believe in it too. Jack calls a meeting and talks about the beast. All the boys are arguing and someone says to Jack, “He’s not a hunter. He’d never have got us meat. He isn’t a prefect and we don’t know anything about him. He just gives orders and expects people to obey for nothing.” (p. 126) When Jack gets called a coward he gets embarrassed and angry because he knows that he’s not the one in control right now. He thinks that Ralph is not a good hunter, so he calls him out on it and asks the boys if Ralph should even be chief anymore. Jack wants to be in power so he takes charge and leaves. On Ralph’s tribe, they are working to build a new signal fire, but during the night many of them sneak away to be on Jack’s tribe. Jack gathers everyone together and says, “We’ll hunt. I’m going to be chief.’ They nodded, and the crisis passed easily.” Jack knowingly leaves everyone else so he can be chief and run things his own ways, and he is successful in doing so. When Jack reveals his plan to the boys about them hunting and he being chief, the
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Show MoreIn the Lord of The Flies the boys seem to lose some qualities when they are trying to survive, The main example of this is Jack. The things that i think they lose the most are sympathy, common sense and the ability to think clearly. First, the boys seem to lose their sympathy for other things and for themselves. At this point in the book Jack starts to try to take control over the group of kids, a piece of evidence that shows this would be, Ralph made a step forward and Jack smacked Piggy’s head.
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.’ …
Jack has always been a natural-born leader, in the beginning, he was in control of the hunters and thought he would be elected chief. But since Ralph had the conch he didn’t become chief so ever since then Jack has tried to do things that a chief would do he wasn’t allowed because he wasn’t the chief. For example, “Jack stood up, scowling in gloom and held out his hands… But you’ve talked and talked… Jack sat down grumbling”(Golding 81-82).
A boy named Jack Merridew thinks that he should be the chief because he is "chorister and head boy." Another boy nominates Ralph for leader, because he is the one that called for the meeting. When it comes time to vote, the choir members vote for Jack, while all the other boys vote for Ralph. After he is elected leader, Ralph tells Jack that he is in charge of his choir. Jack tells Ralph that they will be the hunters, and Ralph agrees.
Jack is disagreeing with Ralph on every topic, so he calls a meeting. During the meeting he insults Ralph and tries to make the boys promote him to chief. The boys will not do this which outrages Jack. Jack cannot deal with Ralph any more and declares, “‘I’m not going to be a part of Ralph’s lot’”(Golding 127). Ralph is now not only obsessed with hunting, but is straying from their ‘government’.
Taking advantage of and manipulating the youth is a dangerous trait for a leader to have. Jack attempts to take a leadership role throughout the entire novel. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the character of Jack Merridew is upset by the rules around the island and feeds the idea of a beast on the island, “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong – we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down!
Jack becomes obsessed with hunting and leads the choir boys into his obsession. Jack was always a relatively cruel character, when Simon, a choir boy, faints Jack seems annoyed by Simon’s fragile health rather than concerned. Jack becomes crueller over time, when Jack attempts to kill the pig for the first time he is unable to. After his blunder he becomes obsessed with proving himself until he is able to brutally murder a nursing sow. After the first hunt Jack gives everyone a piece of pork except Piggy.
There is a struggle over power and who has it as Jack was jealous of how Ralph was voted the official leader of the group originally as Jack wanted it, he took his first official chance to become the chief of the kids other than his hunters. Jack doesn’t know how to lead a group full on with all of their burdens and needs and he will surely kill them all in some sort of
Explanation: Jack was unlike the rest of the characters in this story as he showed determination and toughness above anyone else's. Jack was always determined to kill a pig and bring it back for a feast. After Ralph scolding him multiple times for only trying to kill a pig and mainly failing he formed his own tribe where people could have fun and eat
After the boys catch their first glimpse at what they imagined was the beast, Jack calls his own assembly to address the issue. As Jack leads his own meeting instead of Ralph, he immediately exerts this new authority in an attempt to overthrow Ralph as chief, exclaiming, “He’s like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn 't a proper chief,” (Golding 92).
Ralph is trying to get everyone on the island organized and they each would have a role but Jack wants to take over the island and rule it. The dictator in Jack becomes dominant in his personality during the panic over the beast sighting on the mountain. In trying to get Ralph impeached, he uses his rhetorical skills to twist Ralph's words. In defense, he offers to the group a rationale that "He'd never have got us meat," asserting that hunting skills make for an effective leader.
In the quote above, Ralph is attempting to hide when the boys pass by him. Jack however notices him and Ralph realizes this may be the end. Jack, along with his tribe and their spears and painted faces run down Ralph through the forest even setting it on fire. In the end Ralph ends up being saved by luck, running into an officer. If it were not for the officer, Jack’s evilness would have got the best of him, and Ralph would not have survived.
Throughout the book we witness the power struggle between Jack and Ralph, we watch as Jack undermines Ralph's authority and gains control of the boys on the island. Jack's leadership is powerful, he understands how to coerce others into following him and is exceptional at controlling his crowd. Take for example him leading the crowd of hunters, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (Golding 56).
Jack lost his sanity and civility and this changed him in more ways than imaginable. Jack was a natural leader when the boys first came onto the island, but as time continued he became a horrible dictator. On the first day on the island, Ralph and Jack competed for chief of the island. Ralph won. Jack was unhappy with this result, but it didn’t yet throw him into a spiral of craze and anger.
Jack says that he is unwilling to be a part of Ralph’s group any longer. This goes to show that he has left the civilized part of him behind in favor of his savage side. If Jack had stayed with the civilized boys, then the two groups would still be as one and the conflict between the Jack and Ralph would not have reached the high peaking point of which it