Preview

Why Is Jack Merridew Bad

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
302 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Is Jack Merridew Bad
Without a true civilization, easily people become wild and crazy. Theory that men aren't born evil says that men left alone, are good but society makes them bad. Throughout the book, Jack Merridew starts as an innocent boy, but he becomes more and more barbaric as time goes on. For instance, Jack takes the hunters while the hunters were supposed to tend the fire to go hunt a pig and itch his urgency to kill one. "It turned its back into the circle back bleeding... I cut the pig's throat. Kill the pig cut her throat bash her in "(Golding 73). While he was getting the kill, Ralph saw a boat! A boat could have seen the smoke, but there wasn’t any smoke for the boat to see. Secondly, he additionally slew a sow relentlessly and slits it's throat
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Jack's Fight For Power In Lord Of The Flies
    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Jack's Fight For Power In Lord Of The Flies

    During chapters 9-12, Ralph and Jack reach their utter desperation point which results in them trying to kill each other to again their pride and power back. Towards the end of the book Jack became extremely dangerous and aggressive due to the lack of civilization. "Jack made a rush and stabbed Ralph's chest with his spear," (Pg 177). Throughout the fight for pride and power at the end of the book, Jack is determined to prove his strength and bravery by trying to kill Ralph. I believe he does this for two reasons; because of his utter hate and disregard for Ralph and how he treated him like a child and how he needed to prove that Ralph was weak to the other boys on the island. The lack of rules, orders and regulations caused Jack to think there were no laws to…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Savagery Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis
    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Savagery Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

    Before the boys got stranded on the island, Jack was a civilized human being, but spending a short time on the island influenced Jack into being a true hunter by the lack of society. As seen when Jack is ordering his people to hunt after Ralph at the end of the book when stating “And Ralph, Jack, the chief, says…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Jack Merridew's Struggle Was Real
    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jack Merridew's Struggle Was Real

    To conclude, Jack spends nearly the whole book trying to get power over Ralph, and when he finally does, he uses it for evil instead of actually helping his tribe like he promised. Jack knows that he has to be leader and makes that goal happen for himself. Even if that means a little murder here and…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lotf Final Essay
    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Lotf Final Essay

    The second Ralph was elected as chief, tension between he and Jack emerged. Ralph temporarily saved himself by giving Jack a prominent role, leader of the hunters. This made Jack seem more important, he was given power by this key role. As Jack’s hunting skills increased he began to slay more pigs and the other members of the tribe looked up to him. He soon became a savage who tortured animals instead of killing them just for survival. The other children were attracted by this, and joined the savage group. Ralph struggled to maintain power because Jack only wanted to have fun and kill, while he wanted to have rules and order so they could be saved.…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    How Is Jack Portrayed In Lord Of The Flies
    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Is Jack Portrayed In Lord Of The Flies

    The outcome of Jack portrays a negative view of humanity because it shows that greed can lead to violence. Jack’s greed for power led to ruthless killings of innocent creatures on the island. He was filled with hate towards Ralph and would have gone as far as even killing him. This violence was foreshadowed by Jack’s murder of the sow and his indifference to Simon and Piggy’s death. During Jack’s conflict with Ralph, “with full intention, he hurled his spear at Ralph and tore the skin over his ribs” (Golding 181). Jack’s greed had led to his merciless…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies: 24 Quotes Using Literary Devices and Significance
    • 1652 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Lord of the Flies: 24 Quotes Using Literary Devices and Significance

    This quote shows how the boy(s) still have a trace of civilization in them. Jack could not have killed the sow because he is still a child and he has never killed before.…

    • 1652 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Insanity In William Golding's 'Lord Of The Flies'
    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Insanity In William Golding's 'Lord Of The Flies'

