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Lord Of The Flies Juxtaposition Analysis

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The human psyche is a complex and malleable part of the human body. People react, adapt, and grow to meet the needs of the situation just like any other species. Golding, through his experiences in WWI, gained powerful insight into the human mind: how easily it is susceptible to change and how quickly men of any age can and will resort to violence. This insight allowed him to challenge commonly accepted moral beliefs and principles held in society during his time period and expand on what people believed as usual and normal. Through his nearly blatant use of juxtaposition to his subtle yet powerful application of symbolism throughout the novel, Golding grants the reader a further understanding of the fragile nature of human morals and innate …show more content…

Ralph and Jack most clearly represent Golding’s use of Juxtapositioning in the novel. Both individuals embody polar opposite character traits that are prevalent in all people. Evil, corruption, and satanic morals swirl around in the mind of Jack while the use of the thought process, the presence of a right and wrong moral compass, and the use of reason are traits allotted to Ralph. Ralph is the man that we all show but Jack is the true beast that lies in the hearts of us all. Ralph, in correlation with his insistence on being found and building shelter, decides to build a signal fire and places some of the boys to attend to it. This is juxtaposed with Jack wanting to hunt yet again. Jack takes the boys and uses them to assist in killing the pig, but, coincidentally, a ship passes the island while Jack has the boys that were responsible for keeping the fire going (Golding 68). This once again shows evidence of Jack’s insistence on the need to hold power. He feels that orders from Ralph don 't apply to him. He thinks he knows what 's best. This only adds more tension to the group. When Ralph gets to the signal fire and realizes the boys are gone, he gets very angry. At that point, the column of boys stride up the hill carrying a dead pig. Jack is with them and evidently pleased with himself. When they get to Ralph, Jack begins to jump up and down with excitement while Ralph remain silent and calculating (Golding 73). The juxtaposition of their moods is quite ironic in nature. Most of them are happy for killing the pig when, in fact, the killing of the pig resulted in the loss of the signal fire and a wasted opportunity to be rescued. Golding repeatedly useds the juxtaposition of opposite themes to create a deeper contrast between the two. Ralph and Jack most clearly represent Golding’s use of Juxtapositioning in the novel. Both individuals embody polar opposite character traits that are prevalent in all people. Evil, corruption, and satanic morals swirl

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1769 Words | 8 Pages

This only further proves my point that jack represents savagery in this novel. Due to Jacks overwhelming desire to hunt a pig he along with a small group of boys go into the jungle to try their luck. Because of Jacks carelessness, though the fire is extinguished and they lost a chance of being rescued. We also learn in this chapter that the fire symbolizes the hope they share a group, when the fire went out so did their hope, but when they relight it they regain some of their hope. Piggy being the “fat nerd” of the group his thoughts and beliefs are immediately shot down, its only when Ralph tells them to do the suggested task do they listen.

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863 Words | 4 Pages

He lures the other boys to his tribe with the promise of fun and meat, both of which the boys desire. Jack gives and withholds meat as a way to control the other boys. He throws a feast for the boys who choose to defect from Ralph's tribe and his tone “conveys a warning, given out of the pride of ownership,” (138) demonstrating that Jack is the owner of the meat, and to get the desired meat, the boys must follow Jack. Jack shows his ability to control with the pig meat when he denies Piggy some meat. Golding also shows that Jack is dependent on this tactic in the beginning, screaming “Take it!...

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1810 Words | 8 Pages

By “set[ting] the island on fire” Jack destroyed all the firewood, shelter, plants and animals. Jack was desperate enough to destroy everything just so he could kill Ralph. Jack and Ralph are in competition for the role of leader. Killing Ralph would give him complete dominance which he craves. Just like Japan wanted dominance over the United States.

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584 Words | 3 Pages

Ralph’s inner conflict of the desire to rule and the desire to be a part of the hunting display both a man vs society and a man vs self-conflict. Ralph realizes at times that by hunting with Jack, he can provide safety needs, but also that he needs to rule the boys rather than Jack. As evident when, “Which is better- to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?” (Golding 180). It is evident the boys, as well as Ralph himself, are not sure whether they would rather have food or civilization.

