Chief In Lord Of The Flies

In Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding, a plane filled with young boys, none older than 13, crashes onto a deserted island. They are trying to evacuate England and the nuclear war that is currently taking place in their homeland. The boys are isolated, alone and stranded on this island with no adults and no rules. It is up to them to figure out a way of life that will work until they are rescued, and this includes choosing a leader. When it comes time to choose a chief, both Jack and Ralph nominate themselves. In the end, Ralph has the majority of the votes and comes out on top, receiving the title of chief. Jack’s loss to Ralph is what initiates his downward spiral, which inevitably leads to his loss of human compassion and his
state of complete savagery.
Civilized means to be polite and well mannered, this is something that can be lost over time by even the most innocent. Jack, one of the main characters in the novel, “was tall, thin, and bony; and his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was crumpled and freckled and ugly without silliness,” (13) he is also the head of the choir boys. Ralph, on the other hand, who is also a main character in the novel, “could make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went, but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil” (13). He is stronger than Jack, but the two are about equal in intelligence. When it comes time for the boys to choose a chief Jack nominates himself to run against Ralph. Jack is power hungry and does not like the uncertainty of voting for a chief. “”Let’s Vote--”... “All right. Who wants Jack for Chief?”
With dry obedience, the choir raised their hands.
“Who wants me?”
Every hand outside of the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air.
“Ralph counted.”
“I’m Chief then.”
Jack is mortified and angry. He hates the fact that he is not in charge and all of his anger quickly transforms into aggression. Jack starts out being very human and civilized, this is seen when Jack goes exploring the Island with Simon and Ralph and they come across a piglet. They realize that they can use it for meat. Jack “raised his arm in the air. There came a pause, a hiatus, the pig continued to scream and the creepers to jerk, and the blade continued to flash at the end of a bony arm. The pause was only long enough long enough for them to understand what an enormity the downward stroke would be” (23). The fact that Jack is unable to kill the piglet shows that his humanity is still intact and that he still understands the value of life. At this point, the boys are all cooperating while trying to comprehend the reality of their current situation. This soon changes when Jack rebels against Ralph.
Jack’s loss to Ralph is only the beginning of a long time battle for power, dominance and complete control.
When all the boys gather for their second assembly, Jack stands up and tries to turn all of the boys against Ralph, overthrowing him. Even though earlier Jack says that he agrees with Ralph that “we’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages” (34). Jack wants all of the boys to walk out of the assembly with him, but none of them, besides the choir boys, do. This is humiliating for Jack. He is now even aggravated than he was before. Jack can't quite seem to comprehend why all of the boys want to follow Ralph, besides the fact that he has this belief that if they keep the fire going then they will soon be rescued. Jack thinks more in the moment, he believes that they should be hunting for food that they can eat tonight instead of hoping that someone comes to get them before they starve to death. The problem is that the boys like Jacks thought process because it provides them with a physical reward rather than a hope of one. Contrary to Ralph’s idea that they have to keep the fire burning in order to get saved, but the boys do like this idea because it gives them something to believe in, the hope that they will be rescued and won’t be stuck on this island forever. For now, all of the boys, except the choir boys, are on Ralph's side. Jack wants all of the power and in their case power comes with people. The more people you have backing you up, the
more power you really have. When the problem of a “beastie” comes into play and all of the boys are scared and worried, Jack reassures them that there is no “beastie,” but even if there was, they would hunt it and kill it. This shows that although Jack has become more savage and angry, his humanity is still intact, even though he is not in complete control.
Jack being power hungry decides that it would be a good idea to branch off with his choir boys, hence creating a rival “tribe” to Jack’s.
He has also selected himself to be chief of this new tribe. When branching off from Ralph Jack had not thought of how they are going to create a fire for warmth, they needed Piggy’s glasses. Jack being the aggressive and ruthless person he decides to get all of the choir boys and go and invade their tribe and take the glasses for themselves. This makes Ralph mad because unlike Jack he would've just given them the glasses had they asked for it before attacking them. Either way during the fight one of the eyeholes in the glasses was shattered, breaking the glasses to the point that they can now only use one eyehole to start fires. This shows us that Jack has become more savage like because if he was more civilized he would've just asked Ralph to borrow the glasses. Later, after Jack has successfully killed a pig, he welcomes the boys Ralph's tribe to join him. While they were arguing, Simon slips away and ventures off to a little clearing in the forest where he passes out, most likely from dehydration and from a lack of nutrients. When he wakes he has dried blood down his face from what looks like a nose bleed. He goes back down to the beach to join the rest of the boys. While Simon was off in the forest, the other boys started a “ritual,” this included creating a huge fire and painting their faces, and bodies. They are becoming more savage
and tribe like. They start chanting and singing; it is almost as if their bodies are here but their minds are in an alternate state. When Simon arrives back at the beach he see’s them in this tribe like state. The boys then mistake Simon for the beastie and accidentally kill him. This shows us how savage like these boys really are, specifically Jack and how even the most innocent 13-year-old boys can lose their sense of humanity while going through traumatic experience. It’s the little stuff at first like for Jack it is losing chief, then these little things add up and turn into bigger things like killing the pig and Simon. These boys are now responsible for murder no matter what state they were in or if they were on an island. This is something that they will have to live with their whole life, even after they get rescued.
Jack is a dynamic character who undergoes a series of traumatic events, turning him more savage like then he starts out. His lust for power is the utter thing that leads him to his state of complete savagery, and his downfall. Without adults or rules, there is no one around to set in straight and keep him in line. Throughout the novel Jack has done some unforgivable things, all in the hopes that he will gain complete control. He has shown us that even the virginal people can lose control of themselves under the right pretenses.