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How Did Jack Merridew Develop A Sense Of Savagery In Lord Of The Flies

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A party of English school boys are marooned on an uninhabited tropical island, an island which is forgotten by the civilized world after a plane crash (#2). There are no adults on the island to act as an authoritative figure for them. At first, the children demonstrate civilized manners; they try to maintain order in a place where there are no rules or sense of civility (#5). However, the longer they live free from the constraints of society, the more they develop a sense of savagery (#7). How could children between the ages of six and twelve end up displaying murderous and torturous actions? Jack Merridew— a tall, thin, freckled, odd-looking, choirboy— is one of the survivors of the plane crash who demonstrates the savage part of human nature …show more content…

Jack states, "We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at everything”. (Golding 42) He is aware of the fact that there has to be order among the boys. He follows the behavior taught to him as a school boy in English society. He’s still civilized (#1). A little later in the story, the dialogue between Jack and Ralph reveals that Jack is disgusted by the idea of blood: Jack says, “You cut a pig’s throat to let the blood out, otherwise you can’t eat the meat”. (29) Ralph asks, “Why didn’t you—”? (29) However, "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”. (29) At this point, Jack could not handle the idea of harming a pig. Killing animals, enjoying blood, killing for no reason— these actions are not acceptable in civilization (#8). Therefore, the instinct of savagery is still suppressed in Jack because of the order maintained by …show more content…

Jack develops an obsession for hunting, not necessarily for the purpose of feeding the boys on the island, and devotes himself to killing a pig. After Jack establishes himself as the chief of the tribe, he leads the boys as they go hunting. They find a sow nursing her piglets. Contrary to the previous hunting scenes in the book, this hunt is extremely ferocious. Jack impales the pig by thrusting his spear up her anus. “The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream”. (149) Jack then rubs his hand on Maurice’s cheek to get rid of the blood. Afterwards, Jack’s tribe cut the head off the pig and attach it on a stick. Jack’s attitude has moved into savagery and he now enjoys killing. Following this, Jack decides to kill Ralph and insert his head on his spear too. An animal hunt now turns into a manhunt; therefore becoming an even more violent plan (#6). Samneric warn Ralph, “They’re going to hunt you to-morrow” (209). Jack’s thirst for blood is unstoppable. Now, only two concepts matter to Jack: blood and violence (#9). Jack is away from the control mechanism of civilization; he has turned into a sanguinary barbarian who wants to murder his peer

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William Golding’s Lord of the Flies depicts many different types of authority. Despite the fact that Piggy has the potential to gain authority, only Jack and Ralph have authority over the boys in the novel. Although they both have authority, Jack and Ralph rule as chief in very different ways. Ralph rules through order while Jack rules through fear, and a system of reward and punishment. Golding shows that authority based on desire and fear always triumphs over authority based on order and reason.

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The mental degradation of Jack, his hunters, and several other boys helps to demonstrate how civilization is only a veneer masking man 's inborn savagery. Originating as an angelic choir boy, one might struggle to believe that Jack Merridew is the first boy to begin the slippery slope into savagery. It all starts when Jack, in an attempt to have a successful hunt, applies red and white clay to his face. This fateful application becomes a mask with which Jack hides all of his fears and insecurities behind, and in doing so, Jack takes the first step in becoming a savage. As time progresses, increasing acts of terror (such as torturing a mother pig and slaughtering one of their fellow boys) push Jack further from humanity until he is a complete

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At the beginning of the story, Jack is civilized and wants to be rescued like the other boys. He is assigned to be the lead hunter, but when he sees his first pig, he cannot kill it. Eventually, he is a savage and he has no problem killing pigs and in some cases, other boys. “At once the crowd surged after him, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws.

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Jack’s cruel nature starts to show as he begins to lose control of his temper along with him being pretentious: “ ‘I cut the pig’s throat,’ Jack said, proudly … ‘There was lashings of blood,’ said Jack, laughing” (Golding 69). Although Jack is feeling proud of himself, there are still some qualities in need of assessment. For one, Jack is one of the only children on the island that would do that. Others may have killed the pig but Jack was vicious enough to cut the pig’s throat. This explains that Jack had the guts to murder an animal, which also implies that he is just a little heartless.

