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Jack Merridew: Masking Man's Inborn Savagery?

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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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