Jack and Roger in Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

Essay by santy clausHigh School, 11th gradeA, October 1992

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Jack and Roger

Jack and Roger are two allegorical characters in the story: 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding. They are both characterized as killers but they are very different from one another. The two young boys start off with the same intentions but as the story progresses we begin to see the differences in their personalities. While Jack's power hunger grows, Roger's sadistic nature also grows as well.

The character of Jack is an obvious id, he is a power hungry ruthless killer that would do anything for power. Jack is not always a killer, the events on the island lead up to his behavior. For example, when Ralph, Simon and Jack are in the forest and they see the pig for the first time Jack does not kill it no doubt from the taboo of killing. The second time he meets the pig he kills it with his knife and this is only the beginning of the change in his behavior.

Jack's wanting of meat turns into obvious bloodlust later on in the novel, for example he kills the mother pig without even thinking if it was wrong: 'Kill the pig, cut her throat, bash her head in!'. Jack's decapitation of the dead mother pig proves that he is no longer the Jack that could not kill the pig but a much more blood-thirsty one that only wants to kill and not be rescued. Although Jack is not satanic like Roger, he loses all sense of reason, he is nevertheless a killer. Jack tries his best to do what is best for the boys but his power hunger actually makes the situation much worse: 'The chief snatched one of the few remaining spears and poked Sam in the ribs' (P.182) Jack's own name has even...