The Symbol Of 'Power In Winchester' By Tobias Wolff

Violence begins to emerge in Jack at the end of the novel. This is the last quality that shows Jack is a dynamic character. By the end of the book, Jack has become a murderer. Not only

This quote shows how the importance of dictatorial power in a “savage” society. Power is the most important thing when there are no boundaries to society.

These few masks that Dwight adorned proved to be the start of Jack’s distrust as many promises were broken and only went as far as imaginations. This later corroded Jack’s true-self of freedom and happiness as Dwight proved to be a disappointment for both Jack and his mother. Later on, Dwight sells Jack’s Winchester rifle, taking away the only thing that Jack truly enjoys and feels comfortable with.

Jack demonstrates leadership qualities at the first place when coming up with a plan of being rescued. Nonetheless, as the time passes, he begins to enjoy a sense of power. He becomes forceful, hazardous, and is willing to kill. Jack and Ralph attempt friendship even though they have extremely different personalities. Their original feelings were

… The madness came into his eyes again. ‘I thought I might kill.’”(Golding, page 51). If Jack were hunting exclusively for the purpose of food, his inner “compulsion to kill” as stated by the author would not exist to begin with. In fact, this statement appears to suggest the opposite—that his inner compulsion to kill is some kind of inner need rather than just an innocent venture to acquire food for the rest of the boys. Therefore, due to the wording of the author from the quote on page 51 as an addition to the quote on page 31 (which can be surmised as foreshadowing of evil) it provides the basis of Jack’s hunting proving him a symbol of evil. From page 134 onwards, this relationship is further solidified by the following few quotes: “A little apart from the rest, sunk in deep maternal bliss, lay the largest sow of the lot. She was black and pink, and the great bladder of her belly was fringed with a row of piglets…” (page 134), “She blundered into a tree… could follow her easily by the vivid drops of blood. …and the hunters followed… excited by the long chase and the dropped blood.”(page 135), and “Jack held up the head and jammed the soft throat with the pointed end which pierced through into the mouth (Golding, page 136 and 137). The first detail on page 134 indicates the pig they have their sights on is a mother of a few piglets. Quite

Throughout Wise Blood, written by Flannery O'Connor, it is often of the predominant character, Hazel Motes, that one of his most distinguishing features is his eyes and how they connect to who he is and how he defines himself. For example, the readers first encounter with Haze is from the perspective of the many train passengers. Each noticing that "… he didn't look, to her, much over twenty, but he had a stiff black broad-brimmed hat on his lap, a hat that an elderly country preacher would wear" (O'Connor 4). To them, he was a soldier, just relieved of duty and on his way home. However, he was not going home. He had no home and was in search of a new purpose in life. The preachers hat that Hazel always wears is just one of the symbols O'Connor uses to reveal the theme of her work. Symbols in literature are often used to portray a bigger picture, express a deeper meaning or foreshadow an event, however in Wise Blood, O'Connor uses symbols such as a car, eyes and colors to portray the main characters; inner conflict about religiosity.

Jack was a very power hungry young boy.  Although he doesn't have any power at the beginning of the novel, he took every opportunity to take the position of chief and was eventually successful. Jack's dictatorial style of leadership contrasted very directly with the more democratic and passive style of Ralph.  Jack ruled with an iron fist, allowing no one to question him or his leadership. Jack represented the wanting for a single, all-powerful leader to guide the followers of society using any means he feels necessary.

When Jack races to the kitchen after seeing the wasps, he ends up “slamming the heavy part of his thigh into Ullman’s desk” and after “snatching” the bowl, “a dish fell to the floor and exploded” (King 192). Jack was impotent to stop the wasps, so he messily attempts to feel like he has dominance by violently subjugating objects. He is bumps into the desk of a man who made him feel inferior and he “snatched” a bowl that he will use to gain power over the wasps, causing a dish to “explode”. This harsh diction emphasizes how angry Jack feels and the brutality that allows him to assert power. Jack refuses to accept responsibility for his actions and instead reverts to blaming external sources in order to avoid guilt and displays of weakness that would damage his masculinity. Jack has a sudden feeling of unease, as though “it wasn’t the wasps that had stung his son… but the hotel itself” (King

