“In every man’s heart there is a devil, but we do not know the man as bad until the devil is roused”. This quote from Sigmund Freud shows us that evil can at times constitute the actions and consequences reflecting mankind’s impulsive and vindictive instincts. The book ‘Lord Of The Flies’ by William Golding illustrates the idea that in a state of nature, humans can default to their inherent malicious instincts and create a chaotic and dangerous society where no order, structure and rules are apparent. With Golding’s underlying theme that human society is inherently malicious without rules, structure and order and that evil resides within, the character Jack Merridew is vividly represented by these themes in his transformation from a civilised British boy to a barbaric savage.
The character Jack at first appeared to still uphold the rules, structure and order that human society had instilled in him. However, these important values he learnt slowly decay and bring into play a savage tribe that he creates, due to Ralph’s failure as a leader. He at first is not the prime leader, but slowly overthrows the ‘chief’ by manipulating the other kid’s into his dictatorial mindset. This is done through the concept of the beast. Golding symbolises that evil and savagery exist within humanity, but Jack uses the beast in his tribe as the common enemy, idol and system of beliefs, due to the children not fully accepting the impression and thought of the terrifying beast (stating he will protect them from the beast). The quote on page 113, “Bollocks to the rules, we are strong!” states that Jack is becoming more authoritative and powerful, while the protagonist (Ralph) is becoming more submissive and doubtful in his views. So also, the argument about either hunting or building huts on the beach in chapter 5 further states that his strong and influential opinion of a confident leader, that impacted on the community. With Jack becoming the primary leader in the latter, the power that he possessed made him evil and corrupt, and influenced the entire society to digress from rules and order that civilisation had implanted in them.
