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Jack vs. Ralph Sam Hoffman In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, one of the main characters, Jack, is the small red-haired choir leader, and an opportunist. When he sees any chance to do something that might help him achieve his goals, he does it, no matter whom it hurt. He only kills sows and piglets, even though eventually that will lead to all of the islands pigs dying. He kills them not because they are weak, but because they are vulnerable. Being an opportunist, he can t resist the temptation; the pigs are there, he catches them, they die.
Ralph is the exact opposite of Jack. He is a person who hides his fear in his abuse of others, his insecurity in constant aggression, and his cowardice in the brave mask through which he glares at others. Jack even wears an actual mask sometimes, all of the time towards the end of the novel, and that is when he commits his greatest atrocities. He leads the mob killing of one kid and has his lieutenant kill another. He does not do the horrible things that he does because he enjoys them, only because they benefit his self-image, and give him more power, and yet he can still make those around him suffer any consequences. He still needs to be able to take any credit due to the group.
For example, when the hunters are first successful, they march home triumphantly. Ralph picked out Jack easily, even at that distance, tall, red haired, and inevitably leading the procession. (pg. 74) Jack always wants credit for what he does right, and never takes the blame for his mistakes, or at least, never fully does. I cut the pig s throat! said Jack proudly. (pg. 75) Even when he does apologize, the kids see him as right for apologizing, and that somehow means that Ralph is wrong, because he and Jack are rivals. Ralph thinks out his actions very carefully before doing anything, while Jack is impulsive, doing everything and anything when and where he wanted to. Jack is instinct personified, having gone back to the roots of human history, before there is society, when everything depends on instinct.
Being exact opposites, they clash. The many times Jack says, We want meat, and We need meat, (pg. 53) he is just shifting most of the blame for botching their chance at being rescued from himself to everybody else in his group. He lets their signal fire go out just as a ship comes into sight, just so that he can enlarge his group for a successful hunt. Not Ralph s group, but Jack s.
Ralph commands the loyal, who still cling to society. Jack leads the fearful, who do whatever Jack says, simply because he makes it seem like he will deal with their fears sooner, and make their decisions for them. He never really solves any problems, though, only makes them. You let the fire go out. Jack checked, vaguely irritated by their irrelevance, but too happy to let it worry him. We can light the fire again. (pg. 75) Ralph replies, There was a ship. (pg. 76) He makes it everybody s fault that they aren t rescued by claiming that he is doing what they wanted to do, instead of what really happens, they follow him.
They only do what they do then because he uses the coward s most powerful weapon; Fear. Ralph is the one whom the children vote Chief. He is responsible, and handles the problems that matter the most to the survival of the group. He doesn t think of personal gain, so he does not even notice what Jack is doing until it is too late to stop the revolt.
When Ralph made huts, he let everybody use them, even the people who don t help with the construction at all. But when Jack kills one of the pigs, he only gives it to those who support him. Jack meant to leave him in doubt, as an assertion of power; but Piggy, by advertising this omission made more cruelty necessary. This proves that Jack is not really smart, only clever.
Smart is the ability to see many possible actions, and choose the right one. Clever is the ability to see many possible actions, and do what one feels like doing. Jack craves power. When there is no way for him to have any, he made a way.
Simon and Piggy got in his way of conquest of their government, and both are murdered. Simon is a prophet who unnerves the kids so much that they can t be controlled. Jack incites a lynch mob and kills Simon. Piggy won t abandon the old society, and is the voice of reason that spoke out against Jack. He is hit by a boulder, which Jack s lieutenant pushes and falls off of a cliff. Jack is ruthless.
Still, he is clever even when he is a crazed bloodthirsty savage like he becomes towards the end of the book. He still knew not to bite off more than he can chew, but does anything to beat the easiest obstacle, whatever the easiest obstacle is. At the beginning of the story, he is the choir leader. When he isn t chosen as Chief, he still went after the easy victory of a consolation prize as leader of the hunt.
He can t kill a charging boar, because it is in it s element, cornered and powered by fear. Jack had had no experience fighting boars, only sows, so he is unprepared and the easiest course of action is to jump out of the way. Ralph, as usual faces the boar head on, mano-el-mano, and at great personal risk. And again, he does it not for personal gain, but for the good of the group.
Ralph is altruism incarnate. He sacrifices his free time, his well being, for kids who give him nothing in return, but instead try to kill him. Ralph is not an angel; He still takes part in the mob killing of Simon and still hunts. However, he does these things because although he puts group before self, when the group is having some sort of ritual that bonds them together and eliminates fear, holding back will not stop them.
If joining them will make them trust him more, then it might actually be better for the group. Even so he put the group before himself because he knew that if he held back, although it will not stop them, it would make them feel guilty and depressed, and possibility lead to more killings and possibly suicides. Since, as the leader he is responsible in their eyes for their actions, he is the one who take the blame. Jack reacts in the exact opposite way to the sow. He saw something and recognizes that it is not an easy win, so he avoids the problem. However the next time, the opportunity arose to kill, he brutalizes the sow at hand more violently than is necessary, to make up for his embarrassment.
There is an opportunity for personal advancement, and Jack being who he is, jumps at the chance. As usual, others paid the price. Jack s followers lose their humanity, and the pig loses her life. Jack takes every opportunity to enhance his ego, to advance his own social status.
Ralph is his opposite, and his greatest rival. However, Ralph, being the honest, good person he is, doesn t recognize what Jack can become until it is too late, and neither can Jack. In the end, Jack is the one who pays the price: As he is going to board the ship home, he shrinks with the guilt of Piggy and Simon s deaths, which he will remember for the rest of his life, from savage Jack to a small, red-haired boy. (pg. 234)
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