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The novel Lord of the Flies by Robert Golding is a story about a group of boys stuck on a tropical island. In chapters seven and eight, the power struggle between Jack and Ralph is becoming more prominent, eventually causing Jack to go off and form his own group. As the plot develops, the boys are becoming more and more savage. One example of this is when the boys have a mock hunt, using Robert as the pig. On page 114, Golding writes, “Kill the pig!
He raised his arm in the air. There came a pause, a hiatus…,” (Lord Of the Flies, Chapter 1). This quote shows how there was still innocence in the character Jack when the story first began. On the other hand, he was able to shout “Kill the pig. Cut her throat.
In William Golding’s “Lord of The Flies”, increasing savagery and undomesticated actions in the characters become more evident and dangerous as the book progresses into its later chapters. As the boys spend more time on the island they begin the forget the rules and taboos of the civilsed lives they had before and become more blood thirsty. In chapter seven while hunting the ‘beastie’, the hunters and Ralph start in a game of pretending to kill a pig, acted out by Robert (125). This game soon is taken too far when Robert is put in real physical pain when “The butt end of a spear fell on his back” (125) and he cried “Ow! Stop it!
1. Jack is unable to kill the pig because he is still bound by the concept of civilization and common morals, so he has not yet moved to the “dark side” yet. Also, he knows that if he kills the pig he will be crossing a line and knows he will not be able to turn back. This signifies how Jack I incapable of violence. Jack states how he is waiting for just the right time to kill the pig, but that is a lie and is scared to do it, it states, “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 33).
In Lord of the Flies, Jack rose to authority because he promised pig meat to the susceptible littlest who were hungry and scared. At one point in the book all the boys are in such dire need of food that they miss their chance to signal a nearby ship for rescue, and when confronted about it by Ralph they claim, “But we want meat!” (pg. 54. The aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid Eventually the boys were unable to resist their hunger and Jack convinced them to join their tribe by promising, “We’ll hunt.
Jack exemplifies Golding’s idea that all humans are capable of savagery. As for when the boys crash land on the island they come to a realization hunger is a problem they must fix ; therefore they proceed to go hunting. “ I cut the pig's throat” said jack, proudly and yet twitched as he said it. pg.69 This quote shows how quickly it is to lose
Going off--hunting pigs--letting fires out-- and now(79)!” He is against the barbarity that the boys are all regressing to. In this statement, he is also placing an emphasis on how the grown ups would see them because as the superego, he plays a supervisory role. Also as the superego, Piggy serves as a contrast to the evil, Jack. Throughout Lord of the Flies, Jack is always bullying Piggy for his thoughts, appearance, and ideas.
One of Jack’s main focuses is hunting instead of thinking about the group first and following the rules. For example, one of the rules that the boys made is you can only speak up when you have the conch shell. On page 92, Piggy is trying to talk and has the conch and Jack interrupts him. Ralph then continues to explain to Jack that rules are the only thing they can rely upon and tells Jack he is breaking the rules by speaking without the conch. Jack doesn’t care about the rules or what Ralph says and tells him, “who cares!”.
When Jack shows up after killing a pig Ralph points out, “’You let the fire go out’.” (Golding82). One of Jack’s and some of the other boys' job was to keep watch on the fire so that it would not go out in case a ship came and that is exactly what happened. Since the fire went out the whole group is upset with him because he is now the cause they missed a chance of getting help and off the island. After arguments get settled, they start to cook the pig meat and jack demanded, “’Eat!
William Golding took his own experiences in order to create the novel Lord of the Flies. During Golding’s time as a teacher, he observed how the students behaved under the “protection of parents and school and policemen and the law”(4.79) and used this as "the taboo of the old life"(4.79) that initially stuck with the kids before being slowly erased from their minds. The memory of their former world is heavily engraved in the kid 's minds as they attempt to create a civilized society. The boys have assemblies, where they discuss how they’ve “got to have rules”(2.55) because they 're "not savages” (2.55) and how they need to “make a fire”(2.49) so they can be rescued. Jack tries to hunt, but he is unable to kill the pig because the idea of ending a life was frightening and new to him.
The break down of civilization often starts with the obsession of power and maintaining authority. Jack is seen as an antagonist in the Lord of the Flies and started out in the beginning of the book as an innocent, civilized choir boy. This allowed him to accept and follow certain rules Ralph ordered. But later on when the boys were getting adapted to the forest and obtaining savage behavior, Jack started to have an obsessive feeling towards certain situations which involved him to show his skill and bravery. One stage was during the Pig Hunting.
"In his first face-off with a pig, Jack fails, unable to plunge his knife into livelihood flesh, to bear the deal of flowing blood, and unable to do so because he is not yet far enough away from the ‘taboo of the old life.’” This quote shows that Jack and the boys still have retained their morals and
Jack states, all that his hunters care about is getting the kill on the pig as he has said, “We can light the fire again”(73). The boys show no regard and do not even think of asking anyone else to take over for them, truly showing their selfishness. Once Jack has broken off from the main group he recruits the rest of the older boys to join him gaining more influence and social standing. Inevitably, Jack uses his power and intimidation to rule over the boys forcing them to obey all of his commands, as he belittles the others without a care it is apparent as Jack is speaking in a different style. “His tone conveyed a warning, given out of the pride of ownership”(165).Ralph thought, while attending the feast.
