The other boys, tempted away from civility by the more natural urges the island and Jack present, abandon Ralph, thus abandoning the ways they’d been taught to act in a British society. ‘He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness.’ (Golding 64) Jack teaches them how to hunt the pigs and displays aggressive behaviors they then partake in, exposing a dark side inside of not only the boys, but all of us. This shows a kind of nurture, but a sinister one developed in nature.
When the storm comes, “A wave of restlessness set the boys swaying and moving aimlessly” and “the littluns began to run about, screaming. ”(P187) Jack demands that savages do the ceremonial dance just as they do it before killing pigs to achieve a sense of security. Even “Piggy and Ralph […] found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society” (P187). However, Simon appears for his decision of sharing his discovery about the beast at this time, and this is absolutely inopportune.
In the reading, Golding describes, “Jack transferred the knife to his left hand and smudged blood over his forehead as he pushed down the plastered hair,” which is an example of imagery. By using imagery, Golding creates an image for the readers and describes how passionate and obsessed Jack is with hunting. With this technique, it created a vision of Jack, Golding shows Jack’s true poison of obsession and narrow-minded. While everyone on this island is trying to find rescue, Jack goes off and hunts for a pig instead of helping the others. Further, Golding mentions how Piggy states, “ You didn’t ought to have let that fire out.
Kill the pig! Bash him in!” (Golding 104). In a normal situation in society what the boys were chanting would be deemed inappropriate. But, since the boys are falling away from regular civilization actions such as the one in the quote are starting to be classified as morally acceptable in their eyes.
This displays his control over their fear of the beast and this act uplifts Jack’s power status. Jack converts their fear into power and is able to win the view of the community. In the middle of the book, it is evident that both boys have different goals. This can be seen, when Ralph and Jack fight about which is more important, building protection/ shelter (Ralph’s opinion) or hunting for food (Jack’s opinion). The quote, “rules, rules, so many rules”, illustrates his approach to survival, which is to hunt for food, while having fun.
On the island, he is burdened with responsibilities such as leadership and organization. Despite Jack encouraging and pressuring his inner savage to come out, Ralph continues to contribute to the enhancement of society. Even after partaking in Simon’s murder and acting savagely, he does not fully give himself over to it. Ralph instantly feels remorse and guilt for his actions: essential human qualities. Golding makes this evident and describes, “Ralph, cradling the conch, rocked himself to and fro” (Golding 157).
Jack is always wanting to go hunting and have a more savage “tribe”, while Ralph wishes to keep the group civilized and neat. Because they both have contrary beliefs, they butt heads and disagree very often. Readers can see this play out when a few boys (Including Ralph and Jack, who’re the main two arguing) who went off to decide if they need to let Piggy know what’s going on. “Jack cleared his throat and spoke in a queer, tight voice. ‘We mustn’t let anything happen to Piggy, must we?’”
In the beginning of the story, the mask adds to Jack's identity by making him feel anonymous. Before he puts the mask on he is scared to kill the pig, but the addition of the mask makes him feel anonymous and he builds up the courage to kill the pig. Golding writes, “He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing of his own, behind which Jack hid liberated from shame and self consciousness . (Golding 64)” When Jack has
Due to Jack’s increasing obsession with hunting pigs, his clear dislike for anyone who disagrees with his thoughts and the fact that he is slowly gaining more support from the other boys, leads me to believe the novel will end with Jack murdering Piggy, symbolizing complete detachment from morality since Piggy symbolizes civil thought. If I were to rewrite this conclusion I would have Jack realize the importance of order, make a compromise with Ralph, and peacefully have the group rescued from the island. In my opinion, Ralph is the one of most compelling characters in this novel. Although Ralph symbolizes order and civilization during certain points of the book he struggles to overcome savage desires. Despite being angry with Jack for letting the fire go out, when Jack and his hunters tell the rest of the group about their hunt Ralph sits quietly and is filled with envy.
By jouncing the limb and breaking Finny’s leg, Gene no longer had to worry about Finny being the star of greatness. Throughout the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, there are many examples of how greatness can cause others to act indifferently. Certain aspects of this can be positive but, they mostly possess a negative connotation. Gene becomes more outgoing and more willing to do things, but at the same time envies Finny and does things that could ruin their friendship.
Simon later encounters the Lord of the Flies (a pig’s head on a stick that Jack left as a sacrifice for the beast) who “speaks” to Simon while he is having a brain clot. The Lord of the Flies tells Simon that it is the beast, that it’s inside of everyone. “Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill!” (Page 143) it tells him, reminding Simon that to defeat the “beast”, or evil, within a person is impossible to physically accomplish. It’s as if everyone has a ticking time bomb of malevolence that is kept in check by our moral values and societal standards.
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” (Lincoln, Abraham “Speech in Clinton Illinois on September 2, 1858) In the Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a large group of English boys crashed on an island and were left with no adults. (Golding 8) The boys have no water, food, first-aid, and no additional clothing.
When Franklin D Roosevelt was in the presidential race with Herbert Hoover, he said something that has had an impact American citizens since 1932, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. Although some people believe he was a loiter and had some pretty bad policies as president, he had something going with this quote. While most presidents typically produce quotes that make you want to fear yourself into voting for them, FDR decided to lift the fear factor altogether. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the boys allow fear to consume them and take over their sense of judgement, much like FDR warned Americans of nearly 100 years ago. Fear can cause your mind to react in ways you have no control over.
In Golding’s Chapter 2 the irony and foreshadowing proves that even children are capable of horrific behavior. In the beginning of chapter 2, they start to establish rules and Ralph says, “He can hold it when he’s speaking. And he won’t be interrupted, except by me.” (33). Ralph is the newly elected leader who decides the rules; but his rules are unjust and unfair.
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Ralph demonstrates the most leadership of all the boys on the island because he understood the importance of rules, always kept the important things in mind, and was respected. The first body paragraph of my essay would address how Ralph is one of the only boys who acknowledges the importance of rules. I would use a quote from page 98 that shows Jack rejecting the rules. This shows that, unlike Ralph, Jack does not care for the rules. Next, I would mention Ralph’s ability to always keep his mind on what was important.