Jack Lord Of The Flies Power Analysis

Improved Essays
In the novel Lord of the Flies, the progress of power is the cause for corruption the character Jack goes to the extreme to have the power and the more power he has the more corrupt it becomes. Throughout the novel, Jack obsession is as if has a little power, a little more and a lot, which causes him to act out in violent ways, towards animals and humans. The taste of power is Jack's addiction because it is his drug that he can get enough of.

In the beginning of the novel Jack is already power hungry because he took charge over the choir boys and called them hunters and he was the leader of that group. This gives him the taste of power because he rules over them. Jack is very jealous over the fact that he is not the leader of everyone, this is causing Jack to act out, for example changing his name from Merridew to Jack. The first clue Jacks gives off that he is violent is that he has a knife and thinks it gives him authority over others like Piggy for example he scares him with it. Jack does have a chance to kill the pig but cannot do it because of his human nature it's not right to kill an
…show more content…
Jack is in charge of most of the boys except for Piggy, Ralph, Simon and the twins this causes Jack to crave more power because he can't control them. Jack sends boys to go to into the camp to steal piggy's specs, so they can light a fire to cook the pig. Jack's obsession with power has gone corrupt that he is willing to kill people, not just animals, plus he has no remorse of the deaths of Piggy and Simon. Jack attacks Ralph, he does this because if they're all dead then he can be the boss of everyone. This quote is the situation that Jack is in because all the power he gained it just corrupt “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This important because Jack lost himself in the power and it only did cause

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In the end, the island is on fire and shows that human nature is all about bad behavior and disorder and there needs to be someone in charge. The island being on fire at the end is a clear example to the Thomas Hobbes ideal of a one leader and must never overthrow because overthrowing and disagreements will end in problems and chaos. Jack was the perfect vessel to show how much Thomas Hobbes was right about human…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While the only idea Jack has ever had has been to either hunt or hurt someone. Piggy and Ralph together are a good combination. Together they get things done. Piggy and Ralph are the reason that the boys found each other so quickly. Jack knowing that he will never truly have his own power while Piggy and Ralph are around Jack decides to create his own tribe by saying…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Instead of killing for food and survival, he is killing for fun. Jack is separated from Ralph's society after getting embarrassed more in front of the society. Jack made his own society with his choir and went hunting for pigs and got to a mother pig with her children and they attacked her. “Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing her downward with his knife.” (Golding-135)…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He always wants something to do with blood and likes to boss people around. Right from the start Jack makes himself leader for the choir boys and nominates himself as chief. (p.22). When he is made leader of the hunters and they find a pig he can’t kill it. “He snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk.…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lord of the flies The thirst for power in Jack throughout the novel was shown when he does not follow simple rules that are for survival and being recused. Instead he went against those rules. He lead hunters around the island to find meat and while he was hunting the fire burned out, when confronted about letting the fire burn out which was his only responsibility, he got frustrated and mad about Ralph being in charge and having so many rules and refuses to listen to anyone about anything. Jack got mad at Ralph every time he was in the wrong. Corruption is dishonest conduct by those in power.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The boy’s in the novel have a tremendous fear of Jacks authority but they wouldn't dare to confront him about it because he supplies meat and ‘fun”, even though the boys like Ralph as a leader they wouldn’t go behind Jack for the means of their survival, And that they are afraid of him physically. He is much larger than the younger one and because he is an authority figure, he can boss others around to do harm to anyone that disobeys his authority; the younger weaker boys are in a difficult situation, they need Jack to get food because they can’t sustain on just fruit. It’s also a bonus for Jack because the younger ones feel safer from the monsters that lurk, Jack has made it clear he is a hunter. The boys that follow with Jack’s authority…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While Jack is the unbridled savagery or the desire for power in men; we realize this right away as Jack strictly governs the choir boys, and almost right away once he realizes there are no authority figures he has to listen to, and then makes his first kill, sends him into a complete psychopath as he scours to obtain ultimate power over the island, and of course feed his bloodlust. The blind following of Jack represents social…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Being completely unphased by the death of another human being, Jack sees Piggy’s death as he would see the death of a pig or wild animal. This proves how a lack of influence from authority and civilization has caused Jack to lose his moral integrity, showing no sentiment in response to a situation as such. With Jack wanting to eliminate Ralph so that there can be no dispute over who is the true leader, he sends his group of boys on a manhunt for the old chief. Jack rallies up every boy to go after, and kill Ralph, and “[smokes] him out [by setting] the island on fire” (192). Long term isolation from the guidance of civilized society and authority has caused Jack to completely lose his moral integrity.…

    • 1239 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jack Vs Ralph

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Jack rules by fear and violence. The boys on the island follow him because they are scared of the consequences if they do not. Jack's plans are superficial, he does not plan for a way to be rescued like Ralph does, and instead he organizes hunts and fun. Jack only wants to focus on one thing and that’s hunting. All he wants to do is to kill a pig.…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At the same time they came to the conclusion that he was the only strong enough boy with his followers to protect them even if that meant they had to put up with some unsettling behavior. Everyone does almost about anything to climb to the top. What jack did was installed fear and use it to tempt the children to leave his fellow competitors side Ralph and join him instead…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jack appears in times of crisis, usually when Ralph cannot mend a situation, such as dealing with the beast on the island, and in times of doubt when Ralph cannot reassure the boys, such as times when boys fear the beast. First, Jack finds the perfect moment to take power. Jack makes Ralph sound like a bad leader when he observes, “‘He’s [Ralph] like Piggy. He says things like Piggy.…

    • 1243 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Ralph made a step forward and Jack smacked Piggy’s head. Piggy’s glasses flew off and tinkled the rocks. Piggy cried out in terror:” (71). This is the first time that Jack had actually physically harmed one of the other boys, and thus it is a clear sign of the changing society and a large step towards total savagery. Finally at the end of the book, Jack has developed a completely primitive and savage mindset, to a point where he attempts to kill Ralph.…

    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The more savage Jack becomes, the more he is able to manipulate the rest of the boys. Besides Ralph, Simon, and Piggy, the group follows Jack in giving up moral restraint and gives into violence and savagery. By the end, Jack learns to use the boys’ fear to control their behavior which is a reminder of how certain beliefs and superstition can be manipulated as instruments of power in a civilized…

    • 1438 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power” (Goodreads). John Steinbeck’s quote asserts that people do not get corrupted because of power, they get corrupted because of the fear of the power. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Jack does not use his dominance to control the other boys; he instills authority into the boys making them fear him. By doing so, Jack controls the actions of the boys and changes their morals.…

    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This is first shown when the boys take the mock hunt a little to far. Ralph and Piggy have just come to Jack’s camp in order to talk sense into the boys. When they get there they are welcomed with food, though the young boys are met with pleasantries, Jack has an ulterior motive for the boys being there. Initially, Jack is polite in the way he confronts Ralph’s tribe by asking who will join his tribe. When Ralph undermines Jack’s ability to lead the situation takes a turn for the worst.…

    • 1546 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays