Lord Of The Flies Pride Quotes

John C. Maxwell claimed, "There are two kinds of pride, both good and bad. 'Good pride' represents our dignity and self-respect. 'Bad pride' is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance." The fine line that exists between these two types of pride is one easily crossed, and in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a boy named Jack does just that. The novel takes place on an uninhabited island, where a group of boys have become stranded. As time wears on, the boys become increasingly bestial and savage, and are led by Jack to lash out against the remaining civilized group, led by Ralph. Through the actions he performs throughout this novel, it is apparent that Jack is an arrogant tyrant because he is egotistical

His ego clouds his vision in what is right and wrong, and therefore he resorts to actions no human with good conscience would do. This is shown when savages from Jack's tribe are praising Jack for being a "proper chief". "He's going to beat Wilfred." "What for?" "... He didn't say"(159). Even without good reason, he resorts to violence to force the others to acknowledge his power. He feels that he is above basic morals a human has, and thus he uses pain, torture, violence, etc. to force obedience from his tribe. As the book goes on, he constantly keeps abusing natural human rights. For instance, when Sam and Eric refused to join his tribe, he lashed out with physical abuse, now having no respect for life within him. "The chief snatched one of the few spears that were left and poked Sam in the ribs...What d'you mean by not joining my tribe?" (182). He has abandoned any care towards the boys, and harms them because he feels that as a higher being, he has the right to. Anyone not under his rule, or cowering from his power deserves to be hurt. Not only is he oppressive in his violent actions, but he also is oppressive by presenting himself as an idol. This is shown when Ralph and Piggy go to Jack’s tribe to talk and see Jack garbed in items to make himself look like a king. “…A great log had been dragged into the center of the lawn, and Jack, painted and garlanded at

His overgrown ego causes him to be boastful and prideful, always putting himself up on a pedestal. His oppressive actions often disregard basic morals, and he harms many of the boys. Jack plays a huge role in many of the themes of Lord of the Flies, but he is especially involved in the theme of reason versus destruction. No matter how many times Ralph or Piggy tried to talk logically and reasonably, he ignored their statements, preferring instead to be wild and free. He brought down civilization, creating havoc and destruction all over the island. He set the negative precedent and murder was made into a game, something normal. He was involved in both the deaths of civilization (Piggy) and the truth (Simon). The title “arrogant tyrant” may even be too weak a title to fully encompass just how dastardly he actually