    Ralph, one of the most sensible characters in “Lord of The Flies”, shows an uncharacteristic dark side as a result of the hunters’ chants and actions when the text states, “‘The circle moved in and round. Robert squealed in mock terror, then in real pain...They got his arms and legs. Ralph, carried away by a sudden thick excitement, grabbed Eric’s spear and jabbed at Robert with it. ‘Kill him! Kill him!’ All at once, Robert was screaming and struggling with the strength of frenzy. Jack had him by the hair and was brandishing his knife. Behind him was Roger, fighting to get close. The chant rose ritually, as at the last moment of a dance or a hunt. ‘Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!’ Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering” (Golding 114-115). The mob of hunters inflict pain onto Robert; Ralph adopts this wild and dangerous mentality. The actions of the hunters directly correlate to the actions Ralph displays. Ralph is not only shown being subject to mob mentality, but he is also shown growing accustom to the lifestyle created by a mob when the text states, “Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. They were glad to touch the…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jack Merridew
    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jack Merridew

    Jack is the oldest of the group. He is a tall, thin, and bony boy with red hair and a freckled face. He symbolizes responsibility, barbaric behavior, evil, and irrational thinking. He symbolizes responsibility because he was responsible for the actions of his group, the hunters. As the head of the hunters, it was his job to make sure they were always on task and that they bring food (meat) for the rest of the group. He symbolizes barbaric behavior by the way he treats the littluns and Piggy. The natural instinct of any older human being is to comfort the little children when they are scared, frightened, and unsure of their actions. Jack frightens them even more by telling them that there was a beast that they would hunt it down. He betrays Ralph and the rest of the tribe by abandoning them and creating his own tribe, forcing half the group to join it. He is a savage because of the way he does things to get what he wants. Instead of simply asking, he raids Ralph’s camp to get fire and Piggy’s specs. He is evil because he refuses to hear out Ralph and Piggy and insists that he is right the whole time. Jack almost caused almost all of the catastrophes that happened in the book. He wasn’t thinking right in the way he led his tribe to act. He made them think that acting maliciously instead of being civil was the way to go. In the end, he set the whole island on fire just to hunt down Ralph so he could kill him. Jack had a dramatic change in his attitude that started to be revealed in Chapter 5 when he started to yell at Ralph, broke all the rules, and caused the whole assembly to leave. In the beginning, he was following what Ralph says and he was actually up for helping them get rescued. In Chapter 5 and…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    How Does George Orwell Use Fear In Lord Of The Flies
    • 1643 Words
    • 7 Pages

    How Does George Orwell Use Fear In Lord Of The Flies

    When the hunters are talking about the beast, one of the hunters named Stanley says: “I expect the beast disguised himself. “Perhaps,”said the chief”... “We'd better keep on the right side of him, anyhow. You can't tell what he might do." The tribe considered this; and then were shaken, as if by a flow of wind. The chief saw the effect of his words and stood abruptly” (185). The overwhelming fear of the beast makes the hunters ignore the corroded leader that is standing right in front of them, allowing Jack to keep power over them. The hunters trust Jack without question, and follow his commands. Another way that the boys give Jack strength, is that they ignore Jack’s transformation from a civilized child to a savage beast. During the beginning of the novel, Jack says: “We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages”(44). These words show how he is still civilized, by wanting rules. However, as the novel progresses, we see a change in him where he has turned into a predator. The narrator says: “He [Jack] began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling”(69). None of the boys object to Jack’s change in nature, and all of the hunters still blindly follow him. This is probably due to their own descent into savagery, as acts like this have become a normal part of their life. This ignorance enables him to assert his dominance over the other boys by later killing the sow, and getting the meat, justifying his role as leader. Jack’s totalitarian society has made it nearly impossible for him to lose power, as all of the hunters conform to his every wish, preventing any individual to rise above…

    • 1643 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Leadership In Lord Of The Flies Essay
    • 1454 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Leadership In Lord Of The Flies Essay

    He completely disregards respect and yells at Ralph: “And you shut up! Who are you anyway?” He is not upholding civility by being rude and insulting the elected chief in front of the rest of the group: “You can’t hunt, you can’t sing –” Ralph tries to be a good leader, he prioritizes a signal fire over meat, something that Jack immensely disagrees with. However Ralph’s main focus is to try and keep everyone in the group alive, which Jack does not recognize. Instead of recognizing Ralph’s efforts and being appreciative, Jack is discourteous and is not upholding any respect in the group. Society begins to break down because of Jack’s failure to uphold respect. Jack is a model for the hunters and for some of the younger kids. Seeing him being disrespectful to Ralph gives the others the impression that they can do so as well. As some point, everyone begins to ignore and mistreat Ralph. Everything has gotten to the point where the groups disobeys Ralph, and Ralph even thinks that no one will respond to the…

