Is Jack To Blame In Lord Of The Flies

Most kids see independence as an opportunity for fun and play, but little do they know, with independence comes lonesomeness and fear that can only be confronted by maturity. In the novel The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of boys survive a plane crash and are deserted on an abandoned island. The boys cannot agree with each other, so they form opposing groups and dive into chaos. Their lack of maturity combined with forced leadership roles, results in child-like attempts to govern and save themselves. The literal beast and Ralph are to blame for the demise of the island. Some people may think that Jack is ultimately to blame for the demise of the island; however, this argument is misleading because Jack is supportive and helpful.

Jack also possessed useful qualities a chief should have that Ralph did not. He was strong willed, determined and would do anything to protect his fellow savages. Despite the fact that people believe Jack is to blame for the demise of the island, the literal beast and Ralph are to blame instead. The literal beast is one of the main causes of the demise of the island because it resulted in the boys becoming fearful and breaking the community into two separate gangs. Simon returns to the hunting group after finding a parachuter in a tree. The boys mistake Simon for the beast and push him in the middle of their circle, surrounded by hungry savages. The narrator describes the setting: “The beast stumbled into the horseshoe. Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! The blue-white scar was constant, the noise unendurable. Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill.” (Golding 136). The narrator explains that after Simon comes back the savages circle him, chant at him, and hurt him. As a consequence of the hunting group’s fear of the literal beast, Simon dies.

Brown shows his indecisiveness during huge choices he has to make the chief’s main goal was to be rescued, but when a ship sailed past the island, Jack froze and did not know what to do. The narrator describes Ralph as, “balanced on a High Peak of need, agonized by indecision, Ralph cried out: oh God, oh God!” (Golding 56). Ralph was scared that the ship was going to leave but instead of doing anything he did not know what to do. Indecisiveness can be a small problem, but it can also be a big problem period there were a lot of huge decisions ralph as chief needed to make but other people made them for him because he could not. Ralph’s indecisiveness did not just hurt himself but hurt others and ruin their opportunities. if Ralph spoke up and could make decisions on his own the boys could have potentially been rescued and two members of the society would not have died. Ralph didn't acquire indecisiveness and he also did not possess the leadership skill of comparability. Jack and Ralph argue in the novel frequently, but their first conflict was about meat versus shelter. Ralph shouts at Jack saying, “I was talking about smoke! Don't you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!” (Golding 45). Ralph aggressively explains to Jack that he should have been more focused on the civilization part of living and not the