Sanity and Innocence When away from Civilization

In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the character of Jack to portray that mankind loses sanity and innocence when they are away from civilization, and forced to make their own decisions. William Golding starts the setting of the story off where all the boys are normal kids and still conditioned by civilization. Until they realize they should be able to do whatever they want. In the story Jack is innocent and behaves like he still in the world of grownups. When he first enters the story he makes the choir wear their school uniforms even though it is unbearably hot. As soon as he sees Piggy he says “Shut up fatty” (pg.21), which shows him becoming meaner and not acting like he would if he were with an adult. Jacks first attempt to become chief was dismissed and given to Ralph, which is most likely what began his dislike for Ralph. Ralph, Simon, and Jack venture out into the vast wilderness of the island to determine whether they were alone and if they were actually on an island. After they confirm it the boys spot a terrified pig caught in the creepers where they are stunned and can’t decide their next course of action. “Jack drew is knife with a flourish” (pg.31). This shows that Jack is having a conflict within himself of whether to slaughter an innocent pig or to not harm a defenseless animal. While he is hesitating the piglet breaks free. He is embarrassed so he says: “I was choosing a place; I was just waiting for a moment to decide where to stab him” (pg.31). After that Ralph and jack try to play off their moment of weakness by talking tough. Jack than slowly becomes obsessed with the notion of killing a pig, and it is obvious because he is always stabbing trees with his knife and looking around insanely. Jack is constantly hunting pigs and obsessing over the fact that he cannot catch one. He is also undermining other more important tasks. Even when Ralph expelling his distaste of the other boys work habits, he