Explore Golding's presentation of Jack in 'Lord of the Flies'

'Explore Golding's presentation of Jack in 'Lord of the Flies' and their significance in the text as a whole'

In this essay I will be looking at how Golding presents the character of Jack. Written after the chaos of the second world war, Golding uses Jack as a way to portray evil in the novel and he has many similarities to powerful world war 2 dictators. Concentrating on how Jack changes throughout the novel as the boys descend into savagery, specifically looking at the beginning, middle and end. When the reader is first introduced to Jack, it's not in a conventional way. Described as 'something dark fumbling along', this makes the reader question what they are. 'Something dark' is a mysterious image, very vague and obscure, along with the scary and evil connotations of darkness. There is danger in darkness as you can't see what's in it, suggesting these boys could potentially be dangerous, and foreshadowing the danger in the dark and the idea of the beast. 'Fumbling' suggests a lack of purpose, and is an aimless and unnatural. This symbolises humans not knowing what to do in paradise. The description continues with 'Then the creature stepped from mirage on to clear sand and they saw that the darkness was not all shadow but mostly clothing. The creature was a party of boys'. 'Creature' shows how they are unknown, and has mythical and animal connotations, again possibly foreshadowing the idea of the beast. It also dehumanises the boys, as they don't have names at this point. This continues with the use of 'darkness' and 'shadow'. 'Darkness' again has evil connotations and shows they are hidden and is impersonal. The 'darkness' comes from their clothing, showing that is is manmade. This reflects Golding's experiences after the second world war, as manmade weapons and machinery killed millions of people. A 'shadow' is something always present even if you can't see it, symbolising how darkness is always present in humanity even if not apparent. 'Mirage' is a distorted view, representing how they have a distorted view of the beast and can't see it for what it really is. At the beginning during the introductions, Jack introduces himself only as 'Merridew' whilst the others all use their first names. This is impersonal and shows how even early on, Jack is used to the adult-like control of powerful figures, like the ones he is used to at public school. He is already in charge of a group of people, and states that they belong to him. This foreshadows Jack's need for control, and hints at possible outcomes of power structure. As the book progresses, we see a power struggle begin to form between Ralph and Jack. 'They looked at each other, baffled in love and hate'. In this oxymoronic image Ralph represents love, and Jack hate. This shows how they are opposite. They both want power and leadership but have different styles. Ralph is the logical, civilised leader, like Churchill during WW2. Jack is the power hungry tyrant, similar to Hitler. 'Baffled' shows how they are confused, much like civilisation is confused with the eternal struggle between the desire to be good and the basic instinct to be bad, to hunt and kill, like the boys are experiencing on the island. Their two different styles are demonstrated by the quote 'There was the brilliant world of hunting, tactics, fierce exhilaration, skill; and there was the world of longing and baffled commonsense'. Raplh's usual commonsense is described as being 'baffled' on the island, showing that the island is obscuring the boys normal judgement and how they're changing from civilised children into savages and giving into their primal insticts. This is what Jack has done and has become obsessed with hunting and killing the beast, and this is reason he and Ralph clash as Ralph wants to be rescued. Things come to a head when Jack tries to remove Ralph as the leader, but fails and is humiliated as he sets of for the forest on his own. This is a turning point in the story as Jack forms a tribe of his own when other members of the choir join him, creating two opposing tribes. Jack's link with the mask plays a significant part in the text. It first appears in chapter 4, when he paints his face before hunting. 'He made one cheek and one eye-socket white, then he rubbed red over the other half of his face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from right ear to left jaw.' White is a symbol of innocence and purity, and the small amount he has painted on his face represents how he is still holds a small amount of innocence as it's still quite early on in the book. The fact it's painted over his eye-socket could represent how he still sees things innocently as he is seeing them through the eyes of a child. However, the red symbolises danger, blood and passion and as he is about to go hunting this is foreshadowing what's to come when he kills the pig and the start of the 'danger' as they begin to turn into savages. 'Black' represents the darkness that is always present in Jack and in humanity, but that is only now coming into view when he is free from society's rules and expectations. The paragraph continues 'the mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-conciousness'. The fact that Jack 'hid' from the mask suggests that he is using it as an excuse for his actions and to do what he wants, as it is letting him become what he really is deep inside- a savage. Before, when he wasn't wearing the mask he still kept highlights of civility but now he has something to hide behind, his inner power hungry personality is freed and he is no longer compelled to abide by society's rules as he has his own tribe. The small semblance of civility he had has been destroyed by the mask, it's like a virus taking control of his mind and body as if it were alive- 'the mask was a thing of its own'. It is feeding Jack power and shows the effect of how masking your identity and taking on the nature that fits your uniform can allow you to become a completely new person. This could be another reference to Golding's experiences in the war as the soldiers in uniforms committed crimes and attrocities, something they would never do in normal situations. The uniform, or the mask in this case, dehumanises them and allows them to give in to their basic insticts without taking responsibilty for their actions, much like Jack. Jack uses the beast as a way to maintain the power structure within the group. In chapter 7, 'shadows and tall trees' Jack, Roger and Ralph go in search of the beast and find the parachutist's body which they think is the beast. They run away and assure the rest of the boys there is definitely a beast, keeping the fear. 'Shadows' is significant as they are undistinguishable, and bigger than the actual object, like how the beast is unknown and the fear of it is greater than what it is. They also represent the everpresent darkness, and the fact that you can never get rid of your shadow, like you can never get rid of the darkness that is always there within humanity. 'Tall trees' represents how Jack is overpowering, and looking down on the littluns.He maintains control because he is metaphorically taller, he's the head boy and seen as the leader. Jack describes the beast as a thing- 'We need meat even if we are hunting the other thing'. He is scared to mention it, showing that he is still a child and still scared of the unknown. 'Thing' is vague, you can't touch it, it's like a prescence that isn't really there, hinting to the reader that the beast is imaginary as it's not defined. 'Other' implies that there is more than one 'thing' on the island, this represents how the boys are the beast as there is more than one of them and they are the only thing it could be. Jack prioritises meat over everything, followed by hunting the beast. This shows that his desire to hunt and kill if getting stronger all the time, he is losing himself on the island. He assures them there is a beast and offers it a sacrifice in the form of a pigs head. When Simon threatens the power structure by discovering there isn't beast, Jack whips the boys into a frenzy and they kill Simon. 'Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!' Here Simon becomes a thing and ceases to be human, he can see what the beast is and punished ultimately by death for being the most insightful, much like Christ. Jack leads the killing frenzy as he is the leader of the tribe. Later on, Jack tries to justify his actions by saying Simon was the beast disguised and that he may come again- he is keeping his power by implying they didn't kill him and there is still something to be afraid of. He remains chief as he can hunt it down, even though he knows there isn't really a beast. It could be interpreted that Jack is the beast all along as he is animalistic in nature, power hungry and ultimately dark. He represents the evil in humanity, as he controls others by holding their basic fears against them and can do this as he is liberated by face paint and no longer conditioned by society's rules. In conclusion, Jack is presented in a number of different ways to portray to the reader the different forms that evil can take. However the ultimate irony appears at the end with the arrival of the naval officer who comes to rescue the boys. He percieves Jack as 'a little boy who wore the remains of an extraordinary black cap on his red hair'. The reader is reminded that Jack is just a 'little boy' and Golding uses him to show that anyone of us could become a savage killer because of the ultimate 'darkness in man's heart'.