Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis

These masks, which are used by Jacks followers called ‘the hunters,’ are made of clay paint. The evilness of the boys is clearly shown when they wear the masks. It is almost as if an infectious disease is spread upon them; they lose all sense of civilization. After Jack paints the mask on his face for the first time, it is clear what it does to him. “He began to dance and his laughter became a blood thirsty snarling. “He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness.” (Golding 64). This not only shows the cruelty of the mask, but it also shows how it opens Jack into the world of being a savage. Also, Golding mentions the colors of Jack’s first mask as being Red, White, and Black. These colors symbolize “violence, terror, and evil.” (Golding).

In the beginning of the novel, Jack’s mask represents hiding from himself and to hide from the responsibility of the real world. Jack is standing over the water when he begins to create the mask out of different colors of charcoal. Once he creates his mask, he sees himself in the reflection of the water, “he began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling. He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (Golding 64). He becomes a different person and hides from his true self. A sense of anonymity arises to help relieve

This mask depicts Jack’s identity from the book Lord of the Flies. Starting from the bottom of the mask, there is a quote from Jack which is one of the last things he says before leaving Ralph’s group: “I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you”. This quote is significant to Jack because not only does it show the end of the impact on Jack that the tamed and edified society Ralph has developed, it shows how childish he is. Before Jack says this, he puts Ralph’s conch on the grass in front of him and cries.

For example, in order to camouflage himself from the pigs, Jack decides to paint his face with clay and charcoal. His masked features are so appalling that it frightens Bill, Samneric, and Roger. “He [Jack] began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling. He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (64). Jack is menacingly “capering” toward his hunters, incredibly excited by his ingenious idea. The mask is symbolic of Jack’s barbarity materializing, no longer lingering within him. Behind the mask, Jack is free from principled behaviour therefore he can act as ruthless as he wishes, without the fear of being reprimanded. Coincidentally, as Ralph and Piggy are discussing the causes of controversy on the island, Jack and four of his hunters appear suddenly, painted for war and naked. They have come to steal fire in order to cook the pig that they killed. “The forest near them burst into an uproar. Demoniac figures with faces of white and red and green rushed out howling, so that the littluns fled in terror” (140). Their ghastly appearance and savage-like shrieking is terrifying to the civilized boys. The “faces of white and red and green” symbolize Jack’s inhumanity spreading to more of his followers, gradually replacing their morality with disdain. With the masks on,

jack’s behavior when he puts on the mask changes him because he feels different but not so much in a good way. jack became blood thirsty when he put on the mask and he wasn’t necessarily himself anymore. the purpose of a mask is to cover your face up, like in the story it says that “ he peered at his reflection and disliked it.” therefore showing that he did not like the way he looked so he made a mask to cover himself as if he was insecure or just wanted to feel more manly or like a hunter. yes everyone from time to time puts on a mask cause they are insecure and feel mistreated. when most people put on a mask they put it on because it makes them feel different and like a whole new person because they dont like the way they are.

Lord of the Flies is often claimed to be an allegory of modern society. While this is true, Golding’s intentions in writing this novel are much deeper. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies provides an enlightening insight into the true nature of human beings; along with why people refrain from acting upon the evil that resides within them. He presents these ideas through symbolism within the novel and it proves effective in many ways. Through symbolism, Golding can unfold the excellent plot of his novel, while subsequently sharing his ideas on the relationship of mankind and society. Golding uses the beast, the conch shell, and Piggy’s glasses to symbolize the human impulse towards ‘savagery’ and the social constructs put in place to prevent it.

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

Imagine being stranded on an island without hope or assurance of help being on the way. This is the scenario William Golding presents in his novel, Lord of the Flies. Golding uses many symbols throughout his novel to help shape the theme of how the flaws of human nature create the flaws within a society. Jack and Ralph interact throughout Golding’s novel to demonstrate how the flaws in human nature cause the flaws and chaos in a society. Jack begins to show his oppressiveness and power hungry characteristic not too long after he separates himself from Ralph.

