ipl-logo

Jack Merridew's Savagery

855 Words4 Pages

We all consider ourselves relatively civil people. That we have evolved over time. That we could never go back to savagery. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of boys crash on an island without any adult guidance or supervision. They quickly make Ralph their chief, and Ralph decides to make Jack the leader of a group of hunters that were in the choir group that Jack aso lead. They will soon begin hunting throughout the island. Golding proves that we can all revert to savagery through Jack Merridew’s killing attempts. Jack’s once reasonable manner is quickly disappearing, as being stranded on an island starts to take a toll. After coming back from their exploration, the boys find a piglet in the grass. They run towards it, excited …show more content…

Jack is disagreeing with Ralph on every topic, so he calls a meeting. During the meeting he insults Ralph and tries to make the boys promote him to chief. The boys will not do this which outrages Jack. Jack cannot deal with Ralph any more and declares, “‘I’m not going to be a part of Ralph’s lot’”(Golding 127). Ralph is now not only obsessed with hunting, but is straying from their ‘government’. He cannot handle the pressure of staying civil that Ralph puts on him. He resents Ralph because of this, and declares that he is leaving the tribe and starting his own. Many boys join them and the only ones that are left with Ralph are Piggy, Sam, and Eric. Jack’s new tribe is carefree, fun, and they all hunt whenever they want. He has no rules in place, and it is total chaos. His tribe hunts animals and leaves part of the animal for the beast. His tribe grew from belief in the beast, and he lured them with meat, fun, and no rules. He leads his tribe to savagery and becomes their king. Simon decides to confront the beast, and he realizes that it is a dead parachuter.As Simon rushes down the hill to tell the boys the news, they pounce on him, claiming that he is the beast. They crowded around him and “... leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws”(Golding 153). The boys have become full on savages. They have not only

Show More
Related
901 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, he proves that human nature is savage. In this novel, a group of young boys survive a plane crash and land on a deserted island where they attempt to create a society from scratch, but ultimately fall into chaos and barbarity. In Lord of the Flies, Golding portrays the theme that one’s primitive nature is revealed when civilization is destroyed through symbolism, diction, and characterization. The boys immediately recognized the conch’s significance when they found it.

Read More
382 Words | 2 Pages

When Jack disagreed with Ralph, he seceded and formed his own tribe; where they hoped to hunt and have fun. The following quote describes how he felt

Read More
796 Words | 4 Pages

Originally it goes smoothly but over time it starts to crumble and collapse. Arguments and fights occur more frequently and eventually Jack decides that “I’m not going to be part of Ralph’s lot-” (Golding,140) This quote shows how Ralph tries to be civilized but over time the more freedom the boys have endured, the quicker their version of civilization crashes. Jack and Ralph both want different things but their ideas clash. Like how in the real world we have different political parties with different beliefs behind them.

Read More
977 Words | 4 Pages

However, differences arise when Jack goes off hunting while Ralph is struggling to build shelters with Simon (Golding, 50). This is the first instance of Jack letting his personal goals get in the way of doing something for the benefit of the group, something Ralph is focused on because it ultimately leads to survival. These differences grow as Jack immerses himself in hunting completely and Ralph advocates for the importance of the signal fire. We see this explode in Ralph when a steamship passes by, but Jack and his hunters let the signal fire go out because they were too busy hunting. Ralph exclaims, “‘There was a ship.

Read More
760 Words | 4 Pages

In the real world there are evil and good people. A society needs laws and regulations to keep everyone safe and stop conflict. In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding, the author uses the development of Jack and Ralph’s character to convey society's civilizing influence and the instincts that exist within all human beings. In the beginning of the novel Lord Of The Flies, Ralph is portrayed as a sensible person who represents order, leadership, and civilization in society.

Read More
813 Words | 4 Pages

Early on in the novel, a littlun says he saw a “beastie” (Page 48), making all the littluns scared, setting the mood for them for the whole novel. Sam and Eric also contribute to the group’s troubles, saying they’ve seen “The Beast”, when in reality they only saw the dead parachutist. The death of Simon really shows how the boys let the paranoia and anxiety of “The Beast” get to them, killing their own group member, truly believing he was “The Beast”. Before Simon’s death, he thought that “The Beast” was within them, “maybe there is a beast”, “what I mean is…maybe it’s only us” (Page 125 + 126) foreseeing the future and the truth about how “The Beast” is made of fear. In Jack’s tribe, after they kill a pig, Jack says “The head is for the beast.

