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 become a taboo, he has almost god-like
power and uses it for 'evil'. If it were not for the rescue of the boys, Jack's
power-hunger and bloodlust would have eventually gotten them all killed.
The character of Roger is also an id but he is a satanic killer. Unlike Jack Roger's
bloodlust can never be satisfied. He is a brutal killer and a perfect example of this is
when he kills Piggy with the giant rock. Roger also has a mind of his own, he is a free
spirit that does not follow orders. For example, Jack never ordered him to drop the rock
on Piggy, it was purely Roger that did it on his own free will. He is a sick and twisted
individual, another example of this is the way he brutally kills the mother pig. He
would also show no hesitation to take a human life, not only does he kill Piggy but he
also sharpens a stick at both ends for Ralph so he was obviously going to do to him what
he did to the mother pig. Roger is just a worse version of Jack and like Jack too
control of Ralph's power he would have taken control of Jack's power with an even more
sadistic culture then the one that Jack has created.
Jack and Roger are both killers, one more ruthless and power-hungry then the other.
Ralph lost his power to a person more sadistic, what is to say that Jack will not lose
his power to Roger? and who would have been next after Roger? eventually the culture
would become so sadistic and ruthless that death would be a regular event. Jack and
Roger are both sadistic killers and one might argue that it does not matter if you are a
killer or a ruthless killer because either way you are still a killer but one can also
argue: "Do you honestly think that the boys would be the same is it were Roger and not
Jack that became chief?
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