Savagery being a Symbolism in Jack Merridew In the book Lord of the Flies, William Golding makes us believe that we are all truly savages when away from society. This is mainly demonstrated from the character Jack Merridew throughout this novel. At the beginning of this book Jack and a group of young schoolboys get shot down from their plane onto an deserted island with no adult survivors. As they arrive onto the island they quickly decide to pick a chief to maintain order. Jack is not chosen as chief even though he has skills with leading. Slowly afterwards they undergo traumatizing events that change their personality throughout this novel. As Jack becomes a violent, manipulative and savage character towards the end of this book and makes his own clan. This essay will prove how Jack is a representation of Golding’s view on how savagery lies within all human beings. By showing how Jack was confined by society at the beginning to how Jack started becoming a violent, manipulative and savage character. …show more content…
This is proven because Jack says “We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages' ' and tells Ralph that he will split up his group to take turns to keep the fire going. By him saying this it shows that he is still holding onto society and wishes to have rules to maintain order to not descend into savagery. Also him saying that he will split up his group shows that he is willing to compromise with Ralphe to keep order. Furthermore, at the end of chapter one Jack attempts to kill a pig but hesitated “He raised his arm in the air. There came a pause, a hiatus”. The reason why Jack hesitated is because he was not ready to kill or take the life of anything yet since it's not normal in society. Hence that Jack and the other schoolboys are trying to hold onto society and