Lord of the Flies- Jack Merridew

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Character Analysis- Jack Merridew In the book Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, we are introduced to various characters which are stranded on an uninhabited island, after surviving a plane crash. In the first chapter of the book, we meet the antagonist of the novel, Jack Merridew, the head of a group of choir boys, a manipulative and dominating young boy. Through the first passage in Chapter 3, we learn quite a bit about Jack’s character traits, as he follows a pig, carrying a sharp knife in one hand, through the dark jungle, on the strange island. Through the imagery in this passage, we are able to clearly visualize Jack’s characterization. “His sandy hair, considerably longer than it had been when they dropped in, was lighter now…” (Lines 11-12) We are able to understand Jack’s appearance through this quote, we also learn that the boys must have been on the island for quite some time as his hair is already much longer and lighter, and this happens over a period of time. “… and his bare back was a mass of dark freckles and peeling sunburn” (lines 12-13) through this quote we get a deeper insight on Jack’s physical traits. “They were bright blue, eyes that in this frustration seemed bolting and nearly mad.” (lines 17-18) Here, we learn that Jack is feeling very frustrated and annoyed. When a bird created a shrieking noise, “ Jack himself shrank at this cry, with a hiss on indrawn breath; and for a minute became less of a hunter…” (lines 24-25) We learn that Jack is truly afraid, no matter how much he tries to cover up his fear of this unfamiliar island by attempting to keep a brave expression. Jack does not like to be afraid, so after shrinking at the cry of the birds, “… the frustration, claimed him again…” (Line 26) The frustration mentioned, is due to the fact that he became inferior to this small bird for a matter of moments. Throughout this
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