Characters are a very important component to a book or story. Jack, one of the main characters in Lord of the Flies, is a great example of this. In the book Jack is the leader of the hunters. He and his other hunters bring the food for the group of boys that are stranded on the island. Jack may have had authority over the hunters, but he wanted more than that. He wanted to rule the whole group. Jack got way in over his head on this topic and went ballistic. With this comes anger and threats. See, without Jack’s personality and how the author characterizes him, the story wouldn’t have any conflict, and without conflict what is a story? One of the first conflicts in the book is the fight between Ralph, one of the other boys on the island, and Jack arguing for the role of leadership. The group of boys took a vote and Jack lost. Jack was the leader of the choir, so Ralph let him be in charge of them still (Golding, P.22). The reason for that is, because the choir had voted for Jack in the first placepalce. Ralph thought that they should form a sense of community where there is one main leader, like a …show more content…
Jack got angry and threatened to assassinate Roger. Likewise, he had plans to murder Ralph out of hatred. Jack’s plan was to start a hostility with Ralph to finish him (Golding, P.159). Jack did not want to sure the group of boys and he wanted to be the overall only leader. Although the boys did decide to be apart of his tribe, the boys still respected Ralph and Jack did not like that. He did not like Ralph overall, because Ralph had something Jack did not for along time. With Jack’s temper came great hardship. Despite the wreckage, without Jack’s anger there would be no moral to the story, because Jack taught us with anger only comes damage. We as the readers would not learn from it in any
Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, has four very important dynamic characters. A dynamic character is a character that develops and grows during the course of the story. Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and Simon are four dynamic characters in Lord of the Flies that adapt to their new lifestyles in different ways. Jack is a very important dynamic character in Lord of the Flies because he goes through the most changes during the novel. While on the island, Jack has many life experiences that change him forever. Jack never thought he would live his life the way he is living his life in the island. Jack’s authoritative figure, savage-like/instinctual behavior, and violence are three qualities that make Jack a dynamic character.
There are no adults on the island. No one to make them feel safe when there is an unknown creature that feeds off fear. Jack takes that fear and causes a decline in the society of the boys on the island. First of all, he is stubborn. Jack is also immature and reckless. Thirdly, he is power-hungry. Lastly, Jack is driven by fear.
Even though many supporters suggest that Ralph is a great leader, it is obvious that Jack is the best leader on the island. Since the boys set foot on the island, Jack was honest, and he never hesitated to express his feelings. “Human nature cannot be so irremediably bad if the arrival of one adult can immediately put everything to rights” (Reilly,10). This quote explains that when Jack was introduced on the island he was a great leader, and this made the boys realize they each have individual responsibilities in order to contribute to the group. While being honest, Jack demanded the group to do what he wanted, and the boys would obey him. “Jack at first demands to be called as at school, Merridew, the surname his mark of superior age and authority”(Oldsey 4). This quote illustrates that Jack immediately separated himself from the other boys on the island.
Jack Merridew’s intricate personality and its multiple layers are explored quite thoroughly in the William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, arguably more than that of any of the boys. Jack is a natural leader but considering his other qualities, is he really suitable to lead the boys? Even though Jack is more influential than Ralph is, he is a horrible leader and role model due to his negative traits such as his savagery, irrationality and a megalomaniac.
By disobeying Ralph’s rules, Jack is trying to weaken the rules. Jack still has an effect on the boys, and his breaking of rules weakens the their will to follow them. In a later meeting, Jack claims that Ralph “isn’t a proper chief” and that “[he’s] going off by [himself].” Jack’s departure weakens Ralph’s tribe, since the choir has been with Jack before the crash on the island, and showed loyalty to him on the island. This results in a majority of the boys abandon Ralph for Jack. Some of the non-choir boys go off with Jack’s tribe, because of the beast they want protection from. They believe his hunters will supply that. Jack is no longer under control, but is now in control. Jack’s department of the tribe, and weakening of the boy’s opinion on Ralph leads to his desire for power being satisfied.
