Golding uses a group of boys to show that even in, children, the thing society sees as the most innocent can still become corrupted by an environment full of evil. Golding creates the character, Jack, the tough hunter but it takes Jack a little while to completely take on this role. In the quote, “‘I was going to,’ said Jack. He was ahead of them, and they could not see his face” (Golding 31), Readers can see Jack fail to kill a pig, Jack makes excuses as to why he did not kill it, however the reader can infer Jack did not have the heart to kill it because of his morals. Jack still has his initial innocence but later Golding shows how Jack will break his morals.
‘All the same you need an army-for hunting. Hunting pigs-” (33). Although this is a small act, Jack not only shows a further desire to rule but also undermines Ralph’s authority by interrupting him while Ralph is addressing the other boys. He wants to make himself heard and he wants to be significant. He does this again when Ralph introduces the idea of making a fire, “ Jack clamored among them, the conch forgotten.
It brought a sense of order when everyone gathered around to listen, Jack feared the day where it could bring order once again. Ralph tried to hold strong with the boys he had left, as the others left and discarded the original tribe to be hunters with Jack. Jack grew his own tribe on the foundation of one central power, which was himself. They started getting more and more violent to the boys in Ralph’s tribe. The the final line was crossed when Jack ordered his tribe to steal Piggy’s glasses, to start fires.
Ralph notices the discord but resolves it by enforcing, “I 'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he 's speaking” (Golding 33). The conch represents the discipline of the boys and their civilization. Since Ralph thought to use the conch as a speaking system, the conch represents his leadership and authority over the boys. It also represents his authority because he is the only boy that does not need the conch to speak.
This only adds more tension to the group. When Ralph gets to the signal fire and realizes the boys are gone, he gets very angry. At that point, the column of boys stride up the hill carrying a dead pig. Jack is with them and evidently pleased with himself. When they get to Ralph, Jack begins to jump up and down with excitement while Ralph remain silent and calculating (Golding 73).
Ralph earned the role of chief before his character is fully shown, but he is in the rightful position. Ralph is a better leader because he thinks about each of the boys and does his best to get them of the island. Ralph is a better leader because he takes all of the boys into consideration. When some of the boys were not found Ralph repeatedly asked about their whereabouts: “‘Where’s everybody?’
The power struggle proceeds to chaos, an ethical war between the civil mindset in which these British boys were raised, and the savagery which lies within. Moreover, the island erodes the morals and principles of the boys to reveal the darkness of their intrinsic nature. The role of leadership therefore falls on Jack’s shoulders, as he provides an outlet for these boys to express this shift in their morality. His leadership is embraced by the boys, even Piggy and Ralph, who opposed his cruel and unusual leadership were “eager to take a place in this demented, but partly secure society. “ (pg.167).
Say-I’ll give you the core of my apple.’ ‘Well, here-No, ben, now don’t. I’m afeard-’ ‘I’ll give you all of it!’ Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his heart.” (Twain 19)
A theme that arises around Piggy is the realists in the world are unheard when other people are overwhelmed by an inner evil. In the beginning, Piggy tries to make his name known but Ralph does not care and he calls him the one name he does not want to be called, which is Piggy. Piggy is seen as weak by the other boys because he is fat and has asthma. An example of Piggy being an unheard realist is when he is trying to get the attention of the boys and it is very hard when he finally gets their attention he tells them they need to build shelters and get rescued and points out that no one paid any attention to the ‘littluns’. Throughout the book, Piggy is a reminder of being rescued.
Piggy, the only one with glasses is an outcast, not only because he wears glasses, but also because he is a “fatty”(17). Jack and Ralph do not even let Piggy finish a sentence without saying “Shut up!” which creates the feeling of pity towards Piggy and the feeling of hatred towards the other boys. Piggy also suffers from “ass-mar” giving the boys another reason to verbally harass him for his lack of fitness. Despite his problems, Piggy being the kind and generous boy continues to help start a fire by carrying branches up the mountain.
In the book Jack is always making fun of Piggy. Jack was being rude to Piggy and saying his fat behind doesn’t do nothing to help while piggy was trying to talk. However some of the time Piggy stands up for himself, “I got the conch … you let me speak!”(Golding 33). Piggy illustrates how its not easy to have integrity. This is because whenever he tries to talk the others mainly Jack just tell him to shut up or take his glasses from him making him feel uncomfortable.
Here, Piggy is first says “perhaps” as in, “we might get rescued after the war if they knew where we were.” Piggy’s second part of his speech says “But they don’t know where we are ‘cos we never got there.” Piggy is not saying “perhaps,” he is saying outright that they will not get off of the island. It is said that “The silence was so complete” Piggy is normally shut up when he tries to speak, but this time he was not. He makes all of the other boys realize that they are most likely not going to get off of the island.
Ralph is too dependent on the shell, and also too concentrated to work. He needs
Some of the smaller children, when they first land on the island, begin to dream about a “beast” that haunts them in the night. When this is brought up at an assembly, Ralph rejects it, as do the other boys. Simon pipes up and suggests it may be “only us”. After this idea is challenged by the boys, Simon tries to explain, yet he “became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness” (Page 89). The beast is metaphoric of the crude feral nature within every human, though naturally more prominent in those who act on it willingly.
However, he cannot be the leader himself because he lacks leadership qualities and has no support with the other boys. Piggy has a very intellectual personality, however he heavily believes in the basic principles that were established when the boys first crashed onto the island. Such as, only talking when one holds the conch. This shows that Piggy relies too heavily