In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Jack is the character that experiences the most change. Jack begins the novel as a somewhat arrogant choirboy, who cries when he is not elected leader of the island. Jack is gradually transformed into a vicious killer who has no respect for human life. Through a series of stages, such as leading the choir, leading the hunting tribe, wearing the mask, killing Simon, separating from the group and intentionally killing Piggy, Jack degenerates from a normal, arrogant school boy into a savage beast.
At the beginning of the novel, Golding describes Jack’s physical appearance as “inside the floating cloak he was tall, thin and bony; his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was crumpled and freckled and ugly without silliness” (20). Jack’s original intentions were to keep an organized group on the island. Jack agrees with Ralph when he brings the group together, saying, “I agree with Ralph. We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are the best at everything. So we’ve got to do the right things” (42). Although originally portrayed as a pretty normal boy, evidence of his hostility begins to emerge. While Piggy is talking, Jack exclaims, “you’re talking to much. Shut up fatty” (21).
Jack is made the leader of the hunting tribe. He and his hunters have much trouble trying to hunt and kill a pig. Since he was raised as part of a sophisticated and wealthy family in England, he has not had any experience with hunting before. He struggles to become a hunter. But Jack is shown to have savage urges early. The author says, “he [Jack] tried to convey the…
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…a vicious killer who has no respect for human life.
Works Cited
Magill, Frank N., ed. Masterplots. Vol. 2. Englewood Cliffs: n.p., 1949. 3 vols.
Matuz, Roger., ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 58. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 68 vols.
Michel-Michot, Paulette. “The Myth of Innocence,”. Matuz 175-7.
Comments
You have a solid discussion of Jack’s transformation as well a good grasp of your language and grammar. Your introduction and your conclusion should be more detailed. In the introduction you should introduce the novel, itself, and introduce your topic. Why is a developing character important to the development of the novel? Your conclusion should discuss how the change in Jack’s character has affected the rest of the group, how it has affected the plot, and perhaps, why Jack’s character degenerated instead of improving.
Simon as Christ in Lord of the Flies
Simon as Christ in Lord of the Flies
The role of the prophet changes with the society in which he lives. In modern society, a prophet is a visionary, telling people what they can become; in Biblical times, a prophet was the voice of God, telling his people what they had to become to fulfill their covenant with God. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the prophet is a peaceful lad, Simon. He alone saw that the jungle, which represented freedom and the lack of civilization, was not to be feared but to be understood; he alone knew that the mythical Beast of the island, feared by all the boys, was, in fact, their own inherent savagery. Through these truths Simon represents a Christ figure paralleling Christ’s misunderstood message and Christ’s death.
Simon was the observant character, the quiet philosopher. He was often alone, sometimes by his own choice, and he liked to wander into the peaceful jungle. He sincerely cared about the other boys, sometimes helping the young ones to fetch fruit, yet “Simon turned away from them and went where the just perceptible path led him. Soon high jungle closed in” (56). He loved solitude and yet felt loneliness; he was alien to the other boys. The boys did not think anyone would be stupid enough to go into the jungle by night: “The assembly grinned at the thought of going out into the darkness. Then Simon stood up and Ralph looked at him in astonishment” (85). Many of the boys even thought he was “batty” because he left the group to spend time alone.
He did not fear the jungle, and he did not fear the Beast. “Maybe,’ he said hesitantly, ‘maybe there is a beast . . . maybe it’s only us” (89). The Beast takes many forms in the boys’ imaginations; once, t…
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The basic premise of Lord of the Flies is that humans naturally live in savagery and ignorance, without any idea of how to live together. The most terrifying death in the novel is that of Simon, who symbolizes the eyes of a blind and stumbling group of children digressing into savagery. As Christ lived, so lived Simon, as Christ died, so died Simon. Each died because human nature hates prophets, because humans naturally live in savagery and ignorance.
Comments
You state that Simon knew the jungle represented freedom and the lack of civilization. However, in your paper you only prove that the other boys were afraid of the jungle while Simon was not. You need to tell us how Simon knew what the jungle represented, why he was not afraid. What makes him seek out the jungle for solitude? Why does Simon understand when the other boys do not?