Jack Lord Of The Flies Analysis

According to William Golding, author of lord of the flies, the book was written to illustrate the profound and innate evil in all human beings. And thus, Golding designed the book to demonstrate this, and form his own example of what society does to itself when left to it’s own devices, the book also contains many symbols and metaphors to show the various parts of society, and together they represent society as a whole.

In the novel, one part of society Golding shows us is Jack. The reason I am choosing to talk about him first is because he represents the core of many issues found in society today. He is the primary villain of the story, and is the most savage of the boys. In the story, Jack begins as a very proper choir boy. (as evidenced by his statement “I’m chapter chorister and head boy” on page 22.) but quickly transitions to his true nature after the realization that the boys can do whatever they want on the island. We observe the start of this transition in chapter four where he paints his face with dyes and clay to “look like something else” almost hiding his nature behind the mask of a hunter.
It represents authority, order, and power. Although that effect wanes over the course of the book. The conch is especially important because it is the only thing allowing ralph to maintain control over Jack, Maurice, Roger, and the other savage choir boys. In the end of the book when it, along with Piggy are destroyed, it marks the point where the island civilization the boys had formed is officially over, and the point where anarchy truly begins its