Jack on the other hand, is a powerful, tall, strong boy. He feels envious of Ralph being elected as the leader, and starts to undermine Ralph’s leadership skills and refuses to listen to him. Although the boys respect Ralph, they see Jack as a free person of the island because of his power, and they start to follow him, also undermining Ralph’s leadership qualities. Jack’s power merely comes from his strength and confidence in front of the boys, making some of them feel intimidated and feel that they must listen to him. William Golding expresses power in many different ways, the book ‘Lord of the Flies’ shows how both power and authority cannot co-exist if one is envious of the
English A Level 13 January 2014 Lord of the Flies: Changes in Jack “Appearances are often deceiving.” ( Aesop Quotes ). In the story Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Jack Merridew appears to be a usual English boy, but turns out to be a cold blooded killer, who is thirsty for power. He goes through many changes in the book Lord of the Flies, which the other boys down a path of savagery. In the beginning of Lord of the Flies, Jack was first seen as an ordinary English boy who was leader of the choir boys. The first thing that changes about Jack Merridew is his exterior.
Jack, the antagonist, is a likable character because he has the ability to sing and lead his people, but some of the dislikable part about him is that he will use whatever trick necessary in order to get what he wants. Hitler and Jack are similar; they are both bold, productive and mean that make them true and epic fighters. Without a myriad amount of boldness, people would not be making big contribution to the world. In the beginning of Lord of the Flies, all the characters decide to stick together and do everything together. After a while, Jack feels that Ralph is not a good leader and he should take over the leadership of the people on the island.
He thinks of building shelters to protect them and to start a fire for their rescue. He becomes friend with Piggy, the fat boy that receives taunts and teases from the other boy, and gets used to rely on Piggy's intellectual reasoning. Ralph is brave when the occasion presents it, but he really miss for the secure world of adults, especially when order starts to break down on the island. He dreams about a rescue and insists that the signal fire always has to burn so that they can be seen. Ralph considers that the main reason for the disorder on the island is Jack, the antagonist and representation of evil in the novel.
When Piggy dies, Ralph feels like a part of him is missing when he makes decisions and creates thoughts. “We can use this (the conch shell) to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us-“He beamed at Ralph (Page 16) After the group of boys create a small government and elect Ralph as chief, Piggy became an impact on Jack’s character. Jack does not like Piggy because he supports and stands by Ralph.
He gives in to this enemy at times, playing “a game” with Jack and the hunters, and participates in Simon’s death dance. Ralph undergoes major changes in the novel and is left crying at his new discovery of how evil people can be at the end. Just like Ralph, Jack is all about the rules. He is a natural leader, but unlike Ralph, wants all the power for himself. Jack is clearly Dove 2 hurt when Ralph is given authority over him.
Unlike Ralph's peaceful, democratic leadership, Jack believes in violence as a way to rule. Jack uses anarchism, the absence of government, as his method of winning over the boys and convincing them to leave Ralph. When Jack is originally unsuccessful as convincing the boys to convert over to his own methods, he resorts to savagery in order to become successful in gaining power and sovereignty over the boys. Jack's disrespect, desire to hunt, and violent tendencies are all ways in which he gains and maintains power over the converted boys. Most importantly, Jack's disrespect towards the other boys makes him fearful to the others, and therefore the boys feel obligated to follow his orders if they want to avoid consequences.
True to the dynamics of democratic politics, Ralph is elected leader for superficial reasons. He is a personable and handsome boy who appears to be in charge because of his use of the conch, which functions for him at the moment of his election (and throughout the novel) as the symbol of authority. Although it was Piggy's quick thinking to use the conch to summon the others, hampered by asthma, he must allow Ralph to do the summoning. And while Jack clearly has some experience in exerting control over others, making his choirboys march to the assembly through the tropical heat in floor-length black cloaks, the sheer
Lord of the Flies “Savage peoples are ruled by passion, civilized peoples by the mind. The difference lies not in the respective natures of savagery and civilization, but in their attendant circumstances, institutions, and so forth.” - Karl von Clausewitz.This quote not only applies to some of our barbaric history, but it applies to everyone. Golding confirms this in the Lord of the Flies by using English schoolboys in order to emphasize the fact that no matter how old someone is, where there from, or any other contributing factors that nothing protects the borders of civilization and savagely. In this novel, young boys are abandoned on an island, given no choice but to fend for themselves. Throughout the story the two opposites of civilization and savagery, are represented through the two main characters, Ralph and Jack.
Throughout the majority of the novel it is obvious to see that Ralph is not the rightful leader, and that Jack should be the leader as he has a strong sense of control over the island but does not have the same agenda when it comes to being rescued as he does not see the importance in the fire, whereas Ralph does, “You let the fire out.” This shows Ralph to understand that to escape from the island the boys need to create a signal fire for other ships. Jack is the apparent rightful leader, but the one that shows the intelligence and is the main reason to why Ralph became chief is Piggy, as from the start he understands the severity of the situation “We may stay here till we die.” Piggy’s intelligence is shown through the