Theme Of Adversity In Lord Of The Flies

Some say that true character is revealed in the face of adversity. In Lord of the Flies the young boys in the story face adversity and find their true character. Kids crash land on a deserted island without adults. They work hard to survive and to be rescued. Parts of the group disagree and Ralph and Jack, the two main characters, form their own groups. Jack is all about hunting and surviving while Ralph is worried about getting rescued as soon as possible.

After reading the story, Jack is an important character because of the conflict between him and Ralph and because of the roles they both play in the theme of the story.

In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, Jack Merridew is obstinate because he is still young and does not understand

He hasn’t grown and gone through experiences that could make him wise enough to understand the importance of respecting others and working together. “‘They’ve got our fire.’Rage shrilled his voice. ‘They stole it! That’s them. They blinded me. See? That’s Jack Merridew’”(Golding 169). This is an example of Jack’s lack of respect for Piggy and Ralph. Jack and his tribe didn’t bother thinking about the safety or needs of the other boys they were stealing from. “‘I say! You voted for me for chief. Didn’t you hear the conch? You played a dirty trick--we’d have given you fire if you’d asked for it--’”(Golding 178). This quote is another example of how Jack’s lack of respect caused problems that did not need to occur. Jack is disrespectful to the entire group from the very beginning. At the beginning of the story a vote was held for who should be the leader and all of them voted for Ralph in a fair manner. And Jack has always gone against Ralph’s word because of his jealousy and

He is insubordinate to all the ideas and rules held on the island. “‘He’s like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn't a proper chief.’” (Golding 126). In this quote Jack is saying because Ralph shares the same ideas with other people he dislikes he is not fit to be chief. “‘ …I mean…what makes things break up like they do?’ Piggy rubbed his glasses slowly and thought ‘I dunno, Ralph. I expect it's him. Jack? Jack.’ A taboo was evolving around that word too. Ralph nodded solemnly. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I suppose it must be.’"(Golding 139/140). This quote is from people’s perspective around jack. It still shows that his character creates conflict between many things.

“The booing rose and died again as Piggy lifted the white, magic shell. ‘Which is better –to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is?’ A great clamor rose among the savages. Piggy shouted again. ‘Which is better –to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?’ Again the clamor and again – ‘Zup!’ Ralph shouted against the noise. ‘Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?’ Now Jack was yelling too and Ralph could no longer make himself heard. Jack had backed right against the tribe and they were a solid mass of menace that bristled with spears.”(Golding