Compare and Contrast Golding's Presentation of Simon and Jack in the Opening Five Chapters of the Novel
Compare and contrast Golding’s presentation of Simon and Jack in the opening five chapters of the novel
In the opening five chapters of the story, Golding presents Simon and Jack as two very different characters. Simon is a quiet and selfless character across these chapters, whereas Jack is a loud, imperative character. They have quite contrasting roles in these chapters and are compared in very few ways.
In chapter 1 of ‘Lord of the Flies’, Golding presents jack as a dictator figure, as when Jack and the choir arrive, Jack is the first one to talk and is asking questions to find out the situation. Jack also says “Choir! Stand still!” which is a very imperative phrase. Golding implies a lack of emotion and sympathy, as when Simon faints, Jack says “He’s always throwing a faint.” This is suggesting that Jack thinks Simon is a weak character, and he himself is strong. When Piggy, Ralph and Jack are talking about names, Jack offends Piggy with foul language. This implies that he is also a rude character, as he says ”Shut up, Fatty” in response to Piggy. The way that he calls Piggy “Fatty” shows that he is not scared to talk and thinks that he is intimidating, which is also suggesting cockiness. When the subject of having a chief comes up, Jack is very fast to respond in nominating himself. The novel says “‘I ought to be chief,’ said Jack with simple arrogance.” The phrase “simple arrogance” shows that Golding is trying to present the idea that Jack already pictures himself as a higher rank than everybody else and acts patronising towards everybody else. Jack in chapter 1, and throughout the novel, is obsessed with hunting. When Jack is put in charge of his choir, he says straight off that they should be hunters. This could be presenting an animalistic and violent side to his character. When Ralph, Jack and Simon head up the mountain, Piggy offers to come as well. Ralph said nicely to Piggy “You’re no good on a job like this”. Then Jack said “We don’t want
In the opening five chapters of the story, Golding presents Simon and Jack as two very different characters. Simon is a quiet and selfless character across these chapters, whereas Jack is a loud, imperative character. They have quite contrasting roles in these chapters and are compared in very few ways.
In chapter 1 of ‘Lord of the Flies’, Golding presents jack as a dictator figure, as when Jack and the choir arrive, Jack is the first one to talk and is asking questions to find out the situation. Jack also says “Choir! Stand still!” which is a very imperative phrase. Golding implies a lack of emotion and sympathy, as when Simon faints, Jack says “He’s always throwing a faint.” This is suggesting that Jack thinks Simon is a weak character, and he himself is strong. When Piggy, Ralph and Jack are talking about names, Jack offends Piggy with foul language. This implies that he is also a rude character, as he says ”Shut up, Fatty” in response to Piggy. The way that he calls Piggy “Fatty” shows that he is not scared to talk and thinks that he is intimidating, which is also suggesting cockiness. When the subject of having a chief comes up, Jack is very fast to respond in nominating himself. The novel says “‘I ought to be chief,’ said Jack with simple arrogance.” The phrase “simple arrogance” shows that Golding is trying to present the idea that Jack already pictures himself as a higher rank than everybody else and acts patronising towards everybody else. Jack in chapter 1, and throughout the novel, is obsessed with hunting. When Jack is put in charge of his choir, he says straight off that they should be hunters. This could be presenting an animalistic and violent side to his character. When Ralph, Jack and Simon head up the mountain, Piggy offers to come as well. Ralph said nicely to Piggy “You’re no good on a job like this”. Then Jack said “We don’t want