Lord of the Flies - Jack and savagery Flashcards
(37 cards)
How is Jack presented throughout the novel (points)
beginning - antagonist, accelerating violence
middle - monomaniacal, savagery and primal
end - individualistic, tyrannic, power hungry
Intro
In Golding’s novel of ‘Lord of the Flies’ the novels antagonist Jack Merridew is portrayed as a complex and evolving character who represents the darker side of human nature.
Initially introduced as a disciplined choir leader, Jack’s personality undergoes significant changes as he adapts to life on the island. As the story progresses, he transforms from a figure of authority into a symbol of savagery and primal instincts, ultimately becoming the driving force behind the group’s descent into chaos. Through Jack’s character, Golding explores themes of power, control and savagery highlighting how easily these boundaries can be blurred in the absence of societal structures. Throughout the novel he becomes symbolic role in illustrating humanity’s potential for violence and moral decline.
Beginning
Jack is immediately established as an unsympathetic character from the start
He is also presented as an experienced leader who is used to exerting control over others - especially choirboys as the choir master, ultimately representing dictatorship
‘black cloak circling’ ‘dark little boy’
connotations of darkness ultimately foreshadow Jacks inner savagery and the evil acts he will commit
‘black’ - death/evil
‘cloak’ - as a verb means he’s hiding or concealing his evil personality for later in the novel -> could also suggest sense of order and discipline which juxtaposes his later traits
‘circling’ - animalistic, animal circling prey, forshadows his obsession with hunting
“I ought to be chief,” …
“because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.”
‘after all, we’re not savages
were English, and the English are best at everything’
‘after all, we’re not savages, were English, and the English are best at everything’
‘savages’ - foreshadows as jack is the first of the boys to embrace his primal instincts -> contrasts the British values he proposes here
‘English being best’ - reference to naive nature of children believing propaganda and patriotism -> nazi similarity
‘he hadn’t because of the
enormity of the knife’
‘he hadn’t because of the enormity of the knife’
He is still confined by society rules and wants to be seen as good
‘enormity’ - struggles to murder a living thing
At this point Jack still wants to follow normal rules and think hurting things is wrong
However the idea of killing is seen ‘swallowing’ him up -> masculinity and power, ‘compulsion’ - suggests an uncontrollable desire, Golding uses this moment to suggest that, without societal limits, the desire for power and dominance can lead individuals to forsake moral boundaries.
‘there came a pause,
a hiatus’
‘there came a pause, a hiatus’’
the sentence structure using a comma mimics Jacks hesitation and acts as a pause as he’s still conditioned by the civilised world
‘Merridew’
He goes by his last name as a way to assert his authority and dominance over the other boys
- seem older and mature -> power hungry
‘out of this face stared two light blue eyes …
turning, or ready to turn, to anger’
‘they were bright blue, eyes that in this
frustration seemed bolting and nearly mad’
what is the significance of the link to chapter 1:
‘out of this face stared two light blue eyes …turning, or ready to turn, to anger’
‘they were bright blue, eyes that in this frustration seemed bolting and nearly mad’
‘ready to turn, to anger’ -> ‘nearly mad’
- change in jack is so important because it demonstrates the beginning of his savageness and shows him losing his morals and pulling himself away from society and civilisation
‘he looked at astonishment,
no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger’
‘his laughter became a
bloodthirsty snarling’
‘his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling’
Golding uses it to emphasise how Jack’s animalistic behaviour is almost beast-like/ loss of control
The idea of ‘laughter’ and the idea of ‘ blood thirsty snarling’ juxtapose each other like good and evil do
Perhaps Golding is using this to show how the ‘beast’ is inside jack and the others much as Simon suggests later in the story
Reader: horrified, uncomfortable at how easily jack has become savage and primitive, they question the benefits of freedom without society’s rules
‘the mask
compelled them’
‘the mask compelled them’
He used to be the boy who controlled them -> Jack uses mask to disassociate him with society and cover up his actions (bad actions done by mask not him)
-> suggests how he shows his true self that society didn’t let him be, therefore he uses being head boy/choir leader as a way to fit into society standards for people around him
-> no people around means he can show his true actions and personality
-> loss of civilisation
-> suggest he might enjoy the island more than home
-> the face paint acts as a physical and psychological barrier, allowing Jack to embrace his darker impulses without guilt or fear of judgment.
‘bollocks to
the rules!’
‘bollocks to the rules!’
- He breaks rules to further his power base, foreshadows when he kills Simon
- He refuses to respect the symbolic value of the conch -> loss of civilisation and order
- He has an understanding of morals and is Amoral but is happy to break rules since there’s no consequences for his actions
-> power structure falling apart aswell as link to society
What is the significance to the link to chapter 2
‘bollocks to the rules!’
‘We’ve got to have rules and obey them’
Ironic statement as it foreshadows the tribalism that develops later on
Jack in middle of novel
His violent acts from Chapter 4 onwards accelerate:
The hunters have their first successful hunt
They also begin to take part in ritual ceremonies,
He begins a reign of terror on Castle Rock, torturing any boys who disobey him
