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Savagery In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

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From the first chapter of William Golding 's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies, Jack stands out as a strong leader. While Ralph struggles to maintain his crumbling civilization, Jack manages to keep complete control over his tribe. Although as the novel progresses Jack gradually descends further into savagery, this savagery allows him to employ effective though immoral leadership techniques. Jack is the most effective leader because he has no morals to stop him from using the boys ' innate savagery to unite them under one primitive and violent mind. Jack sways the boys in his favor by exploiting their natural disinterest in rules and order and allowing them to give in to their impulses. The author illustrates this point when Jack interrupts Ralph during an assembly, completely disrespecting the conch, saying "Bollocks to the rules!"(Golding 91). Golding then states that "He gave a wild whoop and leapt down to the pale sand. At once the platform was full of noise and excitement, scramblings, screams, and laughter. The assembly shredded away and became a random scatter..."(Golding 91-92). Jack tells the boys what they want to hear; that they can behave in any way they want with no consequences, and therefore have no reason to sit and listen during assemblies. Golding 's use of the words "wild whoop," "assembly shredded" and "random scatter" emphasize his purpose in writing this scene(Golding 91-92). Jack 's disregard for the rules is one of the trademark characteristics that

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