The Transformation of Jack in William Goldings Lord of...

The Transformation of Jack in William Goldings Lord of the Flies In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Jack is the character that experiences the most change. Jack begins the novel as a somewhat arrogant choirboy, who cries when he is not elected leader of the island. Jack is gradually transformed into a vicious killer who has no respect for human life. Through a series of stages, such as leading the choir, leading the hunting tribe, wearing the mask, killing Simon, separating from the group and intentionally killing Piggy, Jack degenerates from a normal, arrogant school boy into a savage beast. At the beginning of the novel, Golding describes Jacks physical appearance as inside the floating cloak he was tall, thin and bony;†¦show more content†¦After a few tries, Jack and the hunters finally catch a pig. The boys and Jack brutally attack it and kill it. This is the first step of Jacks decent to primitive savagery. We see the loss of innocence because Jack has killed his first living creature, and also had a loss of innocence sexually. Now we see Jack become very confident in his hunting ability and we start to see him act more like a hunter. He now wears a mask over his face and always wants to hunt. The author has this to say about Jack and his mask, the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness (62). With the aid of the mask, Jack is now transforming into a different person. He seems to be happier as a hunter. The author also lets us into Jacks mind, for his thoughts on his first kill, His mind was crowded wi th memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink (70). Jacks next step into savagery is when they are all dancing around the fire in celebration. Simon is coming to tell the boys about his vision of the beast, when Jack and his tribe mistake Simon for the beast and attack and kill him. He has now killed his first human being - although it seemed not to be completely intentional. JackShow MoreRelatedLord Of the Flies Essay774 Words   |  4 PagesIn the book, â€Å"The Lord of the Flies†, by William Golding, a group of boys becomes stuck on an island and it portrays the breakdown of society and structure and the transformation of them into savages. On the island, the boys first follow a conch which was the order and the link to society on the island but after a while, it loses most of it’s influence due to the disintegration of social order and rules. A character that used the tool of fear to gain control of the boys was Jack, who represents aRead MoreWilliam Goldings Lord of the Flies: A Review1479 Words   |à ‚  6 PagesLord of the flies is anything but an easy book to digest. 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