However, the choir does not support Jack in being leader of the group because deep down, they do not wish the leader to be Jack as they do not want to suffer under his arrogance any longer. While Jack has no choice but to give in and let Ralph be leader, despite not being chosen, he doesn’t forget to still fight for a position as a leading figure in the group—Chief Hunter, and is able to obtain it. The choir is chosen as hunters because of the way they are already dressed, somehow classified them as a group of individuals.
Dressed in strangely eccentric clothing, shorts , skirts and different garments they carried in their hands: but each boy wore a square black cap with a silver badge on it. Their bodies, from throat to ankle, were hidden by black cloaked which bore a long silver cross on the left breast and each neck was finished off with a hambone frill. (?)
This shows how the choir is already a group before they arrive at the island, already familiar with each other, they can be seen as a team that’s likely to coordinate with each other easily. Jack is dressed in the same way but his badge was golden. He feels superior to the others and despises several members of the group, such as Piggy and the littluns. Ralph roughly outlines the job positions in their first gathering.
The hunters job is to get meat,…we can’t have everyone here talking all at once, we’ll have to have “hands up” like at school… the one with the conch will speak.”(31)
This shows that the rules set up are simply basic rules and are not in depth enough, the most basic groups are formed, not according to their ability but to their former identities, such as the hunters are the choir boys because they already look like a formed team. Also, we can see that the rules don’t work in every condition and circumstance, they can be broken easily, there are no real enforcing of the rules. We can see that later in Chapter 5, when Jack breaks the rules by speaking without the conch.
In Chapter 2 and onwards, Jack shows a dislike for Piggy, he says, “ ‘We don’t want you.’ Jack pointed.” This shows that Jack doesn’t care about Piggy, only himself. “ His Specs- ,use them as burning glasses” (40). He dislikes Piggy as we can see from how he simply snatches Piggy’s glasses away from him. He also says at one point, “ The conch doesn’t count on the top of the mountain, so you shut up.” (42) Jack always finds trouble for Piggy, we can also see that Jack will go all the way as to breaking the rules just to make sure Piggy suffers and is unwelcome. Jack doesn’t care about the rules, he can choose to not follow them whenever he feels like to, Jacks character deteriorates rapidly, picking on Piggy and treating him worse and worse as the chapter goes on. Jack doesn’t like Piggy because of his glasses and his appearance, Piggy is an easy target to pick on. The beast is another problem for the group other than the setting and carrying out of rules. It has an impact also on Jack’s character change. No one completely disagrees with the Littlun’s idea that there might be a beast on this island, however, Jack clearly states that the beast will not be a threat, he feels that he has the power to hunt the beast down if there really is one. This shows his immature side as a leading figure, thinking that because of the one successful conquest on killing an animal, he would be able to do the same to the beast that’s haunting most of the littluns. Jack says in Chapter 2,
We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best at everything. So we’ve got to do the right things”(?)
but in Chapter 3, he somehow transforms into another person contradicting what he says above, in his obsession to hunt down a pig. By putting soil on his face, he feels that he has transformed into another person, stronger in physical strength and ability, he thinks that no one can see clearly who he is and judge him. He is free to do whatever he wants, this marks another checkpoint in the process of losing his former identity as an “ English School Boy.” This shows that time can change someone entirely, from head to toe, Jack’s change in character reflects to the others than someday, that is what they will become, Ralph knows about this and is afraid of that day to come. The rules are gradually broken by Jack, as mentioned earlier, which later on might cause problems for the other group members, they might also decide not to obey the rules and follow their own will, just like Jack. We can see that everyone is slowly drifting away from civilization, it is only a matter of time till everyone on the island acts like savages.
On the island, the conch and the fire are symbols of civilization, hope and knowledge, all of the boys hope to be as close to their former selves, closer to where they are from, remembering who they are. As Jack breaks the rules by not speaking with the conch in his hands, it marks the process of rules slowly being broken. They are slowly losing touch with the real world, with civilization, and not all of them are aware of that fact.
Continuing on, Golding illustrates the transformation of Jack’s character in a variety of ways, Firstly, Jack is becoming more and more obsessed with Piggy. Even though everyone knows that it is his fault that the fire went out and their only chance of being saved is gone. Instead of admitting his mistake, he shouts at Piggy in order to try to express his anger. While Piggy argues back that it is Jack’s fault for not keeping the fire going, Jack doesn’t want Piggy to feel good about himself, even after he realizes his mistake, he still decided to torture Piggy even more by not allowing Piggy to eat the Pig that they killed earlier. Just to make himself feel better after being blamed by the group that they are still on this island because of Jack and his troop not looking after the fire at the first place. This also shows the hatred Jack has in Piggy, how he feels content bullying Piggy and making Piggy’s life miserable. The change in Jack’s character and language can be easily identified, clearly at the start of Chapter 1 he is a gentleman, proud of everything he has achieved, at school, being head boy and head of the choir. He leads the choir into the scene and orders the march to be neat. But soon he his “new” personality starts building up, he shouts, “ Eat, Damn You “(78). Jack is distancing himself from the civilized world, in terms of his language. He becomes very short-tempered. Jack’s physical change can also be seen from his appearance, his hair is messy and unattended to, using soil to cover his face. The other hunters also look more and more wild and braver than they were before. Their personalities change in order to adapt to their new living environment. Having to be able to hunt and care for themselves, they have a lot to deal with all the life changing events happening around them. The boys want to feel better about themselves and not feel guilty that their attitudes towards others are changing.
In conclusion, this story tells us the changes in the lives of the English school boys, the boys’ “transformation” in terms of behavior, language and attitude from an ordinary English school boy, civilized and influenced by the English culture for a number of years into savagery. Jack appears to be a model student, head boy, leader of the choir, but changes into another person, no longer being able to control himself in, a short period of time. He is rude to Ralph and the others and does not obey the rules set up. His “ bad” character goes downhill, being mean to the others and unable to admit his own mistakes. This reflects on how a person, no matter how civilized, how well brought up, how well educated, can lose themselves when challenged by a different location and time. If we don’t constantly remind ourselves of our obligations as a human, our personal identities and what is right and what is wrong, we will end up losing ourselves, no longer knowing who we are and fall back in the human transformation cycle.
