Jack Merridew Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis

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Although Jack Merridew may seem to embody chaos, he actually symbolizes organization, structure, and totalitarian autocracy. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies takes place during a vicious war. A boarding school full of boys must evacuate their country via aircraft; their plane crashes on an uninhabited island with no adult survivors. The boys must subsist on the island against nature, an imaginary “Beast,” and each other. Ralph is elected leader, implementing a democratic society that ultimately collapses. Jack, the leader of the choir, instills fear in all of the boys, especially an intellectual but hefty boy named Piggy. Furthermore, Jack’s group later causes the death of a former choir boy named Simon. In contract, Jack constructs a society…show more content…
When Jack and the choir first encounter the others boys, the choir shows extreme conformity toward Jack. For example, Jack tells the choir to stay in formation during the heat; the boys “huddled into line” (Golding 20) in response. After the boys decide to construct and sustain a signal fire, Jack claims that his altos will “keep the fire going this week” (43), constructing a schedule for the maintainers of the fire. Additionally, on page 63, Jack is unhappy with the way he painted his face. He, as a result, removes the paint and alters it. Jack schemes to kill Ralph in a methodical fashion. His tribe plans to “spread out in a line across the island” (189) and sweep the area until they find Ralph. Overall, Jack maintains configuration and control within his group of…show more content…
While chief of the choir, one of his boys “flopped on his face in the sand” (20), resulting in Jack instructing the others to leave him alone. Moreover, Jack continually says to Piggy, “You shut up!” (46) when Piggy tries to speak, illustrating that he does not believe in democracy. The conch permits everyone to have an opportunity to speak; Jack, on the contrary, did not allow those who possessed it to communicate without interruption. Although assuming the responsibility of the fire, he neglects the job while hunting. This demonstrates that Jack values his wishes over the desires of others, disregarding democracy. Jack exhibits that he does not care about guidelines that are not his own when Jack declares, “Who cares?” (91) in response to Ralph informing him that he is not abiding by the rules. Jack exemplifies a dictator-like attitude even before he became the leader of his own
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