Jack- the Lord of the Flies
name
Teachers name
Honors Ninth Lit/Comp.
30 January 2013
Jack of Lord of the Flies
William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies is an allegory used by the author to demonstrate the instinctive evil within all of humanity. A group of British schoolboys are in a plane crash, and left stranded on a deserted island with no adult help. The boys attempt to create their own civilization, but it fails when certain members of the group let their dark sides take over. There are many intriguing characters among the schoolboys. Some of the characters include the leader, Ralph; the intellectual outcast, Piggy; and the religious mystic, Simon. William Golding creates the memorable character of Jack Merridew in The Lord of the Flies through the characteristics of, being a hunter, being a dictator and being hungry for power.
In the beginning of The Lord of the Flies, when we are introduced to Jack, he chooses to be a hunter, but throughout the novel his want to hunt becomes a desperate yearning to kill. Jack’s first desire to hunt starts with the need for meat, but as he hunts, the savage inside of him starts to come out. When confronted with his first opportunity to kill a pig, he hesitates. He tells the other boys he was deciding where to cut but in reality “They knew very well why he hadn't: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood (Golding 31).” In the beginning, Jack fears killing, as he develops as a hunter, his personality develops with him. As Jack starts painting his face, and hunting more often, his hunting becomes something he needs. “He tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up (51).” Jack’s innocent hunts for meat are gone, and it’s become a sadistic ritual for him. He is a hunter, and wants to kill.
Jack is the antagonistic version of Ralph. They both have many of the same characteristics; however there is one extreme difference. Where Ralph rules as
Teachers name
Honors Ninth Lit/Comp.
30 January 2013
Jack of Lord of the Flies
William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies is an allegory used by the author to demonstrate the instinctive evil within all of humanity. A group of British schoolboys are in a plane crash, and left stranded on a deserted island with no adult help. The boys attempt to create their own civilization, but it fails when certain members of the group let their dark sides take over. There are many intriguing characters among the schoolboys. Some of the characters include the leader, Ralph; the intellectual outcast, Piggy; and the religious mystic, Simon. William Golding creates the memorable character of Jack Merridew in The Lord of the Flies through the characteristics of, being a hunter, being a dictator and being hungry for power.
In the beginning of The Lord of the Flies, when we are introduced to Jack, he chooses to be a hunter, but throughout the novel his want to hunt becomes a desperate yearning to kill. Jack’s first desire to hunt starts with the need for meat, but as he hunts, the savage inside of him starts to come out. When confronted with his first opportunity to kill a pig, he hesitates. He tells the other boys he was deciding where to cut but in reality “They knew very well why he hadn't: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood (Golding 31).” In the beginning, Jack fears killing, as he develops as a hunter, his personality develops with him. As Jack starts painting his face, and hunting more often, his hunting becomes something he needs. “He tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up (51).” Jack’s innocent hunts for meat are gone, and it’s become a sadistic ritual for him. He is a hunter, and wants to kill.
Jack is the antagonistic version of Ralph. They both have many of the same characteristics; however there is one extreme difference. Where Ralph rules as