ipl-logo

Jack Merridew Lord Of The Flies Essay

855 Words4 Pages

The Case of Jack Merridew The murders of Piggy and Simon have not gone unnoticed, and the kids from the island are all under question for their untimely deaths. The main suspect for their murders is Jack Merridew, one of the older boys on the island. The story originates in a book called The Lord of the Flies written by William Golding, about young boys who are stranded on the island. Jack is one of the older, more savage of the bunch, but he seems to be ill in the brain. Jack, being one of the main boys who were stranded on the island, cannot be held responsible for the murders of Piggy and Simon, two boys who were killed on the island. Jack Merridew was on the island at the time of the murders but cannot be held fully responsible for the …show more content…

He was crazy, as soon as he was placed on the island with no authority, he was unable to function in a humanly manner. He first started showing signs of this when he was placed in charge of the hunters. There was however, a ‘threat’ on the island known to the boys as the beast. “Kill the beast, cut his throat, spill his blood” (Golding 152). This was the most common chant, and it would get everybody riled up. The fear of the beast along with the darkness when Simon came out of the bushes with a bloody noise that leaves stuck to his face just shows that the murder was completely circumstantial. Jack had never meant to kill Simon, and the circumstances on the island should excuse the murders. Even if the circumstances aren’t enough to prove Jack’s innocence, then the fact that he had a disease known as psychosis should. “Psychosis occurs when a person loses contact with reality.” (Psychosis). This is from a medical website that explains what psychosis is and what its symptoms are. When Jack was completely removed from society and everything he knew as reality, his disorder began to show. He was confused when he exterminated Simon, he didn’t know any better in that situation. This mental disorder is a serious disease that proves Jack’s

Show More
Related
207 Words | 1 Pages

Even though jack never directly kills anyone by himself, he has been in a group that beat someone to death, he had one of his hunters kill piggy, and he tried to stab ralph. Did Osama bin Laden do 9/11? Most people would say yes because he sent the martyrs to fly the planes in to the buildings, the pentagon, and the white house. This is the same reason jack is considered a killer. He turned Roger to his side and planted the idea into his head that piggy and ralph needed to die.

Read More
497 Words | 2 Pages

On an Island of twelve boys, two were found dead, and one almost dead. Now it's time to find out who should be charged with murder with the attention on Jack Merridew. Simon was brutally murdered, Piggy was hit with a rock causing his head contents to explode, and Ralph was almost killed. All of the boys should be charged with the murder of Simon. Rodger should be charged with the murder of Piggy.

Read More
465 Words | 2 Pages

In The Lord of The Flies, the island starts out with a sensible leader whose sole goal was to save the boys from getting stranded on the island. It soon changes into a chaotic, unorganized place because of Jack Merridew. His leadership consisted of brutality and provoking fear into the other boys. This may or may not have helped cause the deaths of two boys on the island. It is possible that Jack helped cause the deaths of Piggy and Simon, but in no way is it true that he is the sole cause of their murder, as it is obvious who is.

Read More
443 Words | 2 Pages

Spill his blood!”. Jack himself never believed that there was a beast but he continued to support the idea of a beast. He knew what he was doing, he knew he could use the idea of the beast to his benefit by saying he could protect them. Simon was on his way to warn the other boys but instead got brutally murdered, he knew there wasn’t a beast but he still took part in the murder of Simon Smith II. Jack was charged with second degree murder which was that the murder was on the heat of passion but he was very aware of his actions and deserved more

Read More
851 Words | 4 Pages

William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, illustrates how Jack is a cruel perpetrator who takes advantage of those who are weaker and less powerful than him, demonstrating that power gives people an unrealistic sense of treatment towards others. Jack has shown how cruel of a character he is throughout the book when he poorly treats and disrespects the other boys on the island, kills and tortures animals with pleasure, and uses Ralph to gain power and authority over the island. Jack shows his cruelty by the number of times he poorly treats and disrespects the other boys on the island. In chapter 8 Jack states, “Sharpen a stick at both ends”(36) illustrating how Jack orders Roger to mount the dead pig's head on a stick that has been sharpened and place it outside for the

