Who Is Responsible For Jack's Downfall In Lord Of The Flies

In the book, the readers can tell that Jack only cares about savagery and hunting pigs. Jack feels that he can replace Ralph as leader, because Ralph does not take much of responsibility. He falls into the savagery category because when he puts on the mask to kill the pigs, it hides his inner inhibitions. “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.”(pg. 69). This quote shows Jack’s evil side when it comes to the death of their first pig, and it is also a political allegory. “The conch doesn’t count on the top of the mountain… so you shut up.”(pg. 42) Jack feels like he is a dictator, so he decides to take control of Piggy. “You should have seen the blood!”(pg. 70). This shows Jack’s loss of innocence, and the savagery inside him and the

Jack stood over him. His voice was vicious with humiliation" (Golding 54). In this section of the book, Jack is hitting piggy because piggy blamed Jack and the hunters for the fire incident. When Piggy blamed Jack he punches Piggy in the stomach, Piggy's glasses fly off, and one of the lenses breaks on the rocks. This quote helps prove my point because this shows how Jack is a cruel person that treats people like animals by hitting them.

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of young British boys are left stranded on an island after a fatal plane crash in the midst of a World War. With no communication to the outer world and no presence or influence of adults on the island, Ralph, Jack Merridew, and Piggy are forced to take initiative if the group of hopeless boys want to survive. The group of boys experience a drastic change throughout their time on the island, a change that no one would ever expect to occur to a young group of primed British boys. The leader of the stranded choirists on the island, Jack Merridew, shows such a change that he soon persuades other boys to follow his savage actions as the novel progresses. Though the changes to Jack’s mental and physical characteristics advance slowly at first, the final personality of Jack is instantly taken over at the climax of the novel to a dehumanized savage. Jack’s innocence is corrupted by his inability to withstand a society without rules proving man's good essential nature is altered by the evil within society.

Throughout the novel, Jack uses his violence to fulfill his needs and desires to gain control over the island. As an example, in the beginning of the book, Jack picks on the boys on the island who appear “weaker” than him to intimidate them and get them to follow his rules. Which shows his desire to be violent and gain control over the boys on the island. An example of this is when Piggy says “I'm scared of him and that's why I know him”. If you’re scared of someone, you hate him.

When he first arrives at the platform with Ralph blowing the conch, Jack immediately tries to assert dominance. Through his loud commands to the choir, it becomes clear that Jack wants the others to know that this group of boys already follows his orders. Golding writes, “Piggy asked no names. He was intimidated by this uniformed superiority and the offhand authority in Merridew’s voice” (Golding 21). Jack uses his position among the choir to try and convince the other boys that he should be selected chief. He declares, “I ought to be chief because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp” (Golding 22). Although Ralph is elected chief, he senses Jack’s hunger for

“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us - William Golding.” In the book, Lord of the flies by William Golding, a group of young boys become stranded on an island far from civilization. These boy having no rules or civilization are forced to expose their savage nature. One of the boys named Jack was responsible for the destruction of the island and the two deaths.

In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Jack tries to assert his power with violence. As the hope of rescue and going back home fades, he becomes hostile towards other members of the group. “Ralph made a step forward and Jack smacked Piggy’s head. Piggy’s glasses flew off and tinkled on the rocks. Piggy cried out in terror: “My specs!”’ (Golding, 71). As Jack’s personality fades, he gains a violent temper. He lashes out against Piggy, who was merely offering a suggestion. Some boys agree with what Piggy said and Jack is worried he’s losing the control he wants over the boys.

Jack asserts his authority by making the chief, Ralph seem weaker, therefore creating a stronger picture of himself to the other boys; a better leader than Ralph. When Jack says ‘He’s like Piggy’ it conveys weakness, as Piggy is seen as a feeble character, which Jack believes isn't a trait that a leader should have. He also says Ralph ‘isn’t a proper chief’ this implies Jack is trying to turn everyone against Ralph to improve his status on the island. In addition, Jack gains admiration from the other boys by promising to protect them from the beast. For example, he says ‘If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down!’.

A young boy called Simon asks Ralph to go back to being chief, to which he refuses. At that very moment, Piggy admits, ''I'm scared of [Jack]... you kid yourself he's all right really, and when you see him it's like asthma and you can't breathe'' (106). Ralph and Piggy are the only kids who pronounce that they fear Jack, while others fear him privately.

Jack is the antagonist in the novel, Lord of the flies. In the beginning, when everyone was being introduced he was the leader of the choir boys, who stood with Ralph for being voted the leader of the island. Jack was really embarrassed and mad when Ralph got higher number of votes and got elected. As time passed through Jack sensed the power when the boys listened to him instead of Ralph, and become dangerous, aggressive, and willing to kill. Towards the middle, Jack explored the island and became more savage as described in the book. Towards the end, Jack and Ralph separated themselves into two different groups on two different parts of the island. No group had anything to do with the other group. Ralph’s group planned on keeping the fire

Jack Merridew in the book, Lord of the Flies, is the antagonist that experiences the most symbolic change. William Golding starts the story by explaining Jack as an arrogant choirboy leader, who throws a fit when he is not picked for the leadership role of the whole island. Jack is slowly transformed throughout the story into a murderer who doesn’t think twice of taking a human’s life. Through a series of events Jack changes from a normal boy into a savage being, such as leading the hunting tribe, wearing paint on his face, killing Simon, disparting from the group and then purposefully killing Piggy.

In the Lord of the Flies, Golding's negative characterization of Jack expresses his view on human nature that humans are innately barbaric in correspondence with their instinctive kindness. When Piggy wins the support of some of Jack's hunters for criticizing Jack for putting the fire out. His statement "drove Jack to violence". Jack "took a step and able at last to hit someone, stuck his fist into Piggy's stomach. "The violent action of Jack displays how inherently savage he is when he is faced with opposition.

Throughout William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies there is an ever-present conflict in Jack, as an antagonist with savage instincts, which he cannot control. As the story progresses we see Jack become power crazy and turn completely ruthless against the other boys. With no organization by Jack's actions and words that are openly displayed to the boys he turns the group form civilized group to group of complete savages.

The descent into savagery and evil that overcomes the boys is first distinguishable in Jack. His craving for power using evil makes him a clear bully. This is seen when Jack bullies Piggy over the debate of why they let the fire go out:

He couldn't even recognize himself anymore because of his power-hungry struggle. His thirst for power changes Jack into an immoral person rather than the well-mannered boy he was raised to be. Jack is a power-hungry being who leads the once-innocent boy into a trap to join his tribe. Golding uses Jack as a symbol of dictatorship, and he robs the boys on the island of their innocence, which turns them into savage-like animals. His animalistic behavior throughout the novel is passed on to the other boys, causing them to follow in his footsteps.