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(Golding 31). Jack was not yet accustomed to killing so the thought of stabbing a living being scared him. The author is showing that the boys were still innocent because they were new to the island and learning how to stay alive. Also at this point in story the boys have not succumbed to the madness of the island. Jack had spent a long time hunting the pig and was ecstatic when he finally killed it.

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However, when he tries to kill the pig, he realizes “what an enormity the downward stroke would be” (Golding 31). Jack is unable to kill the pig because his morals get in the way. He was not taught to be savage and cruel, so he could not bring himself to kill the pig. Nevertheless, later in the book, Jack wants to have a feast with his tribe. So, Jack and a few other boys go out to kill a pig, but Jack is not as thoughtful this

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But this isn’t an ordinary kill. After this kill, he cut off the pig's head and he “held up the head and jammed the soft throat down on the pointed end of the stick which pierced through into the mouth”(136-137). This is probably the best example for Jack’s character evolution. He had gone from the boy who chickened out of killing a pig, to the boy who decapitated a fresh kill, and drove it onto a spear, as an offering for a jungle beast. Jack has been through so much at that point in time, that he’s gone completely dumb to murder and killing live animals.

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Prior to this gruesome event, Jack announces his break from the group of boys, demonstrating his desire to become chief and foreshadowing the event. Having been wounded by the powerful Ralph, Jack attacks a defenseless sow, “sunk deep in maternal bliss” (134), and taking advantage of its vulnerability while she nurses her piglets, an act of absolute cruelty. The killing of the sow is brutal, loud, inhumane, and aggressive. The whole scene alludes to many forms of assault, including rape: “and the hunters followed...the sow fell and the hunters hurled themselves on her... Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife.”

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What causes savagery behavior ? Biology can make people do bad things. It can cause savage and immoral behavior. Just like in the novel The Lord of the Flies. In the book, The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, he writes about character who are kids whose plane has crashed on an island.

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Following the desperate chase after the sow, “Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife. Roger found a lodgment for his point and began to push...the spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands” (Golding 135). Unlike before, this scene conveys that Jack and the boys in his tribe are capable of killing and committing brutal acts. While Jack hesitates to kill a pig at the beginning of the book because of his fears of blood and death, he eventually becomes obsessed with hunting and violence, killing a sow by vigorously “stabbing downward with his knife” and slitting the sow’s throat.

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He goes to share his hunting story to Ralph and a boy named Piggy. On page 69, the narrator shares, “I cut the pig’s throat,’ said Jack, proudly, and yet twitched as he said it.” This quotation shows us that civilization is lost when the urge to kill takes over because it shows the stage where Jack is proudly killing animals, but still feeling a little bit uncomfortable with it. In this example, Jack proudly shares that he has killed, but still twitches after saying he did. Jack is still hanging onto the little bit of civilization that is left on their island.

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We notice from the beginning of this novel that it is going to be interesting. Jack quickly goes savage and states “You should stick a pig… You cut pigs throats to let the blood out”(31 Golding). Not only is this a sign he 's gone savage but it is also a sign that he doesn 't care.

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When people think of an internal struggle they typically think of a devil and an angel on either shoulder whispering in both your ears telling you do you the good or the bad thing. Maybe people don’t realize that this is a very real thing. Minus the angel and devil aspect that is. The thought of Internal conflict within individuals has been discussed for a long time. How often do people think about doing the wrong thing?

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Jack is considered the arrogant, conceited, and savage leader of the choir boys. This cruelty becomes evident when he decides he will be the leader of the hunters, becoming the first to rid himself of his school boy identity. Jack is prepared to hunt down the boar but hesitates due to his human nature. He vows that "next time there will be no mercy" and his fear of blood rapidly dissipates. Jack becomes reckless, violent, ruthless, and his hunger for hunting becomes uncontrollable.

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Lastly, Jack is known as the rebel of the story who disagrees with the leaders, and is pure evil from middle to end. Although Jack is evil, his bad character trait ensures his survival and alliance with the boys. The first example of when Jack’s evilness is shown in the story is when Jack hunts the pig and puts its head on a stick, the line says “ Jack held the head up and jammed the soft throat down on the pointed end of the stick which pierced through into the mouth. He stood back and the head hung there, a little blood dribbling down the stick” ( Golding, 150). This shows Jack’s evilness because instead of fearing the beast he is offering him the head of the pig that he just brutally murdered.

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