Read More
467 Words | 2 Pages

At this point Jack has completely lost his innocence because he wanted piggy dead and did not feel anything for piggy after he watched him die. Also that he wanted Ralph dead and intentionally wounded Ralph to gain his power. The author is showing that over time the madness of the island has gotten to Jack, and that his lust for power has lead him lose his innocence and do terrible things to the people around

Read More
778 Words | 4 Pages

As time went on Jack became obsessed with this idea of power and control over all of the boys on the island, not just the hunters. He let this obsession change him and he started to show violent behavior. He tried to challenge Ralph for the chief position and ended up going off on his own with some of the hunters. These hunters started to turn into savages and let the idea of power corrupt them. They ended up killing multiple people during their time on the island.

Read More
707 Words | 3 Pages

When the boys first land on the island, We can see from all their depictions of the beast, they are scared of the thought of savagery and that fear manifested itself into many thoughts of a large and ferocious being, all “savage”

Read More
1987 Words | 8 Pages

Taking advantage of and manipulating the youth is a dangerous trait for a leader to have. Jack attempts to take a leadership role throughout the entire novel. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the character of Jack Merridew is upset by the rules around the island and feeds the idea of a beast on the island, “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong – we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down!

Read More
979 Words | 4 Pages

Those were his first words that came out of Jack's mouth after Piggy was murdered showing that he had no sentimental value to him. He knew it was wrong to kill Piggy but all he cares about is himself. As stated in the research of “What’s going on in the teenage brain“ they seem to blame the brain for the consequences adolescents make “While adolescents might tend to be more moody and impulsive — and we now have some reason to believe that this might be reflecting a ‘normal’ part of brain development”.(healthychildren.org) This is practically an excuse that adolescent do not know what they’re doing due to their brains not being “fully developed”(healthychildren.org). Jack knew exactly what he was doing, he even admitted when he said “That’s what you’ll get!”(ch11 Golding) Before that Jack has always wanted the chief position very desperately, knowing his selfishness, brutal self, he would have done anything for it.

Read More
818 Words | 4 Pages

Jack has changed greatly, over the course of William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies. Crashing onto an island without adults and having to survive put a strain on all of the boys, but Jack’s personality altered the most due to this experience. He went from living as an ambitious choir boy, to being a vicious, brutal, beast. Many things changed Jack on the island, but most of all, he created the monster he became.

Read More
1432 Words | 6 Pages

Jack, the leader of the hunting group, gets very violent later in the story and inspires other hunters to be like him. This causes many problems for the boys later in the novel. Jack is responsible for the demise of civilization on the island because Jack was obsessed with hunting and got very violent, he had his own group of hunters that could help him gain more power

Read More
870 Words | 4 Pages

Power in the Lord of The Flies In the story The Lord of The Flies by William Golding, A group of boys are stranded on an island with no adults, and are forced to collaborate and work together to survive. Throughout the novel two boys named Jack and Ralph, face off in a major struggle for ultimate power. As the novel continues, Jack uses many oppressive methods of ruling to keep the boys under his control. In the Lord of the Flies Jack is able to seize, maintain, and abuse power through scare tactics, fear, and aggression.

Read More
1125 Words | 5 Pages

Jack did kill the pig and get the meat. This implies that he is a good leader, but forcing the other boys to eat it should not give him power. It makes him more like a dictator. The other boys are under his influence and go wild after this. Jack is crazy with power on the night Simon in killed.

Read More
857 Words | 4 Pages

Several different circumstances converge and lead to the first murder on the island. The multiple factors that caused the death to occur were Jack, the beast, the storm, the dancing, and Simon’s constant wandering off alone. Without these factors the first murder on the island would have been very different, but either way Simon would have eventually been killed. To start off, Jack was one of the main factors that lead to the murder. Jack’s madness and cruelty affected the other boys’ minds and caused them to think that it is okay to participate in atrocious activities.

Read More

More about Jack Merridew Lord Of The Flies Essay

Open Document