Jack gets mad at Ralph. Because he blamed by Ralph and he is always a lot of set up. This makes her get bored and go away from Ralph. Jack felt that he more deserves to be a leader. Then, this separate do not make him doubt at all. It is because Jack has an ability of hunting to survive on the island. In addition, there are other kids who follow him and accompanied him to keep each other. it make him sure for what he has decided. It show by Jack's speech when he says that Ralph was not the one leader who deserved,
Both Jack and Ralph were struggling for power. At first, Jack and Ralph had similar goals for what they should do on the island. They quickly retreated when Jack became obsessed with hunting for pigs on the island. Ralph thought that they should keep the signal fire going at all times. Jack started to see that he did not want to leave the island he like that there were no rules. Ralph on the other hand felt that they could not be here forever. Ralph wanted to be rescued from the island. They're very different opinion forces Jack to leave Ralph's group and start his own. Jack toke most of the other boys with him leaving Ralph with very few people. From all of this Ralph started to realize that leading a group of people was not easy. There would always be people like Jack that would disagree. Jack left feeling insulted from Ralph insulting his hunting he felt that Ralph had undermined him as a result Jack turned mean and
Jack’s hunters show the “darkness of man's heart” and the evil of killing when they start to brutally kill pigs and enjoy it. When the hunters successfully kill their first pig, they start to celebrate in a not so sane way. They start chanting “Kill the pig, cut her throat, spill her blood”(69). By the hunters chanting this, it shows that they enjoyed killing the pig. Killing the pig was a necessary task for obtaining food but it was turned into a form of bloody enjoyment. Later when Jack and his group stumble across another pig, they kill it in a not so quick and efficient way. They all jump the pig and “Roger ran round the heap, prodding with his spear wherever pig flesh appeared”(135). Jack helps out by repeatedly stabbing down on it with
William Golding portrayed his past through a character in his novel, Lord of the Flies; Godling brought out what he truly believed to be the "darkness" of ones heart and incorporated it into the fictional character, Jack. William Golding, according to his family, was a violent man. His family described him as being a dictator, which showed a correlation between him and the fictional character, Jack. Throughout the story, Jack was a representation of savagery. His character was blood thirsty and a manipulator. Upon their arrival to the island, Jack desired power over all things. He wanted to be the leader and in control of the boys.
Jack is aggressive with the other boys on the island. Jack is aggressive with the boys when he gets mad. The hunters “drove Jack to violence.” Jack then “took a step, and able at last to hit someone, struck his fist into Piggy’s stomach” (Golding 71). Jack was mad at the hunters, so he took it out on Piggy. Robert says Jack is “going to beat Wilfred.” The boys have no idea what for. Robert says Jack, “got angry and made us tie up Wilfred up for no reason just because he got angry. Jack did the same thing with Piggy.
Ralph cares for the greater good of the group of boys rather than just for himself which signifies one of the traits a leader should have. Golding tries to show that leadership is an important part of keeping an island civilized and from keeping it stable. Ralph’s leadership is the only hope the boy’s have to be able to survive on the island while they wait to be rescued. Ralph's leadership starts to change as he and Jack have a power struggle because he starts to lose faith in himself as well as the boys. In a sense, it would seem as though Ralph’s leadership was the one to cause the boys to rebel against being civilized because they didn’t want to listen to someone who would tell them what to do when they could do whatever they wanted and become savages without morals. Ralph’s leadership helps the boy’s civilization have stability. Leadership relates to the meaning of the work as a whole because leadership is what keeps a civilization from going into ruins, but the boys instinct to do what they want is much greater than that of living a life with rules.
In the first couple days of the children being stranded on the island Ralph, the soon to be leader, gives the suggestion of a leader to be put in place. All the children hold an election of some sort. Jack immediately puts himself forth for the role of leader, Ralph also puts himself as a candidate. Everyone votes and Ralph is then declared as leader. Jack is most definitely annoyed at Ralph becoming chief. Ralph notices him being annoyed. So, as an act of empathy Ralph allows Jack to lead the choir. This might be considered one of Ralph’s biggest mistakes
Ralph is the athletic, and the strong character of Lord of the Flies. While most of the other boys in the beginning are worried about playing, having fun, and not wanting to work, while Ralph thinks about building shelter and he is also thinking of a way to call the attention of any planes or ships that pass by, and be rescued. However, as the boys slowly change their mood, Ralph’s position as the leader goes down slowly Jack´s chances of being leader rises. Also, most of the boys except Piggy leave Ralph’s group for Jack’s, and Ralph is left alone to be killed by Jack’s little group, but Ralph is not able to understand why the other boys would go with Jack if his group is not organized and not going the right direction with protecting themselves.
Now that you’ve reviewed plot structure and conflict, let’s look at character. A character is any person, animal, or figure represented in a literary work. If you’re discussing a fictional text, you need to be able to formally discuss character. Like conflict, characters are essential to a story: An author can’t create conflict without characters.
Stranded. Alone. Savage. Who will step up to be the leader? A plane full of boys stranded on an island with no grown ups, and no way off the island. At first it's a vacation, no adults means fun and play. When they realize that their parents might not be able to save them this time, it's a struggle for chief between Jack and Ralph. Who is going to be able to carry out this important role? Who’s going to get them home? Who’s going to be able to keep them alive just while they are on the island? Ralph is the best fit leader because he brings order and rules to the island and is doing everything he can to get them off of the island and back home.