Jack Merridew Character Analysis

“Maurice and Robert skewered the carcass, lifted the dead weight, and stood ready. In the silence, and standing over the dry blood, they suddenly looked furtively. Jack spoke loudly. ‘This head is for the beast. It’s a gift.’” (Golding 137). Before they gave this gift for the beast, Jack had exclaimed that they would forget the beast. Now he is giving the head of his kill to the beast as an offering, so the beast won’t hurt them. Jack targets that fear and that’s what keeps him in power. It’s also a way to let him hunt because the boys think that he would be able to kill the beast. He has already killed one person, Simon, because of his fear for the beast. He actually got the entire group to kill Simon, in a chant to kill the beast. Jack’s fear drove him to where is hurt someone, and therefore, causing a decline in the boy’s

It is understandable that Jack would have the desire to hunt, considering the act of killing gives off one of the most extreme feelings of power. This might be the reason that he leads violent and gruesome hunt's everyday, sometimes more than once. Nobody questioned his motive to hunt until Jack said, “Use a littlun (page 160).” This referred to a game that he was playing, during which they used a human and tried to kill them like they would a pig. Even the suggestion of this would cause the other kids to question what is going on up in his mind, even questioning his morals and

Lord of the Flies has many meanings to it that are represented through the characters and their feelings. When comparing the characters in the Lord of The Flies, you can see the obvious change in most of them from the beginning of the book to the end. The two main characters are Ralph, the protagonist and Jack, the antagonist. Ralph and Jack both have different qualities and beliefs that define each of them completely and at times make them both alike in many ways. They both represent what we are and what they were, Civilized and Savage.

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies presents a story of a group of boys who become stranded on an island together, and in their struggle to survive; some begin to fight for power. Having power makes them feel in control of their situation; however, this power struggle quickly begins to consume them. Golding uses the power struggle between Ralph and Jack, the two main characters, to illustrate the power struggle between good and evil.

If you had been alone in the jungle, with the thought that something might be out there to get you, the sound of shelter, protection and food sounds very appealing. Which is a strategy jack uses in order to gain more followers in his group. These are adult promises which appeal to the children. They are afraid that if they do not join his group, they will suffer. But before he gets to making his own group, he weakens Ralph’s ability to create a sense a security by saying,”’He’s not a hunter. He’d never have got us meat. He isn’t perfect, and we don’t know anything about him’” (83) Jack says this to make a point that Ralph isn’t fit to lead the group, he is creating fear in the children's minds that they won't be safe under Ralph’s watch. Once Jack has the attention of some of the children and gained their loyalty he sets rules in place. “‘We’ll hunt. I’m going to be chief. [...] And about the beast. [...] Forget the beast. And another thing. We shan't dream so much down here.’” (133) At that point it seems as if jack is trying to eliminate some of that fear from the kids to build strong hunters on his side. The children are afraid. Once jack degrades Ralph in front of them, they are afraid of inadequate safety, which they now feel that jack can provide. Fear is evident in the children at this point in the

Jack- Jack is kind of an antagonist in the Lord of the Flies. He is a mean and savage boy who only cares for himself and no one else. Jack is the type of person who enjoys rebelling other people for what they think and likes to insult people for who they are. Things tend to get out of hand, ever since Ralph and the boys met Jack. For example, Jack divided the hunters and created his own tribe and becomes enemies with Ralph’s tribe.

he decides whether evil prevails over good or otherwise. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Golding writes about a group of British military boys who are marooned in a strange island and they decide on how to get rescue. Ralph, one of the main characters in the novel portrays Civilization and race for emancipation, While Jack chooses to continually long for power and immortalises the passion for hunting.