Throughout the novel, the face paint that Jack and his crew used simultaneously masks their faces as well as their civility. The first mention of the facepaint is made when Jack is strategizing a way to sneak up on a pig and he decides to camouflage himself. Jack says that his “half-concealed face” is “for hunting. Like in the war” (63). The incomplete coverage of the paint indicates that Jack is not fully immersed into his savagery. However, his interest in aggressive acts, hunting and war, insinuates that he does have a tendency towards aggressiveness as well. Perhaps the most blatant reference to the fact that face paint induces savagery within the boys, specifically the hunters, is when Golding states that “the mask compelled them” (64)

Consequently, he uses the need of meat to rationalize his savage behavior, although there is an abundance of fresh fruit. The need for this excuse is obviated when Jack starts to apply a mask of paint in order to liberate himself from "shame and self-consciousness" (64). Moreover, this self-deception enables him to become an "awesome stranger" (63), capable of wholly abandoning any sense of morality or ethics.

The first thing Jack decided to change within him was his name. “'Kid's names,' said Merridew. 'Why should I be Jack? I'm Merridew,'” (21). The name that he used back at home, Jack, is filled with memories of civilization. By changing his name to Merridew, he wants to build up a different Jack. His attempt to change the name was his first evidence to escape the civilization and being a kid. Originally, Jack was just an ordinary British schoolboy. He was dressed up neatly and tidy. However, as the savage grew over him, the civilization disappeared. He ran around naked, with long hair in a dirty environment. Soon, the savage compelled him, creating the mask figure inside him. "...the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness," (64). The mask gave him power, dismissed him from self-consciousness- he wasn’t Jack anymore. Furthermore, Jack who had a high-class education, such as music, went insane over the hunting. When Ralph asked him who he wanted to be in the island, he had chosen the hunter. Why? As all the other boys in the island, Jack had to live through so many restrictions and rules. Especially, his fun was restricted Whether he was at school or home. The rules always tailed along him. Whereas, in the island, there were none. They could do whatever they want for fun, such as hunting. The hunt symbolizes the savagery but also their loss of

William Golding’s novel ‘The Lord of The Flies’ tells the story of a group of English boys isolated on a desert island, left to attempt to retain civilisation. In the novel, Golding shows one of the boys, Jack, to change significantly. At the beginning of the book, Jack’s character desires power and although he does not immediately get it, he retains the values of civilized behaviour. However, as the story proceeds, his character becomes more savage, leaving behind the values of society. Jack uses fear of the beast to control the other boys and he changes to become the book’s representation of savagery, violence and domination. He is first taken over with an obsession to hunt, which leads to a change in his physical appearance This change

Lord of the Flies, an allegorical novel by William Golding, holds truths about mankind’s true nature of existence. The novel explores the savagery in all men that lies dormant, yet when society’s rules cease to exist, the boy’s innocence perishes along with it. The boys attempt to band together and mock the society that they came from, but not understanding the complexity of the situation, results in their society falling into ruins. On the island the boys are returned to man’s primitive nature, without rules or discipline, and they slowly drift into anarchy. Without proper guidance, the boys resort to cloaking their innocence with body paint to survive. With the body paint coating their skin, the boys bury their old personas within and allow themselves to commit acts that society would frown upon. When Jack’s tribe uses the facade of body paint to dissociate themselves from civilization’s morals, they denote that hiding one’s true identity liberates them from the constraints of society.

The mask is Jack’s camouflage for when he hunts in order to hunt better, but it truly represents Jack’s turn to savagery for the mask does not hide his true identity, it brings out his inner savagery. Masks are used to hide people’s identity or to let them become someone or something else. If no one can recognize who a person is, then that person cannot be blamed for their actions. Therefore, Jack is freed from his morality and therefore the is no longer any consequences for his actions as well as all the boys eventually becoming unrecognizable; they are no longer individuals and cannot be distinguished from savages. This is the case when Ralph and Piggy go to Castle Rock a when the boys who joined Jack’s group appeared, “savages appeared, painted out of recognition, edging round the ledge to the neck” (175).

Their masks hide the evil dwelling within their innocent souls, waiting to be set free. It emits human personalities and behaviors, allowing it to be impenetrable by visual perception. With these masks as a cover, Jack and his tribe members interact nicely; chaos rips through their society when they allowed their masks to fall off throughout many sequences of events.