Jack Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies Essay

There are many characters in Lord of the Flies by William Golding that are symbolic within the plot. We have characters who want to get off of the island and return to a civilized society while there are others who would prefer to stay on the island and hunt until their end of days. Many of the characters in the book are representations of different aspects of human nature and cornerstones of society, though none are a one hundred percent pure version of what they represent. The characters who wish to escape the island represent the good aspects of society while the characters who wish to stay represent the bad aspects. In the middle we have several characters who do not fit either category for “good” or “bad” but are nonetheless important.

Jack is first seen leading an army along the beach towards the platform. He quickly shows his lack of empathy by calling Piggy “Fatty” (17). The first thing he does is attempt to be leader, saying he should be chief (18). Jack is a representation of natural savagery as well as chaos. He is clearly used to being in charge, as is shown that he is head boy, and when he finally becomes leader he develops a dictatorship. He is even described as “the most obvious leader” (19). Jack initially listens to Ralph, who is elected leader, and decides he wants to be in charge of the hunters, the group that kills. He eventually stops listening to Ralph’s orders. Jack lets the fire go out as he and his hunters chase after a pig for meat, and he ignores the rule that whoever holds the shell gets to talk, repeatedly talking out of turn until he leaves to make his own government. His right hand man is Roger, a “furtive” (18) boy who ends up being one of the first to join Jack in his dictatorship. Jack is much smarter than Roger and Roger usually listens to Jack’s orders. Roger represents the pure emotion that Golding assumes we all wish we could use, but are unable to due to society’s expectations. From the beginning, Jack had violence inside of him, as did Roger. The two have similar desires of violence, with the difference being Jack has more intelligence and Roger is