Read More
838 Words | 4 Pages

In the next passage, all the boys are making a circle and chanting to be safe from the storm and darkness that lay among them. Suddenly, Simon coming back from his hiding spot in the forest where he spends time thinking about the world erupts forward into the ring of boys, and they believe it is the beast. “The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. The crowd surged after it, struck, screamed, bit, tore. No movements, and no words, but the tearing of teeth and claws”

Read More
726 Words | 3 Pages

Jack and Ralph look at and deal with this issue in different ways and because of other events, a drift is created between the two of them. The whole group of boys split and most join Jack’s tribe because he promises them a feast, and drives fear out of their hearts by having everyone do the tribal dance. This dance is a crucial event in the novel and it has a lot of significance. During this dance, the actual bloodthirsty character of the boys are shown. The first time they perform this dance, a young boy is pretending to be a pig, and he is badly beat up because everyone loses self-control and starts to go into attacking mode.

Read More
882 Words | 4 Pages

Every child comes into this world as a selfish, manipulative, cruel and stubborn being. It is the parents and society that teaches children how to function in a civilized world, and societal laws that keeps them under control. William Golding wrote this novel in the early years of the cold war and the atomic age. In William Golding's classic novel Lord of the Flies, Golding uses Jack, a young savage who looks to lead a group of stranded kids on an island with no food, no rules, and no adults. The effect freedom has on Jack has turned him into a savage because he does not have to listen to anyone since there are no adults on the island.

Read More
972 Words | 4 Pages

The brain is a very strong but delicate member of one’s body. When the mind is put under extreme amounts of stress it can almost shut down, allowing for more irrational thoughts and abnormal behavior. Fear is also a major competitor against our minds sanity, causing people to get into the mindset of fight or flight. Now imagine you´re on an island, deserted, with your schoolmates. You have no idea if you are going to survive long enough for rescue.

Read More
595 Words | 3 Pages

Only asking the abandoned boys to keep a fire burning, Ralph, the chief, hoped to send a smoke signal for a rescue. Taking all of the boys hunting except for Ralph and Piggy, an obese and discriminated child, Jack kills a pig; however, Jack brought everyone on a hunt instead

Read More
951 Words | 4 Pages

The fear the boys' experience creates a need to identify and eliminate perceived threats. Jack proves his dictatorship skills and “he was a chief now in truth, and he made stabbing motions with his spear” (Golding). Jack asserting his control over the boys illustrates how human civilization reacts to apprehension and the negative situations that are created. The boys’ growing fear of the beast further illustrates how fear can cause individuals to turn on each other. Jack disregards everything else and solely focuses on killing the beast.

Read More
1057 Words | 5 Pages

Jack proposes that he forms his own tribe.. Within this rebel tribe he suggests that they act only as savages. The temptation to hunt won many of the boys over in favor of orderly society as suggested by Ralph. The two groups of boys reach the culmination of the conflict when logic battles savagery; “ ‘Which is

Read More
1117 Words | 5 Pages

Jack's and his group starts to adapt to the new environment; and also he establishes hunters who can provide food for Ralph camp and his own place. There were times when the hunter had to invade Ralph's camp to steal items such as a knife, glow stick, or to destroy the camp for fun. Eventually more of the boys were to tired living with Ralph and moved with Jack. For one night, there was a storm which effected Jacks camp so much that they had to rebuild it the following day. After the storm, the hunters eventually find and kill a wild pig and leave its head as an offering to the “monster” that they believe is in the cave.

Read More
1408 Words | 6 Pages

LOFT Essay In the Lord of The Flies, a desperate human society stranded on an island collapses as they are left to savage each other under the rule of an incapable leader. When they first reach the island, the boys still have a portion of the ethical way things should be done, but as we venture deeper into the story, that distinctive portion of them fades into a mere memory, as if a grain of sand in the vast ocean. Their minds evolve to suit their demands and everything else is ignored, one by one, they lose control of each other. Through the character of Jack, William Golding shows how societies break up when a leader’s ego takes control into prioritizing itself over group and when there is no law and order for the structure

Read More

More about Jack Merridew's Savagery

Open Document