In William Golding's novel "Lord of the Flies," a group of British boys is stranded on a deserted island and left to govern themselves without any adult supervision. The boys initially attempt to create a functioning society, but their efforts soon devolve into chaos and savagery. Ultimately, the majority of the boys are killed, and the survivors are rescued by a passing navy ship. While there are many factors that contribute to the boys' descent into barbarism, it is clear that Jack, one of the main characters, is primarily responsible for what happens on the island. Firstly, Jack is responsible for the initial split in the boys' society. At the beginning of the novel, Ralph is elected as the leader of the group, and Jack is appointed as the leader of the hunters. However, Jack quickly becomes jealous of Ralph's authority and begins to undermine him at every opportunity. Jack consistently tries to gain power for himself, eventually leading a group of boys away from Ralph's leadership and forming his own tribe. This split creates an "us vs. them" mentality, causing conflict and violence between the two groups. …show more content…
Unlike Ralph, who tries to lead by example and persuasion, Jack relies on intimidation and physical force. He establishes his authority through the use of fear, using the boys' fear of the beast to manipulate and control them. Jack encourages violence and bloodlust among his followers, turning them into savage hunters who delight in killing animals and later, humans. Jack's leadership style creates a culture of violence and aggression that ultimately leads to the deaths of several
In the novel, the boys were split up into two groups, the hunters and the builders. Ralph was the overall leader and Jack was the person in charge of his choir who are supposed to hunt and protect the rest. Leadership is dismantled between the boys when Jack decides to abandon the tribe and states "I'm going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when can come too" (Golding, 1962).
The boys divide into two major groups as the story goes on. the hunters, led by Jack, and the "civilized" group led by Ralph. Each group strengthens its commitment to its core motives as they come to agree on actions and choices. In the end this mob mentality and groupthink result in hostility and violence between the two groups.
Although society was completely ripped away from the boys in Lord of the Flies, they are still to blame for their actions that took place on the island, as they act on the seven steps to evil, the five fears, and display psychotic and sociopathic behaviors the longer they stay on the island. In Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of boys are cast away on a remote island. As time passed on the island, each of the boys exhibited the seven steps of evil all in different ways. Focusing on Jack's character, we see the way he changes throughout the book. He goes from being a school boy with a big ego, to an out for blood evil dictator.
Throughout the novel, Jack consistently demonstrates a disregard for rules and a desire for dominance and power. When he leads the boys in hunting and violence, he taps into their savage and primal instincts - including Ralph’s. As Jack proclaims, "The conch doesn't count at this end of the island" (Golding, 150) it becomes evident that he prioritizes dominance and power over order, authority, and the established rules on the island. In the midst of their destructive rivalry, Jack’s failures teach Ralph important lessons. Witnessing Jack’s inability to maintain the signal fire makes Ralph recognize the value of collaboration, communication, and planning for survival.
Jack believes establishing fear, asserting dominance and his urge to unify the boys of the island will prove he is worthy. Jack Merridew represents evil and all things vicious. After not being elected chief by his peers, Jack feels he must fight for any sort of power. He is unable to convince the boys to elect him as chief and quickly realizes the only way to achieve the role of leader is by branching off and forming his own tribe. Jack decides the best way to expand his tribe is by manipulating the boys into fearing a bloodthirsty beast.
He’d never have gotten us meat. He isn’t perfect and we don’t know anything about him. He just gives us orders and expects us to obey for nothing” (182). Jack dislikes the way Ralph is leading the boys even though they end up succeeding in survival. Jack’s bullying is nothing but jealousy as he isn’t the leader of the group.
Do humans have strong primal instincts that are hidden by society? In the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of boys ranging from very young to about thirteen or fourteen, survive a plane crash on to an uninhabited tropical island. The story goes through their experiences with ‘beasts’ and learning how to hunt with the materials on the island. They struggle with building shelters and keeping a strong connection with each other as many of the older kids break off from the group. When the boys arrive on the island, they corporate well, but the longer they remain, they revert to old ways of living, showing how living away from society can revert you to the darker side of human nature.
In chapter 8 of the book, the group splits up because of an argument between Jack and Ralph. In the beginning of the story, Ralph made Jack the leader of the hunters, and now Jack wants to be the leader of the entire group. Although Ralph has everyones best interest at heart, some of the boys (the hunters)
Diana Montes Mrs. Lawrence CompLit 2 P.5 10/8/15 Jack Merridew Being stranded on an island with a group of children the same age as you or younger; one regretful situation would be allowing the mean kid to slowly lose control and not do anything about it. What is worse is letting him gain a majority of the power and letting him cause chaos. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, Jack Merridew is allowed exactly that. His slow descent into savagery is foreshadowed early in the book. Jack changes from a figure of civilization to a savage dictator because of no rules or adults and he challenges civilization by fighting Ralph with savagery winning in the end.
In the novel “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding the ultimate one responsible for the destruction of the island is Jack. In the novel Golding has wrote about how a group of british boys crashed on a plane and landed on a island where there are no adults,just little british boys stranded on a island .In the beginning one of the boys Ralph was the responsible leader where he knew what to do an how to manage. But of course there was this one cureles jealous boy that wanted to be a leader,the one in charge. Because of how ruthless and savage Jack was he took the fear that the boys had within them and used it against them to make them join his tribe which started the destruction of the island.
Jack tries to discredit him by calling a meeting about the beast and turning the tables to say some negative things about Ralph which means that Jack is ignoring the rules of society and going rogue, evil to say in his voice. “Yes. The beast is a hunter. Only-shut up! The next thing is that we couldn’t kill it.
In William Golding's The Lord of the Flies, boys trapped on an island turn into deranged savages and kill each other after they fail to follow the rules of their made-up tribe. Cruelty is used by Golding as a way to communicate his theme which could be that cruelty is in nearly everybody, but civilization’s laws and control prevent that trait from prevailing. The author leaves some evidence of him trying to convey this theme throughout the book. A part of the book that shows this theme being shown would be the demise of Piggy and civilization.
Savagery Creates Beasts Jack became a savage, murderer and dictator within the short span of time he was on the island. Jack has changed greatly, over the course of William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies. Crashing onto an island without adults and having to survive put a strain on all of the boys, but Jack’s personality altered the most due to this experience. He went from living as an ambitious choirboy to being a vicious, brutal, beast. He ruined the childhood of many boys, abused people, and went crazy.
What causes savagery behavior ? Biology can make people do bad things. It can cause savage and immoral behavior. Just like in the novel The Lord of the Flies. In the book, The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, he writes about character who are kids whose plane has crashed on an island.
Lord of the Flies is a passage into the very existence of humanity. The very last part of the book is full of rage and violence. The violence could be blamed on the lack of vital nutrients the boys where facing but more likely the motives of Jack and his party is related to the emotional impact of their stay on the island. The impact of the island and lack of adults lent to the overall outcome of their stay. Starting out the group of boys were scattered around the island and in tiny huddles of boys.