Almost everything Jack does shows the power he possesses. Some things that Jack does that shows his power was after he raids Ralph’s camp. Jack is then described as “a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses” (168). This quote shows that Jack had the power mentally and physically to go raid Ralph’s camp to get Piggy’s glasses. Another demonstration of power Jack shows is when Sam and Eric are telling Ralph about Jack’s plan to hunt him. The twins say that “ ‘they’re going to hunt you tomorrow.’ ‘But why?’ ‘I dunno. And Ralph, Jack, the chief, says it’ll be dangerous-’ ‘-and we’ve got to be careful and throw out spears like at a pig.’ ‘-we’re going to spread out in a line across the island-’ ‘-we’re going forward from this end-’ ‘-until we find you.’ ” (188-189). This shows the power Jack holds because he has the power to lead his followers to hunt their enemy and it shows the fear Jack has implemented into Sam and Eric’s

This is the first time jacks true feelings come out and he turns into psycho jack which is connected with the theme. This Scene we get with jack shows the importance of this topic and how it has a deeper meaning.

In the book Revolutionary Characters by Gordan Wood, the degree in which he portrays the personality and personal philosophies that informed the politics of these early American leaders, especially Thomas Jefferson, shows that contrary to popular belief that these men were not some unflawed perfect beings, but they are just like us with their many fears and insecurities. These flaws appear in all of the founding fathers and this adds a level of realism to them. It also shows that flaws are a part of human nature.

I thought, by myself…I thought I might kill.”. The reader can see from this that Jack’s vocabulary is composed of only monosyllabic words as he is preoccupied only with thoughts of slaughtering. We can also interpret that Jack feels as if he has to kill in order to gain respect for himself. Jack shows this pride when he does eventually kill a pig and he retells the story of the hunt to the rest of the boys. He and some of the boys re-enact the murder in a savage and primitive style. Therefore, we can see how his behaviour has been affected as a result of his compassion and need to hunt. This change in his behaviour is very significant as hunting is how Jack begins to establish his power over the group. Soon after the killing of the first pig, Jack is able to become more powerful and Ralph begins to realise this so he says, “I’m calling an assembly.”, as he feels in danger of losing control.

Jack had never killed before, the strive of murdering a living thing was holding him back. Once he became his own leader, that strive of not harming a living organism was gone. “Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife” (Golding,216). The fact that everyone has violence as well as killing to stay alive. This shows that Jack let go of his “warm” heart and turned it “cooled”. Bertie on the other hand didn’t hesitate to change the appearance of his “peace toys.” “The municipal dustbin had been pierced with holes… John Stuart Mill had been dipped in red ink” (Saki,5). Bertie completely changed the peace toys into something impeccable. He has his mindset to violence because it is apart of human nature.

Jack, negatively portrayed in comparison to Ralph, tempts the boys with an array of forbidden treats, indulging their most violent, suppressed desires in an attempt to lull them away from the security of Ralph. In a sense, Jack is negatively compared to Ralph throughout the novel, and is often portrayed as confused and violent, very aware of the evil inside of him: “The real problem that arises among the boys involves their own inner nature…” (Johnston 2). When his plan fails, Jack feels as though his seat of power is threatened and therefore resorts to terrorizing, threatening and essentially forcing the boys to join him and align themselves against Ralph, alienating them from their former, comfortable life-style and thus making what they once failed to appreciate all the more desirable.

Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood utilizes various elements of fiction to develop and question the concept of power and control in the patriarchal society of Gilead. Offred, the main Handmaid, is the instrument of which Atwood delivers her message about corruption and power. Offred’s vague diction, unreliable characterization, and erratic tone illustrate the distress of this transitional society (Abcarian 1403-1404). In the beginning of Chapter 23, the role of memory in the novel expands, and the readers test the narrator’s creditability. Offred concludes that all of her memories are “reconstructions”, and that she will continue this practice even if she escapes Gilead. She continues to relate fluid memories to forgiveness and forgiveness to an unnaturally complacent and obedient population (Atwood 134-135). Identifying a powerful relationship between memories, forgiveness, and power, Offred suggests that the main source of Gilead’s totalitarian power is the regime’s ability to manipulate its citizens’ will to forgive past transgressions.