    • 1454 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Being A Leader In Lord Of The Flies Essay
    • 1417 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Being A Leader In Lord Of The Flies Essay

    When you have a leader without any morals and will go to the extreme for their people to obey them, fear is created within their followers. This is the approach that Jack took to lead his group of followers. He lead the group with an iron fist, which created fear within them. As said in The Prince by Niccoló Machiavelli, it is better to be feared than loved. When you are feared as a leader, your followers will do anything that you say, because they fear the consequences. When you're a leader like Ralph who rules with a moral character, people will take advantage of you and will not listen to you. For example, when Ralph needed help building shelters, nobody helped him except for Simon, while the others were hunting or playing around. Also, when Ralph told Jack to keep the fire going, Jack and his hunters disobeyed because they believed it was more important to hunt the pigs instead of keeping the fire going. After a while, the boys on the island started to disregard what Ralph would say, even though it was for them to survive on the island. While people ignored Ralph, they were listening to Jack because they feared him. Since Jack had a more aggressive and fearful character, he held more authority than Ralph, who had a more relaxed and kind character who lost his…

    • 1417 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies Essay
    • 1028 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Lord of the Flies Essay

    First of all, Jack breaks down civilization by defying the conch. During an argument at one of their assemblies, Ralph points out that rules are the only things that they have on the island. In other words, rules are the only things that are keeping the boys in tact and civilized. Jack shouts in response, “Who cares? Bollocks to the rules!” (Golding, 91). Jack’s outburst shows that he does not want to follow anybody’s rules or advice except his own, nor does he want to keep civilized like Ralph and Piggy do. He routinely does not respect the authority of the conch, which is the one sacred object that the other boys obey and listen to. Jack recognizes that the power of the conch is the only source of order and society that is keeping the kids from joining him and him becoming chief, which is exactly why he chooses to go against it. He then decides to separate himself from civilization, “I’m going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too” (127). By going off to fend for himself, Jack is intentionally opening the window of opportunity for others to follow his lead and hunt rather than keep order. Later on, when the mighty conch is destroyed, he celebrates, “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone- I’m chief!” (181). Clearly, with the…

    • 1028 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    jack
    • 2702 Words
    • 11 Pages

    jack

    -Capitalism is an exploitative and alienating social order in which inequality is institutionalized by an elite ruling class…

    • 2702 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lord Of The Flies Jack Symbolism
    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Lord Of The Flies Jack Symbolism

    Jack is the symbol of evil. Being determined may not sound evil, but the actions of Jacks ambitious persona has had malicious outcomes. As Jack and Ralph are coming up with expectations for the group, Jack says, "we've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at everything. So we’ve got to do the right things.” (42). Jack is determined to enforce rules, but after a while, he becomes rebellious and starts doing whatever he wants which is hunting. All Jack cares about is himself, and even though he is willing to establish rules, they will not apply to him. Jack has been blinded with savagery and he will do everything in his power to fulfill his own interests. When Jack calls for…

    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Theme of Loss of Innocence in Lord of the Flies
    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Theme of Loss of Innocence in Lord of the Flies

    They are always trying to feed their bloodlust by killing pigs. “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong-we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat-!”-Jack (pg.91) This quote shows that Jack does not care about civilization and only wants to feed his bloodlust. “Use a littlun, said Jack, and everybody laughed.”-Jack(pg.115) This quote shows that Jack is having an idea of killing another human to feed his bloodlust. Even though Jack was laughing and acted like it was a joke, this shows that Jack is losing his innocence. “Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over mastering-”-(pg.114) This shows that even Ralph can lose his innocence when he feels the thrill of the hunt. “I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you.”-Jack (pg.127) This shows that Jack is splitting from civilization and he has nothing to stop his…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics