ipl-logo

Jack Merridew's Allegory

1015 Words5 Pages

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies portrays the author’s war experience through his characters: Ralph, Piggy, Simon, and Jack as allegories. Ralph posed as democracy and order, Piggy represented the intellect, Simon was the allegory of religion, and Jack was taken as corrupt power. Although, Golding focuses how society struggles when the foundation of civilization, which include morals, gradually deteriorates. This is illustrated by narrating English boys who are deserted on an island, especially Jack Merridew who is introduced as the tall, thin, red-headed leader of a choir group. After experiencing the plane crash, he arrogantly feels that he can take on this role of chief for the entire tribe, but Ralph is chosen instead. Living on an uncivilized island, this dynamic choirboy …show more content…

Because of the symbolic objects, such as the knife and mask, Jack’s character development that influences his actions and mindset, and his allegorical representation of tyranny and savagery, the author uses Jack Merridew to develop his theme of man’s capacity of good and evil. Two main objects that revolve around Jack and his growing sense of barbarity are: the knife and mask. Such as, the boys, including Ralph, reenacted their pig hunt to celebrate Ralph’s successful attack on the boar. However, this sudden bloodlust resulted in Robert who was “screaming and struggling with the strength of frenzy. Jack had him by the hair and was brandishing with his knife” (Golding 114). Jack held the knife as his power for the hunting tribe, in contrast to Ralph’s conch. The potential of the knife affected Jack’s

Show More
Related
317 Words | 2 Pages

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

Read More
898 Words | 4 Pages

In the realistic fiction novel “Lord of the Flies,” written by William Golding, Jack Merridew represented organization, structure, and a totalitarian autocracy. With schoolboys, ranging in age from six to twelve, stranded on an uninhabited island, egotistic Jack attempts to take charge; however, the other boys choose democracy and vote Ralph for chief, destroying a potential friendship between Ralph and Jack. Fortunately, for Jack, he was still able to command his choir, which soon became hunters, and turn the group against optimistic Simon, a member of Jack’s choir. In addition to Simon, Jack despised Piggy, an intelligent, chunky, and vision-troubled boy who respected Ralph. This abhorrence leads to Roger, Jack’s most loyal follower, to loathe

Read More
417 Words | 2 Pages

Lord of the Flies Paragraphs Responses William Golding, author of “Lord Of The Flies”, utilizes a novel set during World War II in order to symbolize man’s role in societal norms and standards. Golding writes his final words of the novel through Ralph 's perception. A naval officer rescues the boys from the island. Ralph comes to terms with the loss of his friend Piggy: “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man 's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy” (Golding, 202). Ralph is a depiction of man being corrupted and realizing the error of his ways.

Read More
406 Words | 2 Pages

Author, William Golding, in his novel, "Lord of the Flies," follows a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and try to govern themselves. One of the boys, Piggy, is constantly bullied and considered a nuisance by the power-hungry boys on the island. Golding's use of an isolated setting in the midst of the other boys illustrates Piggy's struggle to liberate himself from their oppression. However the need to survive reveals Piggy's inventiveness and rational mindset.

Read More
1657 Words | 7 Pages

Golding explores that Jack loves to hunt and kill pigs while on the island. Jack does this in a gruesome fashion and upon putting it to death ,“[Jack] began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling" (Golding 64). The use of imagery provides a sense of the harsh reality of what is happening to Jack as he is losing the civility he had arrived with every day. Throughout his evolution process, he has gotten to a point where Piggy claims,“I’m scared of him” (Golding 93) and that when he sees Jack, he feels that “it’s like asthma an’ you can’t breathe” (Golding 93). These words from a wise young boy, Piggy, are very concerning relating to the amount of civility Jack has left in him.

Read More
1212 Words | 5 Pages

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a Russian novelist and historian once said,”The battle line between good and evil runs through the heart of every man.” In William Golding’s novel Lord of the flies, Jack, the supposedly good former choirmaster and student leader, is a representative of evil and violence when tempted by savagery and greed. Jack has the major authority and develops a higher status compared to other characters in the novel. He is a born leader who carries out his concerns over various problems, however the abusive use of power leads him towards the evil path. Golding has effectively used figurative devices such as a beast metaphor, colour symbolism , controlling tone, imagery of Jack’s appearance and environment to demonstrate his desire of power and devolving character.