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1434 Words | 6 Pages

And we were going to keep the fire going...’” (150), we see Ralph not only asserting his democratic and fairly gained power, but also trying to refocus the boys on their long term goal of rescue. Jack’s first manipulation over the boys is by focusing on killing the pig to eat as food. In the quote, “‘He’s not a hunter. He’d never have got us meat...

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504 Words | 3 Pages

Jack wants to hunt down pigs and get meat to eat while Ralph wants to focus on building the shelters and keeping the fire lit. On page 42 Ralph says “We've got to have special people for looking after the fire. Anyday there could be a ship out there” This quote shows how the fire is the key to them getting rescued from the island and surprisingly, jack initially agrees to it and assigns his hunters the job of watching the fire. Unfortunately when the time comes Jack had taken all of his hunters on a hunt with him leaving the fire unattended to burn out and die. Showing Jack's true

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738 Words | 3 Pages

The calm night is interrupted by the drenching rain and gunfire as a plane is shot down, leaving only six- to twelve-year-olds as the survivors. These boys are from a military school and find that physical strength is the only thing that matters. Any sign of intelligence while lacking physical strength is met with teasing and ridiculing, In William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” he uses imagery of characters, juxtaposition of protagonist's vs antagonist, and the death of two supporting characters. This is all evidence of the theme that people judge strength based off physical appearance rather than intelligence.

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976 Words | 4 Pages

He goes hunting with other boys on the island, and they successfully kill a pig. Unfortunately, they let the signal fire out in the process. Ralph tries to look for the boys, when they come marching in, carrying a dead pig. The boys, led by Jack, are chanting “kill the pig. Cut her throat.

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843 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel, Jack consistently demonstrates a disregard for rules and a desire for dominance and power. When he leads the boys in hunting and violence, he taps into their savage and primal instincts - including Ralph’s. As Jack proclaims, "The conch doesn't count at this end of the island" (Golding, 150) it becomes evident that he prioritizes dominance and power over order, authority, and the established rules on the island. In the midst of their destructive rivalry, Jack’s failures teach Ralph important lessons. Witnessing Jack’s inability to maintain the signal fire makes Ralph recognize the value of collaboration, communication, and planning for survival.

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1270 Words | 6 Pages

Jack and the hunters had one of their first successful hunts at this point, which is when a ship could have rescued the boys, but there was no signal fire. “Do you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!” (Golding, 55). At this point, readers can note the frustrations in Ralph’s tone.

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1238 Words | 5 Pages

Ralph’s main focus is to keep the fire going so that passing ships will see the smoke resulting in the boys getting rescued. Jack's love for hunting pigs and lack wanting to get rescued show that he is turning more savage by the day. This is just another reason why Ralph would make a better leader than Jack would. This also shows that Ralph has better priorities than Jack does. The boys first reaction

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574 Words | 3 Pages

After Jack and his choir agree to tend to the signal fire, Ralph spots a potential rescue ship but finds that Jack’s group let the fire go out as they went on a pig hunt, making Ralph extremely enraged and disappointed. Whereas previously there were only minor arguments that resolved quickly and easily that did not damage their relationship much, this marks the official beginning of the conflict of Ralph against Jack.    After this incident was yet another turning point. What started off as an assembly “to put things straight” resulted in Jack disputing Ralph’s authority and leading everyone away in a show of clear mutiny. This shows that Jack is distancing himself and the group away from Jack.

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797 Words | 4 Pages

He uses Ralph and Piggy to describe the well-educated that attempt to grasp civilisation, but ultimately fail to deliver. His symbol of Roger as an ordinary person that breaks loose of the chains of society once disconnected from it. Finally, the nature of Jack is a depiction of the power hungry that will do anything to lead. Firstly, Golding uses Ralph and Piggy to portray that human nature is hidden by society to continue civilisation.

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746 Words | 3 Pages

One of the times Jack lets the fire go out a ship comes by. Ralph is enraged that Jack didn’t keep the fire going. Piggy is enraged as well. Piggy yells “You and your blood, Jack Merridew! You and your hunting!

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684 Words | 3 Pages

Jack uses the boy’s animalistic need to kill, and shapes it into a fear driven mob. Eventually Jack’s leadership eventually achieves what Ralph and Piggy had attempted to do since the start of the book. Get Rescued. “We saw your smoke. What have you been doing?

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