Preview

Who Is Jack Merridew In Lord Of The Flies

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2736 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Who Is Jack Merridew In Lord Of The Flies
Junah Tep English II Block F Character Analysis: Jack Jack Merridew is the character in Lord of the Flies who represents the dark side of human nature. In the beginning of the story Jack is described as tall, thin, and bony, with red hair and face crumpled with freckles; “ugly without silliness.” Jack starts off with commanding his choir to stand still, thus telling readers that Jack is not just another kid, but one who is more of the boss of things. When the mention of a chief comes up, Jack immediately puts his mind to occupy that position. Jack humiliates Piggy by calling him fatty, which starts the eruption of laughter from everybody there. As the story continues, Jack is keen on becoming chief and turns his choir boys to ultimate hunters who frequently …show more content…
I stumble across the sand towards two figures. They are bigger than me and one of them is definitely bigger than me. I am a sturdy and fair looking boy who is walking towards them with my clothes torn and my face covered with a sticky mess of fruit I’ve recently found fallen from tree. My trousers are lowered from my trip to use the bathroom near a tree and I only remember pulling them back halfway. I jump off the palm terrace ad my trousers fall to my ankles. I ignore it and step out of them into the platform. The very big boy helps me to my feet. The normal one continues to blow the conch when I dimly hear shouting in the forest behind me. I squat in front of the normal boy and stare up at him brightly and vertically. I slide my pink thumb into my mouth. The big boy looks down at me and asks for my name and I give him my answer. I hear the big boy repeat my name and shout it to the normal boy, who did not respond because he was still blowing the conch. Signs of life were now visible on the beach. Boy dirty and small like me settle around and the normal boy introduces himself to everybody as Ralph. A boy with a stern looking face commands his choir to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    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
  • Good Essays

    Despite almost all of the characters going through transitions due to the changed circumstances, Golding depicts Jack as the most explicit figure. “Jack and Ralph smiled at each other…The point tore the skin and flesh over Ralph’s ribs”. Initially, when Jack first shows up on the island, we realize that he is a leader of a choir, marching in military style. Although this foreshadows Jack’s totalitarianism and dictatorship, it still shows the typical characteristics of a typical teenage boy, wanting to take on leadership roles and smiling whenever possible. However, as Jack becomes obsessed with hunting pigs and eventually putting on the mask, he turns savage and gruesome beyond return. The fact that he uses a spear to attack Ralph immediately after Piggy’s brutal death shows Jack has completely lost his rationality and sense of human being.…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The movie, “Lord of the Flies”, portrays how man is naturally good, but can be persuaded in negative ways by someone bad. Jack’s cold, brutish behavior largely impacted all the others. From the beginning of the movie, Jack’s insensitive actions foreshadowed his behavior for the rest of the movie, such as when Simon fainted, and Jack said that he is fine and acted like it didn’t matter. Throughout the film, the other boys on the island were consistently being influenced by Jack’s uncompassionate characteristics. Although Ralph was voted as the captain for the whole group, most of the boys ended up being on Jack’s side and followed his bad habits. Even though Piggy was on Ralph’s side, he was also influenced by Jack. One night, Simon was killed because the boy’s because they thought that he was the beast. When the boy’s all found out, Piggy didn’t believe that what they did was murder, when it really was. In the end of the movie, after Ralph fought with Jack about getting Piggy’s glasses back because they were stolen, one of Jack’s members rolled a boulder and it fell on Piggy, leading to his tragic death.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies illustrates fundamental aspects of society and leadership through the politics of young boys stranded on an uninhabited island. Throughout the novel, the character of Jack Merridew gradually secures authority using various methods described in Machiavelli’s The Prince. Although Jack’s impulsive attitude and juvenile aggression may not obey this approach to ruling, other aspects of his leadership fit well within the system. The character of Jack often employs key Machiavellian tactics to gain and maintain power effectively.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The central theme of the text, Lord of the Flies, is power. The different aspects of power shown, is the invariable corruption of power, the reality of betrayal and the influence of fear. In the text, Jack is the antagonist, his like a dictator; he uses fear to control the boys on the island and manipulates them and uses them to his own advantage such as to get food and shelter. Jack uses a story of a non-existent beast to manipulate the other boys to follow his orders/ commands. The reason why the boys follow him and sees him as a leader is because he promised ‘protection from the beast’. A quote in the text that talks about the beast: "Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they…

    • 1617 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    the kite runner

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the novel Lord of the Flies the other boys are influenced by Jacks bad behavior and…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jack Merridew is a symbol for savagery. From the very beginning, he seems to harbor emotions of anger and savagery. At first, he is the leader of his choir group, who become hunters as the book progresses. Finally, his savage personality and ability to tell people what they want to hear, allows him to overtake Ralph as chief. The three points I will be talking about in this essay are Jack’s character, Jack’s symbolism, and the moral or lesson Golding is trying to teach us throughout the story.…

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies is the story of a group of English school boys who crashed-landed on a deserted island and have to survive on their own. There are many characters who change throughout the course of the story, for example, characters like Simon and Piggy continued to gain confidence throughout the novel. Although all the boys go through character changes as a result of being taken away from the strict structure of English society, the character of Jack changes most through the course of the novel from the leader of the choir to a somewhat savage leader.…

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In William Golding's novel, ' The Lord of the Flies', the author places the character…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Human nature isn’t perfect and has many negative aspects to it. The novel Lord of the Flies written by William Golding includes many negative aspects like greed, ill treatment, and jealousy that are portrayed through the outcome of the characters. These negative views of humanity are shown through the outcome of the characters Jack, Simon and Ralph.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The author of Lord of the flies, William Golding, uses literary elements such as characterization to support his argument that man’s capacity for evil is revealed in his human nature. Golding uses his main characters- Jack and Ralph- as examples of inner evil. Jack is shown as unjust, mean and self-involved when “[he] took a step and…stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach” (Golding 71). Additionally, Golding describes Jack as asticious, inimical, and down-right terrible.…

    • 74 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The classic novel, Lord of the flies, by William Golding, follows a group of boys stranded on an island with a lack of any adult supervision. Throughout the story, the boys progressively change as the island takes its toll. They transform from innocent children to primitive savages. Jack was one of these boys, originally the head of the choir who takes the role of the “hunter” on the island. Golding thus uses Jack’s violent and aggressive mannerisms to show how fear distorts reality and enables the abuse of power.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Symbolism is no mere idle fancy or corrupt egerneration: it is inherent in the very texture of human life” This is a quote from Alfred North Whitehead, an English philosopher from the early 90s, that explains that symbolism is not a pointless past time, but rather it is a part of human structure. The very existence of the human species is based solely off its ability to survive, the first society of humans where not so gifted as man is today for they had to fight and kill in order to live another day. It was eat or be eaten in there world. Nowadays, man is taught, at a very young age, that he must always act accordingly or in a civilized manner thus concealing his ancestral dark side. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies there are many…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Jack, an older boy as well who’s a dictator, illustrates that having too much power can lead to horrible events. Lastly, a younger boy named Piggy shows that intelligence doesn't always win over power. In the Lord of the flies Ralph, Jack, and Piggy all had responsibilities and impacted the way their society ran, whether in a good or bad way.…

    • 1030 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    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