Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a classic novel and portrays just how the society surrounding us can corrupt our once pure nature No one is born a killer, no one is born with an intense compulsion to kill, the island that the boys are stranded on has a very unusual, corrupting society; A society that erodes the boys innocence through the power struggle between Jack and Ralph, readers see the transfer from innocent to savagely through the hunting and Piggy’s death.
Innocence is quickly brushed under the rug whenever the boys realize they must kill to eat, making hunting the first major cause in the conversion from good to evil. When first crashing onto the island Jack had come with a set of morals and therefore was not able to
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(Golding 33). Being stranded on the island has majorly changed Jack, he is praised for killing pigs because of it supply of meat. The amount of praise and the feeling of victory after a kill has caused Jack to go mad. The society within the island has corrupted Jack and many of his hunters because they are praised so greatly for killing a pig that they have now adapted this hunting as an evil game, the hunts are no longer for food but instead for self pride, and praise, and power. In our society we have our system for power set up making the understanding of who is in charge easy; However, when the boys are stranded on an island they are forced to come up with their own system, causing rivalries and corrupting rights and values. Before being stranded on an island Jack was an innocent, well-behaved child, however, when thrown into a foreign place with no society and no system of power it is very easy to destroy all of your innocence when obtaining most power. Jack was a hunter and was in charge of all the hunter, he eventually made his own tribe and almost everyone followed him, giving him a mass amount of control. Golding shows that Jack uses his power in ways only beneficial to him, easily seen when the remainder of Ralphs tribe approach Jacks and see him, “ painted up and wearing garland around his neck” (54). Jack uses his power to idolize himself and make the other
In this quote, the reader is shown to what extent Jack has been affected by living on the island. He’s been affected to the point that he is now described in words that would normally describe an animal. You would never think of a 12 year old boy having a “bloodthirsty snarl” as oppose to the innocent giggle or chuckle of a young child. He is literally becoming “one with his prey.” Along with some of the other boys, he has lost his morals, innocence, necessity for rules and order and turned into a bloodthirsty monster capable of killing, like he and the other boys killed Simon.
But he’s the first to lash out and go crazy out of fear and the desire to be.Jack left the group because he wanted to be the leader/chief and the fear of the beast/evil on the island but he was so consumed of being cleif just to have people. Killing the pig was like a “nice long refreshing drink” (Golding #). They got pleasure out of killing the pig and not paying any attention to the fire. William Golding portrays foreshadowing to show little signals the the boys do slowly become
Jack and his tribe show the true meaning of savagery creeping in when the rules of society are forgotten. Ever since the boys arrived on the island, Jack has wanted to be the only one in control. When the boys voted for Ralph over Jack he became angry. The boys separated, some decided to become hunters and the others desired rescue. Jack quotes “ who will join my tribe”, so now Jack does have the power he’s been wanting but only to the savages. Jack becomes obsessed with the thrill of killing pigs that he takes his killings to another level. Golding uses zoomorphism to describe jack and the people in his tribe; “Jack began to dance and his laughter became bloodthirsty snarling.” Golding would use this literary device to show the ptrue animals the savages are. The boys chant “‘kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in’”, this indirectly shows the savagery that the boys have developed since stranded in an environment where there is no authority. After Jack achieves killing pigs he becomes even more bloodlust. Jack and the boys kill Simon with no couth then Jack allows Roger, another savage, kill Piggy. After the murders they all act like nothing has happened. Jack doesn’t show pure savagery because he uses a clay mask when he hunts, which hides his true personality. This savagery creeps in when all
Jack hesitated to kill the pig a fear of his which he conquers by converting from civilization to the savage way of the island. This quote displays Jack’s transformation into a savage had not yet started, he was still humane, in this case his humanity won over his savageness. This basically shows that not everyone starts off evil or bad, but it grows gradually over time, mostly due to a certain trigger. Jack’s trigger
Ralph and Jack disagree with hunting or being rescued being the main goal. Jack and Ralph have different point of views on hunting but hunting for pigs becomes the main topic on the island. Most of the boy’s do not care of getting rescued all they care about is surviving and eating meat. Jack and his hunters become obsessed with hunting that there is even a chant that is said when the
In chapter three, is a detailed description of one of Jack's hunts. Golding describes, "the ground was hardened by an accustomed tread and as Jack rose to his full height, he heard something moving on it. He swung back his right arm and hurled the spear with all his strength." (Golding 3). Though Jack had no sense of who could have been behind him, he still powerfully swung his spear as a form of protection. Unaware of his surroundings, Jack easily could have swung his spear and killed one of his acquaintances. This cause of immediate reaction can be lead to the loss of civilization and no rules. With civilization and rules to abide, Jack would not necessarily need to be frighten of who may have been behind him. He also may not have been in the forest alone but accompanied by someone. In the beginning of chapter eleven, Golding explains how instead of eating the killed meat, the boys left it "on the grass the headless body of a sow lay where they had dropped it." (Golding 129). This can be identified as savageness. An ordinary boy would not kill an animal for fun, but for food; However, in this case, the boys on the island are indeed killing the animals for the sake of pleasure. Towards the end of chapter eleven, a tragic moment occurred when Roger carelessly threw a rock at piggy "a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch
Jack Merridew quickly finds himself, losing all civilized traits he once had. When the boys wash up on the deserted island , Jack clearly asserts himself into the leader, and the best thing going on the island. Jack then loses a leader vote to Ralph, Jack and his choir boys are quickly assigned the duties of hunters. But when Jack is met with the first animal he sees out hunting he is quickly met with internal conflict, “The three boys rushed forward and Jack drew his knife again. He raised his arm in the air.. The pause was only long enough for them to understand what an enormity the downward stroke would be. Then the piglet tore loose from the creepers and scurried into the undergrowth… ‘I was choosing a place. Next time!’ “ (31). While Jack originally deems himself as the best and bravest, he has areal moment of weakness, when he finds himself being incapable of being able to kill the pig. He really has a battle within himself, so when he was given the hunter job he gladly accepted. At this time he became a hypocrite and not only made a mockery of himself, but as Jack represent his choir boys which are now known as hunters. Jack’s action however, foreshadows an event to come when does infact see another pig, there will be no hesitation. Further in the novel, the group of survivors have lost all civilized traits they once had. The boys are divided on who really is the true leader and the impending
The isolation that comes with crashing on a deserted island affects all the characters, seen most dramatically through Jack. Being brought into this setting transforms the civilized choir leader into a savage hunter and murderer who’s given into his inner demons. When the boys first crash land onto the island, they were proper English schoolboys. Due to the separation from society, however, the boys start to regress, giving in to their more animalistic instincts. Jack starts off as the ‘‘chapter chorister and head boy’” who tries to take leadership of the tribe the boys form; he fails to do so, turning him away from order and reason (Golding 22). He neglects his duties and turns his attention to hunting the native pigs, prompting him to let the fire, their gateway back to society, go out; this pits Ralph against Jack, who represent civilization and savagery
While Jack and his hunters started out as just choirboys, they become obsessed with violence and are driven to kill. In the beginning of the book, Jack hesitates and misses his chance to kill a trapped pig. Later on, as Jack and his newly formed tribe hunt in the forest, they discover a sow. Following the desperate chase after
When they first arrive at the island, Jack and the rest of the boys wears the same mask of innocence as every other human being, but it soon begins to slip. Throughout a massacre of pigs, Jack and the other boys releases their animal nature. Initially, the boys try to set up an island society that mimics the English society, with discipline and authority. The behavior of the boys is the same as they showed at school back home, but the need to be the survival of the fittest pushes the boys’ past their humanized nature. The children want to have familiar rules. Piggy says, “We’ll have rules!” he cried excitedly. “Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks ‘em--” (Golding 25). Everyone follows the rules in the beginning, hoping that it will lead their rescue. But when their hopes dwindle, they soon fall out of order, becoming two independent and opposed groups. To become superior to the others, Jack kills pigs and humans and earns the place of a tribe leader. His actions show that humans act to
Gangs are considered a group of people that have a common link together. Gangs are typically ethnically, racially, economically or geographically based. In William Golding 's Lord of the Flies, gangs rise up within the group of boys. William Golding gives us a glimpse of the savagery that underlies even the most civilized human beings. The bullying and group mentality demonstrated in gangs has resemblances to the characters in Lord of the Flies.
With being so riled up, when Simon returned to the group, Jack, along with all the other boys, began attacking Simon as if Simon was the beast living upon the island. Simon was “...was crying out against the abominable noise, something about a body on the hill...At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to [Simon] struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (152-153). After Simon was beaten to death, Jack and the boys “...could see how small the beast it was; and already its blood was staining the sand” (153). Jack was aware that Simon was not the beast—he was aware that he was attacking another human. However, because of Jack’s love for blood, he did not see Simon as a human with value anymore; he just wanted to kill. Being strayed from society has given Jack the chance to live with no rules. Thus, his obsession in hunting is not being held back, allowing him to become desensitized to violence and to lose his morals. He no longer wanted to be rescued, but instead wanted to have live the excitement and thrill of hunting on the
Civilization can be destroyed as easily as it is created. Without the walls of society, humans are capable of committing actions that they would have never thought possible. Lord of the Flies focuses on a group of boys who are alone on an island without authority. The novel reveals what can become of humanity without the presence of authority. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the protagonist Ralph symbolizes leadership, civilization, as well as the loss of innocence. Ralph is the closest resemblance to authority that the boys have on the island. His appearance plays an important role in him signifying authority, “You could see now that he might make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went, but there was a
Meat is something all the boys on the island want, and some even want it more than they want to be rescued. As originally being the leader of just the hunters, Jack leads the hunt that catches, and kills, a pig that gives the boys the meat they so desire. This success makes him more popular with the boys, and results in Jack having more pull over the boys. While not convincing anyone to vote Ralph out as chief; Jack goes on to start his own, more successful tribe. His tribe has the majority of the boys. All except Simon, Piggy, Ralph, and Samneric join his tribe willingly. Furthermore, Jack is a better leader than Ralph. While he has atrocious morals, the boys actually listen to Jack and do what he says. Opposed to Ralph, who can’t get the boys to listen to him, even with the conch. Jack has more success than Ralph, who has better morals and rules, when it comes to
As the story unfolds, it is very obvious that hunting is a very significant tactic to the boys. At first, the boys hunt for food, but soon enough the hunting turns into something much more malicious. Jack, the most determined and egocentric boy on the island, seems to be attached to hunting. The boys are spread out in the forest, carefully looking for a sow that they could kill and eat and finally they spot one, and chase after it;