Read More
2042 Words | 9 Pages

Lord of the Flies remains Golding’s most accredited piece of work. It is an apparently simple but densely layered novel that has been categorized as fiction, fable, a myth, and a tale. Generous use of symbolism in Golding’s work is what distinguishes him with other authors of the same genre. For example, the conch shell, that represents a vulnerable hold of authority which was finally shattered to pieces with Piggy’s death. Secondly, for the other boys, Piggy’s eyeglasses represented the lack of intelligence which was later defeated by superstition and savagery.

Read More
504 Words | 3 Pages

From an attractive and charismatic son of a Naval commander, to a bony and red-headed chapter chorister and head boy, to a short, overweight intellectual with glasses and asthma, and finally to a gloomy and reserved sadist, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is riddled with stereotypes. Although each character maintains his own unique personality, the group of English schoolboys, who are left deserted on an island after a plane crash, can be sorted into one of two categories: the civilized and barbaric. Their starkly contrasting appearances and personalities attribute to this, with stereotypical traits making it even easier to differentiate between them. Golding’s use of clichés aids readers in understanding the characters, predicting upcoming

Read More
709 Words | 3 Pages

In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, young boys get stranded on an island with no adults in the midst of a war. The boys were orderly and civilized in the beginning but then as they began killing pigs they slowly became savages and lost their civilization. The boys began turning on each other and the evil within them became present. Golding uses a variety of literary devices including personification, symbols, metaphors, and irony, to project the theme that pure and realistic people in the world can be unheard and destroyed by evil.

Read More
440 Words | 2 Pages

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a novel based upon leadership. Ralph is the protagonist of the novel and prosper upon the idea of being rescued. Jack is the antagonist of this novel who strives by living in the present and focusing on hunting. This novel displays the struggle of two rivals to become the ultimate leader of the the group. William Golding’s allegory deals with the human need for order through the goodness of Ralph, the evils of Jack, and the theme of leadership.

Read More
800 Words | 4 Pages

When Ralph declares Jack the head of hunters, Jack takes this power to another level of jealousy and greed and becomes savage. After he kills his first pig he puts blood on his face and creates a mask. Jack's hunters immediately follow his footsteps creating what appears to be an army with Jack as the general. Having an army eventually leads to having a war which happens towards the end of the book. This represents a futuristic nuclear war which is happening while the boys are stranded on the island.

Read More
589 Words | 3 Pages

"Lord of the Flies" is a novel by William Golding that delves into the human psyche when stripped of societal norms and authority figures. The novel features a group of young boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and must fend for themselves. Through the characters of Ralph, Jack, Piggy, Simon, and Roger, Golding portrays different aspects of human nature and how they interact with each other in a survival situation. Ralph is one of the main protagonists of the novel and is elected as the leader of the group. He tries to establish order and civilization on the island, focusing on the importance of rules and the need for a signal fire to attract potential rescuers.

Read More
1533 Words | 7 Pages

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is an interesting work of ideas abundant with meaningful symbolism and affirmations that coincide with the thinking of multiple theorists; however, the novel best illustrates the philosophies of Thomas Hobbes. As Hobbes believes, humans will become increasingly disobedient and violent with the absence of laws (Hobbes). Eventually, they will become entirely combative and chaotic. It is through the boys' actions and behaviors that the validity of Hobbes' thoughts are proven: the spiral of one into full ruthlessness is inevitable as soon as a system of law and order has been removed. Golding's portrayal of Jack Merridew's increasing hostility and belligerence as the story progresses exemplifies Hobbes's thoughts

Read More
583 Words | 3 Pages

Ralph screamed of fright and anger and desperation. His legs straightened, the screams became continuous and foaming.” ( Golding 221). When Jack has finally had enough of Ralph he decides that the best option is to hunt him and kill him. He gathered his tribe and they make up a plan.

Read More
816 Words | 4 Pages

These impulses, often sexual, seek to provide pleasure without regard to the cost” (Henningfeld). Jack continuously exhibits such impulses in addition to openly violent ones throughout the novel. At the conclusion of the very first chapter of the novel, he foreshadows his sadistic tendencies when he very nearly kills a pig. Later, he is shown acclimating to his environment (i.e. the forest) and refining his hunting abilities. All of these events lead up to Jack’s eventual split from Ralph’s rule and his complete succumbing to his negative impulses.

Read More

More about Jack Merridew's Allegory

Related Topics

Open Document