Lord Of The Flies Quotes Cruelty/Savagery

"I got the conch" Said Piggy indignantly. " You let me speak!" " The conch doesnt count on top of the mountain" Said Jack," So you shut up." Jack is like a dictator here since he is telling Piggy what to do. Pg. 42

Jack Flushed. "We want Meat" ... The Madness came into his eyes again. .... " You wouldn't care to help with the shelters, i suppose?" " We want meat" " And we don't get it" " But I shall! Next time! I've got to get a barb on this spear! We wounded a pig and the spear fell put. If we could only make barbs-" We see loss of innocence in this quote because this is showing the blood thirst of Jack. Pg.51

" Rescue? Yes, of course! All the same, I'd like to catch a pig first-" He snatched up his spear and dashed it into the ground. The opaque, mad look came into his eyes again. This quote like the previous quote showing the loss on innocence that Jack is now starting to not care about being recused, he just wants to go and kill pigs. Pg. 53.

He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling . He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness. .... The mask compelled them. This quote shows Jack as a devilish figure. His new painted face can now tempt people to do things at his command. Pg.65

" Kill the pig, cut her throat, spill the blood' When Jack and his hunters kill their first pig. This is a political allegory because Jack leads the group when they chant this and makes them usually say it every time they kill a pig, showing his dominant power. Pg. 69

" You should have seen the blood!" He says this after they kill their first pig and we see now how Jack is bloodthirsity and this event begins rapid decent to savagery. Pg. 70

This from Piggy, and the wails of agreement from some of the hunters, drove Jack to violence. The bolting look came into his blue eyes. He took a step, and able to last to hit someone, struck his fist into Piggy's stomach. Piggy sat down with a grunt. Jack stood over him. His voice was vicious with humiliation. " You would, would you? Fatty!" ... Jack smacked Piggy's head. This is the pivotal moment when Jack losses all innocence and turns more to violence. This is the beginning event were Jack is more of a savage than a normal school boy. Pg. 71

He looked at Piggy, at the hunters, at Ralph. " Im sorry. About the fire, I mean. There. I-" He drew himself up. "- I apologize" Although Jack apologizes its just about the fire. He doesnt even say sorry to Piggy for what he did to him. So we see that Jack doesnt think violence is as bad as other people on the island thinks it is. Pg. 72

" But he's he's, Jack Merridew!" " I been in bed so much I done some thinking. I know about people. I know about me. And him. He can't hurt you; but if you stand out of the way he'd hurt the next thing. And that's me. We see here that Piggy and Ralph are starting to fear Jack exactly how a citizen in a dictatorship feels about their leader. Pg.93

" He's not a hunter. He'd never have got us meat. He isn't perfect and we don't know anything about him. He just gives orders and expects people to obey for nothing. All this talk-" Jack shows how he is not only bloodthirsty but power hungry because he is trying to make Ralph look like a bad chief in order for him to try to take the power away from him and get it for himself. Pg.126

" We'll hunt. I'm going to be chief." They nodded, and the crisis passed easily. This shows Jack's successful coup d'etat and how he is trying to lead everybody into savagery. Pg.133

" We'll raid them and take fire. There must be four of you; Henry and you, Robert and Maurice. We'll put on paint and sneak up;... Jack now uses his dictator like leadership to make his tribal members listen to his orders and get other people to do things they wouldn't do otherwise. Pg.136

Jack made a rush and stabbed at Ralph's chest with his spear.... They were chest to chest, breathing fiercely, pushing and glaring. Jack lost his humanity to the point of attacking a man he respected in the beginning. pg. 177

Jack, knowing this was the crisis, charged too. They met with a jolt and bounced apart. Jack swung with his fist at Ralph and caught him on the ear. Ralph hit Jack in the stomach and made him grunt... Jack is trying to assert his power and continue to take over the minds of the others Pg. 179.

" See? See? That's what you'll get! I meant that! There isn't a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone-" We see that Jack is the manifestation of true evil and corruption because he has no remorse over the death of Piggy, and he even makes fun of the terrible death of Piggy and the destruction of the conch. Pg. 181

Viciously, with full intention, he hurled his spear at Ralph. The pint tore the skin and flesh over Ralph's ribs, then sheared off and fell in the water. Ralph stumbled, feeling not pain but panic, and the tribe, screaming now like the chief, began to advance. Jack shows his ultimate lust for power here when he attempts to kill Ralph with his spear. He tries to show his dominance by taking out the last bit of power on the island. Since he failed, he now told his group to charge Ralph in a last attempt to kill him. Pg. 181

The leader of the choir, becomes the leader of the hunters and the instigator of the subsequent chaos. Of all the boys, Jack's position as head choirboy is the closest association in the group to recognized authority. Jack states this fact in so many words as he nominates himself for the position of leader, won instead by Ralph. A bright boy, Jack depends more on force, violence, and intimidation than his own wits to usurp Ralph's position as leader. He is the revolutionary that establishes the new world order, so much a repetition of the unwanted order and discipline of the boy's former life at school. Source; Blooms notes; a A contemporary Literary views book.

Jack's ascendency over the group begins when the children's fears distort the natural objects around them. Twigs become creepers, shadows become demons. Source: Modern Critical Interpretations; Claire Rosenfield.

He serves as a physical manifestation of irrational forces..., he appears almost dehumanized his "nose only a few inches from the humid earth." He is "dog-like" and proceeds forwards "on all fours" "into the semi-darkness of the undergrowth." Source: Modern Critical Interpretations; Claire Rosenfield.

His eyes seemed " bolting and nearly mad." He lost his ability to communicate with Ralph on the first day. "He tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill what was swallowing him up." Source: Modern Critical Interpretations; Claire Rosenfield.

At this point he assumes a mask, begins to dance, is finally freed from all the repressions of his past... At the moment of the dance the mask and Jack are one. Source:Modern Critical Interpretations; Claire Rosenfield.

Already he has begun to obliterate the distinctions between animals and men, as do primitives; Source:Modern Critical Interpretations; Claire Rosenfield.

The rest of the group, however, shifts, its allegiance to Jack because he has given them meat than something useless like fires. Gradually, they begin to be described as "shadows" or "masks" or "savages" or "demoniac figures" and like Jack, "hunt naked except for paint and a belt." Source:Modern Critical Interpretations; Claire Rosenfield.

Ralph's antagonist, Jack is approximately the same age... But although he shows traces of the demagogue from the beginning, he must undergo a metamorphosis from a timidity-shielding arrogance to conscienceless cruelty. Source: Beelzebub Revisited; Lord of the Flies

Jack's reward is power through perception. He perceives almost intuitively the use of mask, dance, and ritual to ward off- and yet encourage simultaneously- fear of the unknown. Propitiation is a recognition not only of the need to pacify but also of something to be pacified. In this instance it is the recognition of evil. Source: Beelzebub Revisited; Lord of the Flies

Jacks hatred of Ralph emerges fully. As soon as he ceases to lead and control, Jack turns vicious; and he has clearly begun to hate the boy who bars his leadership. Any possibility of responsible and sane decision on this expedition is sabotaged as Jack insists on turning it into a personal challenge and duel. All that makes sense to him is his own need to control others and impose himself, and hunting, because it is a kind of power assertion. Source: Mark Kinkead-Weekes and Ian Gregor; Lord of the flies.