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Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis Essay

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When people are born, they are innately evil, having only the primal instincts to survive. However, society attempts to lock those instincts away by casting a burden called rules upon them. In the allegorical text, Lord of the Flies, William Golding depicts a group of boys, stranded on a tropical island, free of civilization. Here he paints an image of what humans really are without the burdens of society. In Golding’s psychological allegory The Lord of the Flies, Jack embodies the ID, someone who acts based on his/her own basic wants and needs, for the sake of establishing his theme: Humans are, no matter the circumstance, evil, and man tries make humans ideal and good through the making of rules and laws.
From beginning to end, Golding …show more content…

In the later stages of the novel, when Jack and Ralph argue, Ralph tries to assert the power and authority that the conch, the symbol of law and order holds, in order to speak, however, Jack states, “You haven't got it with you, “ said Jack, sneering. “You left it behind. See, clever? And the conch doesn’t count on this end if the island—” (Golding 150). Jack’s disregard for civilization can be shown when Ralph attempts to speak by mentioning the conch, the symbol for law and order, and sneers. The fact that he sneers represents how savage Jack has truly become. When Jack is first introduced he encouraged rules:“We’ll have rules!” he cried excitedly. (Golding 33). He makes fun of the conch the one thing all of the boys on the island agreed, subconsciously, to be the only remnant of society and thus is the reason they listened to Ralph at all: “ Him with the shell. Ralph! Ralph! Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing.” (Golding 22). In addition to Jack’s complete negligence of the conch, he even promotes and praises savagery. By stating that the conch only counts on one part of the island and not on another insinuates the idea that whatever happens on that side of the island is not governed by law and order but by instinct, lust to kill, and primitive desires. Here Jack divulges in his voracity and his wants, explaining the reason Jack is the ID: he acts based on his most

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