What we learn from the presentation of Jack In Lord of the Flies This novel is about a group of school boys who get trapped on an Island. This novel is an allegory, this means that behind this story there Is a moral to be learnt, or a hidden meaning. The author tells us that a so called “paradise Island” can really be hell. Jack, a key character In the story, has a role in Lord Of The Flies, as the oldest one and the one who likes to be in charge. At the beginning he has a choir, although he decided they were to become hunters and what he does next shows cruelty and violence.
The first mime we encounter Jack he comes across as a powerful, confident, controlling and dark character. The reason why I chose dark as one of the describing words is because when the boys first see Jack coming towards them William Gilding describes this as “something dark fumbling along’. The word dark can mean mysterious and also it can mean evil or twisted. Jack is represented as the dark side of human nature. As he is walking up towards the platform his choir are in neat parallel lines, Jack treats them with a militaristic attitude.
He is confident In the way he speaks because the first time he meets Ralph he doesn’t even bother saying hello or Introducing himself and comes straight out with “where’s the man with the trumpet? ” Ralph is startled by how impolite Jack is. The conflict on the island begins with Jack attempting to dominate the group, rather than working with Ralph to benefit it. “Out of his face stared two light blue eyes, frustrated now, and turning, or ready to turn to anger. ” This quote shows foreshadowing, because further on in the book Jack becomes angry a number of times leading to dangerous outcomes.
We see something of Jack’s character and background from how he behaves at the first meeting. When he first meets Ralph he is very rude, doesn’t even introduce himself and is only interested about who’s in charge. He then asks Ralph if there is a ship expecting him to know all this information. Ralph explains to him that they are going to have a meeting and asks for him to Join In. A few moments later, one of the choir boys (Simon) faints. Jack doesn’t care and says “He’s always throwing a faint” as If It’s annoying and that he doesn’t want anything to do with it, even though he’s their choirmaster. This shows a cruelty and lack of caring. When the boys are all sitting down, Piggy explains that he has gathered people’s names. Jack replies with “Kids names… Why should I be Jack? I’m Merrier. ” This shows that Jack thinks he is an adult and that because he’s maybe taller than the others, he thinks he should be treated differently. Piggy tries to talk back to him but Jack interrupts him and meanly snaps “Shut up you’re talking too much, shut up fatty! ” This shows that Jack feels superior to Piggy; he doesn’t need to get on with Piggy because Piggy has a lower status than him.
A short while later the sys are talking on the topic of who should be Chief. Jack tryst to show off to win the others vote and says “l ought to be chief, because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp. ” This shows that Jack Is very arrogant. When Ralph gets chosen to be Chief Jack Is mortified but doesn’t say anything. Afterwards when Ralph lets Jack be in charge of the choir: Jack decides that they should be hunters which comes when he first puts on the face paint. When Jack is speaking to Roger he says “For hunting. Like in the war. You know-?dazzle paint.
Like things trying to look like meeting else-?” When Jack refers to the paint as “dazzle paint” he is referring to the camouflage used in warfare. This comment links his new identity as a shameless killer with those who are fighting in the war. The painted faces show that the boys are merging with their environment, and becoming wild and uncivilized. They have chosen the colors and materials of the island as part of their identity, expression, and face. Later on when Jack is finished painting his face he looks at himself in the reflection of the water he sees himself as an “awesome stranger. ” The mask makes Jack a stranger; it liberates him from his sense of self. It makes him excited. Also the mask draws people’s attention and makes them slightly scared and repulsed. It gives Jack power. Gilding then writes how Jacks laughter becomes a” blood thirsty snarling” and how Jack hides his shame and self-consciousness behind the mask. The mask separates Jack from a sense of himself and makes it seem as if it is not really Jack but the mask, “a thing on its own”. The mask, which Gilding is clear to point out, makes Jack not feel “shame and self-consciousness”: Jack feels like he can get away from any sense of responsibility.
The way Jack and the other boys act and talk when he is hunting shows the dark side of him. We can see this by how Jack shows off about hunting and his body language when he speaks about slaughter. His body language is described as excited. When Jack and the boys are hunting Gilding uses the term ‘Hidden hunters’ to describe them. This means the anonymity of their face paint and masks. This hides them not from animals or people, but from themselves, their feelings, and their guilt. One of the times when Ralph didn’t go hunting with them Jack came back “laughing and shuddering” about the amount of blood.
This shows Jacks lack of connection with his own innocence and peace. He finds slaughter, cruelty and pain exciting and shows this by acting it out with his friends afterwards. The verb shuddering means a feeling of fear; in this case however, it is to do with excitement because he has a lust for blood. After the hunting Robert is the victim in the situation and is being thrown around by Jack and the boys. Jack is shouting malicious and brutal actions to be carried out, such as “grab him! ” While he is saying this he is ‘brandishing his knife’ and has a hold of Roberts hair.
The word ranging means holding something in an aggressive way, threatening someone with it. While Jack is brandishing his knife at Robert he is enjoying it. Jack has a big influence on the other boys, he starts all the violence off and the boys follow his actions, even Ralph. Treating violence as a game is dangerous. It might lead to future injuries and death. The type of game that he starts can turn serious at any moment. Jack even hints to us the upcoming violence when he says to the crowd that they could use “a little” to act as a pig so he could kill it in there ‘game’. This is a reasoning of the terrible event later when Simon gets killed. When Jack splits away from the others, and sets up his own tribe, the rules he makes suggest how he is becoming a dictator. Jack is a perfect example of a dictator, a powerful leader who will do anything to get what he wants. When he is talking to the boys in his own tribe he says “we’ll hunt, I’m chief. ” Jack doesn’t even have a vote or any of what Ralph did, he is not a very democratic person. All of Jacks rules seem to all be violent or to do a less brutal suggestion.
But all of them do as there tell because there scared and reverse about what Jack might do if they did any of these things. At the end of the novel, we see Just how far Jack has gone. Gilding uses pathetic fallacy to create more tension during the horror of the kill. He uses rain, lightning and thunder to really create the scene. The thunder could represent the anger they’re feeling, the lightning could represent the strikes of their spears. It all starts when Jack orders the boys to do “the dance. ” It quickly escalates into a strong, beating chant “kill the beast, cut his throat, Spill his blood. Everything had become out of control and Simon became the cacti once more. The boys went crazy, they acted like savages, and they saw Simon as the beast, which lead to his death. The most interesting part of this gruesome, tragic death is that the boys think Simon is the beast when they kill him. It is ironic that Simon said the beast was “only us,” and is then later killed as in fact being the beast himself? Out of all the boys, Simon is the least beast-like. The question is whether being not like a beast makes him more or less human. In conclusion, the character of Jack teaches us several important lessons.
From the main story we learn room the way he behaves what it would be like when you lose the boundaries of society, and how an island paradise can really be like a prison. The allegory of The Lord Of The Flies could be different things; it could be biblical, physical or psychological. I think it is Biblical because the boys have landed on an island and they have all the berries and water they need, and a hunting game. Nevertheless, because of their inability to control their savagery, they lose their paradise. They do not listen to Christ-figure like Simon, so end up almost destroying the island and themselves as well.
