“Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape,” -William S. Burrough. Desperation; How far will you go to satisfy your needs? In William Golding’s Lord of The Flies, we watch this first hand as Jack succumbs to his desperation for power, transforming himself and the other boys from innocent to brutal, disrupting their island society beyond repair. A plane full of children lands on a deserted island. Most of the boys are the ages of thirteen and under, and are naive and unsuspecting of their surroundings. They play in the water, run through the forest, and act in a childish manner. After we meet our two protagonists Ralph and Piggy, we are introduced …show more content…
Jack, being in charge of his choir now deemed hunters, becomes infatuated with the killing of a pig. On one of Jack's first hunts for the pig, he comes inches away from his prey. He’s so close, knife in hand and ready to strike. But, something happens in Jack’s mind as he’s one cut away from his prized catch; He hesitates. Although Jack believes that no one noticed, “They knew very well why he hadn’t: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood” (GOLDING, 31.) Although the boys’ innocence was fading, there was still a small part of Jack that would not allow him to slaughter the swine. Jack’s childish need for power was badly injured after his falter to kill the pig, for he was extremely embarrassed with his unwillingness to harm a living creature. As a result, his choir and the rest of the boys were led to question his authority, if he was even able to become a hunter. At a meeting called shortly after that incident, Jack’s desperate need for power causes him to lash out in a brutal way. Jack is constantly piqued with Piggy’s intelligence and companionship with Ralph that “he took a step, and able at last to hit someone, stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach. Piggy sat down with a grunt” (GOLDING, 71.) Jack finally had control of something, of someone, which satisfied his need but stole a part of his childlike …show more content…
Desperation has led all hell to break loose, and the one to open the pits of purgatory is none other than Jack. Not only is he desperate to live, but he’s desperate to satisfy a sadistic itch that cannot be scratched. Jack begins to notice how the boys are losing their innocence too, and he makes an offer they cannot refuse; a chance to join a new tribe, a tribe led all on his own. While amusing his desperate demand for power, he convinces his choir to join in on his crusade to murder a sow. After a tiring and lengthy pursuit, the hunters finally have the animal surrounded. With an intense brutality, “Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands. The sow collapsed under them and they were heavy and fulfilled upon her” (GOLDING, 136.) Jack has completely lost every ounce of innocence he once possessed, and has become the very beast that he hunts. With the loyal few of Ralph’s tribe captured and tortured by Jack’s clan, Ralph is alone. For the first time, no one stands beside him. Everyone that had ever supported him is either dead, going to be dead, or wishes he was dead. Sam and Eric, his final devoted members, tell Ralph the alarming plans of the Other Side. They quickly disclose how “‘They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you.’ ‘They’re going to hunt you tomorrow’” (GOLDING, 189.) Jack, given power