Jack And Ralph example essay topic

... from the group. He also does this by saying 'We " ll be responsible for keeping the fire going' (P. 55). He does this to improve his status amongst the group, and also the get on the good side of Ralph, who sees the signal fire as the most important thing on the island. He wants to be seen as a responsible person as well as a brave person.

There are many major comparisons which need to be made concerning Jack and (most of the time) Ralph. Most of the differences are about Rescue against Hunting. Jack sees the use of the fire as one of cooking meat - 'the pig roasted' (P. 92), while Ralph sees the fire as a signal fire for rescue - 'We must make smoke' (P. 49). Throughout the novel, Ralph sticks to the rules in hope of rescue - 'We " ll have rules' (P. 43), while on page 114, Jacks gives up on the rules - 'Bollocks to the rules!' Ralph sees the rules as a form of law and order, while Jack sees the rules as an opportunity to carry out punishment - 'Then when anyone breaks 'em -- -' (P. 44). Ralph wants to dismiss the rumour of the beast - 'There isn't a beast ie' (P. 47), while Jack wants to kill the beast - 'we'd hunt it and kill it' (P. 48). Jack paints his face to help him hunt and make people fear him - 'He smeared on the clay' (P. 79), while no-one else does until a later stage in the book.

On page sixty-eight, Jack shouts 'Got it!' Ralph immediately presumes that he is referring to a ship - 'What? Where? Is it a ship?' (P. 68), but Jack is talking about a pig - 'They " ll lie up there (the pigs) ' (P. 68). This clearly shows the difference in priorities between Jack and Ralph. Jacks wants to live naturally, under the guidance of natural time. This shows us he is quite happy to forget civilization and rescue.

As an opposite, Piggy wants to make a sundial - 'We could make a sundial' (P. 81). This shows Piggy wants to remain living under clock time, to show that he is still living in a civilized world, and that he wants to be rescued. The differences between Jack and the others are summed up on page seventy - 'They walked along, two continents of experience and feeling, unable to communicate. ' When Jack first hears about the beast, he sees it as a way to gain authority and status. He dismisses the existence of the 'beast ie,' but 'If there was a snake, we'd hunt it and kill it' (P. 48). This shows the determined and fearless image Jack has created for himself.

After the fear of the beast has started to dismantle the civilized force inside the group, Jack looks for someone to blame - the - 'You started all this... ' (P. 103). He again repeats that there is no beast, but maybe at this stage of the novel, he is a little less sure than on page forty-eight. Jack uses the fear in the group to make himself look good. After he repeats 'I've been all over this island... there is no beast in the forest' (P. 104), the 'whole assembly applauded him' (P. 104). Jack had used the beast to his advantage, to gain status. He still remains defiant, even after it has been claimed that the beast comes from the sea, that if there is a beast, 'we " ll hunt it down' (P. 114).

As I have already pointed out, Jack is obsessed with hunting, and his preoccupation with it has increased ever since he was introduced into the novel. Everything he sees on the island he links with hunting. He sees the fire as a way to cook meat (P. 92), hunted by himself. When he hears about the beast, he says he will hunt it and kill (P. 48). The major changes in his identity occur, however, in chapters three and four.

He has become animalist ic, like a dog - 'his nose only a few inches from the humid earth... dog-like... bolting... he became a furtive thing, ape-like. ' (P. 61-2). His physical characteristics have changed - 'His hair, longer... peeling sunburn... he was naked' (P. 61). He has changed his image from a choirboy to a furtive hunter. He has become 'primitive' (P. 62). His eyes give away his inner-self, a mad animal - 'eyes that in this frustration seemed bolting and nearly mad. ' (P. 62). He is on the edge - 'The madness came into his eyes... rage... compulsion' (P. 65).

He has become a physical hunter - 'swung... hurled... strength... hard... castanet... seductive... maddening... rushed... snatched' (P. 63). Jack is totally taken with hunting, for when he tries to describe hunting o page sixty-seven, he is unable to describe the excitement he feels for it - 'That's how you can feel,' 'He flushed suddenly' (P. 67). Jack has become so obsessed with hunting, that he has forgotten about being rescued - 'Jack had to think for a moment before he could remember what rescue was. ' (P. 67). As he becomes more and more primitive, his grasp on civilization weakens, and eventually dies. By smearing his face - 'He smeared on the clay' (P. 79), he covers up the old Jack, and replaces him with an 'awesome stranger' (P. 80). The mask covers up Jacks face, and gives something for Jack to hide behind - 'the mask... behind which Jack hid' (P. 80).

This shows that Jack wants to give himself this awesome new identity in order to gain more control and power, and to start the formation of a tribe, which can hunt. When Jack eventually kills a pig on page eighty-six, he is terribly excited - 'There were lashings of blood. ' (P. 86). He is happy to recite the horrific details, he is proud of the kill. This is a syntax, and we can cross reference it to page forty-one, where Jack lets a pig escape because of the thought of 'cutting into living flesh... the unbearable blood. ' (P. 41). When Jack is introduced into the novel, we recognize him as an organised natural leader with evil potential.

Over the first five chapters of the book, this is born out in his transformation from a choirboy to a fearless, furtive hunter. His priority has changed from being rescued to hunting and killing pigs. He has become less and less civilized, until his appearance becomes one of a tribal nature..