How does William Golding present the character of Jack in Lord of the Flies
How does William Golding present the character of Jack in Lord of the Flies?
William Golding’s character of Jack is the antagonist of the novel who is seen to conflict with the novel’s protagonist, Ralph, throughout. He is presented as being a ruthless and violent dictator and Golding presents him in such a way that the reader has no doubt of his evil nature. As the novel progresses, Jack is presented as a power hungry and bloodthirsty savage who is at the centre of the chaos which breaks out on the island.
In chapter one Golding first introduces Jack and ‘his’ choir boys as “something dark” seen to be “fumbling along.” Golding uses the colour black to symbolically represent Jack as he is wearing a “square black cap” and, along with the rest of the choir, his body is “hidden by (a) black cloak.” Instantly Golding foreshadows to the reader that Jack will be a sinister character who brings an ominous mood to the rest of the group. This is made particularly evident as he appears to be a complete contrast to Ralph who is described as the “fair haired boy.” Golding’s use of the word “hidden” also highlights to the reader that there will be more to Jack than initially meets the eye and foreshadows that, by chapter four of the novel, Jack will be concealing and hiding his school boy identity behind a painted mask.
As soon as Jack approaches the rest of the group of boys he is described to “control” the choir boys instantly presenting him as an almost dictator like leader. Parallels can already be drawn between Jack and Hitler which we see in the fact that his choir boys are “marching approximately in step in two parallel lines” alluding to the goosestep style march of the Nazis. Further indications of his controlling and dictatorial ways are seen in his dialogue and interaction with the rest of the choir boys as he commands “choir! Stand still” and the choir respond “obediently.” Throughout the novel Jack is seen to frequently use imperatives like “stand still” to
William Golding’s character of Jack is the antagonist of the novel who is seen to conflict with the novel’s protagonist, Ralph, throughout. He is presented as being a ruthless and violent dictator and Golding presents him in such a way that the reader has no doubt of his evil nature. As the novel progresses, Jack is presented as a power hungry and bloodthirsty savage who is at the centre of the chaos which breaks out on the island.
In chapter one Golding first introduces Jack and ‘his’ choir boys as “something dark” seen to be “fumbling along.” Golding uses the colour black to symbolically represent Jack as he is wearing a “square black cap” and, along with the rest of the choir, his body is “hidden by (a) black cloak.” Instantly Golding foreshadows to the reader that Jack will be a sinister character who brings an ominous mood to the rest of the group. This is made particularly evident as he appears to be a complete contrast to Ralph who is described as the “fair haired boy.” Golding’s use of the word “hidden” also highlights to the reader that there will be more to Jack than initially meets the eye and foreshadows that, by chapter four of the novel, Jack will be concealing and hiding his school boy identity behind a painted mask.
As soon as Jack approaches the rest of the group of boys he is described to “control” the choir boys instantly presenting him as an almost dictator like leader. Parallels can already be drawn between Jack and Hitler which we see in the fact that his choir boys are “marching approximately in step in two parallel lines” alluding to the goosestep style march of the Nazis. Further indications of his controlling and dictatorial ways are seen in his dialogue and interaction with the rest of the choir boys as he commands “choir! Stand still” and the choir respond “obediently.” Throughout the novel Jack is seen to frequently use imperatives like “stand still” to