To begin, Jack’s character was developed as extremely violent. He’s been shown as someone who enjoys hunting wild animals and enjoys hurting those around him. “‘There were lashings of blood,’ said Jack, laughing and shuddering,’You should have seen it.’” (63)

Golding uses the characters from Lord of the Flies just as Shakespeare did to prove that man is turned to evil. The narrative illustrates a story about a group of British boys who get stranded on a deserted island without any adults. This lack of a stable society and presence of leadership forces the boys to create their own, and this works for the boys for a while. The boys turn themselves into savages and begin to do evil deeds which continue to get worse until they are rescued. In the time between their rescue, the society the boys create devolves and turns them into savages although this was not always the case. When the boys first arrived, Ralph, the fair haired boy, attempts to lead them in a civilized manner, but through the influence of Jack, many of the boys become evil. Jack mutants against Ralph saying, “ I'm not going to be a part of Ralph lot... I'm going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too,” (Golding 127) in saying this Jack has made most of the boys on the island betray their leader which proves both Jack and his followers to be evil. The society the boys created glorifies violence and death:“... the boys… found themselves eager to take part in this demented… society.” (Golding 152). Jack, the leader of the violent tribe, often takes his followers on gruesome hunts on which they graphicly disembowel the kill, and after the hunt, Jack leads a chant while the other boys stand

The idea of the beast started off as nothing more than a figment of a child’s imagination and Jack even said himself that “‘I’ve been all over this island...there is no beast in the forest’” (Golding 83). He’s denying the idea that there is any type of beast on the island and uses his position of “hunter” to justify it. Later in the novel, Jack starts to support the idea of the beast when he realize the boys’ fear gives him power. He mentions that the “‘the beast is a hunter’” (Golding 126) and how “‘[Ralph] is a coward himself’” (Golding 127). Jack is clearly talking Ralph down and wants the boys to view Ralph as a unifit

Stories through history argue that evil tendencies are shown in early life. One character, Jack Merridew in Lord of the Flies by William Golding, is a perfect example. This young boy is the evolving antagonist who brings discord in his wake, and fundamentally undermines the representative society on the island. At the outset, he is seen as a plainly ugly redheaded child, only possessing his grandiose black cloak, but evolves into something more sinister. Jack’s actions are impulsive, but effective in moving his darker motives forward. He uses his following of other young boys as muscle, demonstrates his power, and corrupts the world of Lord of the Flies with his destructive behaviors. As well as demonstrating the characteristics of a harsh leader, Jack fits the description of evil under other descriptions. Jack is the character that moves the novel forward with his harsh words and conduct, as illustrated by his dominance, pride, and selfishness.

Often enough, society pressures individuals into acting in accordance to social norms out of fear of being cast away from both their communities and by their loved ones. In the instance of the novel Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, the character Jack Boughton may not necessarily be regarded as a respectable figure nor act in the manner that the narrator John Ames reveres, yet it is revealed throughout the process of the novel that Jack does in fact question both his past and present actions as well as the security of his future in heaven despite keeping this and a large part of his identity hidden from his family and friends in the form of a secret marriage. Through the guidance of his namesake John Ames, Jack Boughton eventually leaves the town of Gilead pondering the concept of predestination and intending to serve as a better husband and father to his wife and child as well as questions how his attempts at conforming to social standards have led him astray from his family, thus ultimately leaving the reader and John Ames himself hoping that he can make amends to his life in addition to his behaviors while he still has the time.

In the novel, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of young boys end up stranded on an island due to their plane being shot down while trying to escape World War II. Because there are no adults around, it’s up to the boys to establish rules and learn how to survive as a society. As the story progresses, Golding starts to introduce a recurring theme, savagery, which is evident in the mindset of one of the main characters, Jack Merridew. The transformation in him is greatly significant in contributing to why savagery is a relevant theme. Jack, being a dominant, controlling character, constantly pushes the other boys around, especially Piggy. His need for authority motivates him to find new ways to manipulate the boys and strip Ralph of his leadership. In addition, he has a natural bloodlust inside him, which develops over time into a savage-like instinct.

Jack sets his views straight as he believes that hunting is good enough for a tribe to live off. He also tries to encourage others this way by bringing up fun in hunting, thus taking them away from the boring "working life" that Ralph has to offer. In the quote itself, Jack states that the others can go when he wants to go. This may be a foreshadow of the type of leader he is, and what he may do. The quote also informs the reader that Jack has set his priorities straight, and that he

William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” is a heavily layered story with a setting and characters that symbolise human nature, how being isolated from civilization can dehumanize the state of man. The setting provides a lack of society, and the boys each represent a different aspect of mankind. One character, Jack Merridew, plays a significant part in portraying how mankind is affected without rules and norms. After he has been separated from civilization long enough, Jack becomes a brutal savage and creates a mask out of face paint. Golding utilizes Jack’s face paint to mask his descent into savagery,