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Lord Of The Flies Bloodlust

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John Dudley Mr. Skahill Honors English 10 3/21/24 The Lord Of The Flies. “The Battleline of good and evil runs through the heart of every man” (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn). William Golding's Lord of the Flies contains a group of young boys stranded on an island while they slowly fall into chaos. William Golding uses Jack to embody his belief that humans are inherently evil and when left unchecked will eventually succumb to a savage way of life. Jack shows that evil is in all of us through his journey from being civilized to falling into a nefarious lifestyle, his desire for dominance and control over the boys, and his increasing bloodlust. At the start of the novel, Jack appears as a disciplined and civilized member of the group of boys stranded …show more content…

Early on, Jack displays an intense fascination with hunting, which foreshadows his later bloodthirsty behavior. He relishes the idea of tracking and killing pigs on the island, seeing it as an opportunity for excitement and power. Jack's bloodlust reaches a horrifying climax when he and his hunters brutally kill a mother sow. His lust for blood is unmistakable as he becomes increasingly consumed by the thrill of the hunt. Golding writes "The sow staggered her way ahead of them, bleeding and mad, and the hunters followed, wedded to her in lust, excited by the long chase and the dropped blood." (Golding, 8) Jack’s bloodthirst can be seen in Sigmund Freud's theory. Jack's initial focus on hunting and the thrill of the kill reflects the workings of the id as he prioritizes immediate gratification over long-term considerations. As the boys' situation on the island deteriorates, Jack's id-driven impulses become increasingly pronounced, overshadowing the influence of the ego and superego. Jack's escalating bloodlust is a chilling portrayal of the unchecked impulses of the …show more content…

Jack's journey from civility to savagery, his insatiable desire for dominance and control, and his escalating bloodlust vividly demonstrate Golding's assertion that evil resides within all of us. Golding uses Jack as a warning that when a person is put in certain circumstances they may become inhumane and savage, regurgitating his belief that humans are inherently evil. Berkeley Wellbeing. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Berkeley Wellbeing, www.berkeleywellbeing.com/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs.html. Accessed 3/30/24 Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 1954. New York, New York City, NY. Cherry. Kendra. “Id, Ego, and Superego Are Part of a Structural Model of Personality.” Verywell Mind, Verywell Mind, 5 Mar. 2024, Freud's Id, Ego, and Superego: Definitions and Examples (verywellmind.com). Accessed

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