Jack

• Lacks empathy 
• Egocentric, arrogant (prefers to be called Merridew – he’s no kid!) 
• Antagonistic, dominant, belittling
• Hypocritical (sets rules, punishes those who break them, but will break them himself if he benefits) 
• Has the ‘red-haired temper’ of his family; 
• From a middle class, religious school and the actions of that school are mimicked in his tribe: strange clothes, singing/chanting and corporal punishments (punishing Wilfred – p.176). 
• Believes he “ought to be chief, because I'm Chapter Chorister and head boy”, none of which make him a good leader (p.18) 
• Is a dictator: “We don't need the conch any more. We know who ought to say things." (p.110) 
• Leads through fear (forces Samneric to join his tribe by hurting them – p.202); 
• Becomes ‘chief’ – almost a mask, showing he is a different person, forces his hunters to raise spears and say "The Chief has spoken." (p.155).  Makes a fort at Castle Rock. 
• Panics and becomes paranoid, lying to his hunters (typical of dictators); 
• Tortures the littluns: punishes Wilfred (p.169) and ties up Samneric (p.198) 
• There’s enough fruit, fish and crab on the island for survival but Jack insists on killing pigs
• Soon becomes obsessed with killing / hurting (Robert, Simon, Samneric, Ralph, etc)
• Hunting for survival develops into warfare for survival. 
• Described as ‘ape-like’ when prowling through the jungle, showing a regression to a primitive state. 
• Short sighted - Kills a sow which would have bred and provided them with more meat in the future (p.146); 
• Short sighted - Smacks Piggy, knocking off and breaking his glasses, nearly losing the ability to make fire (p.75)
• Short sighted - He sets fire to the jungle, destroying the fruit trees
• Short sighted - Not interested in keeping the signal fire going, even though it could help rescue. 
• He's not really evil!  He's just a little boy who got carried away… 
• His voice trailed off. The hands that held the conch shook. He cleared his throat, and spoke loudly. 

  "All right then." 

  He laid the conch with great care in the grass at his feet. The humiliating tears were running from the corner of each eye. 

  "I'm not going to play any longer. Not with you.” 
• "A little boy who wore the remains of an extraordinary black cap on his red hair and who carried the remains of a pair of spectacles at his waist, started forward, then changed his mind and stood still."
• "…tall, thin, and bony: and his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness. Out of this face stared two light blue eyes, frustrated now, and turning, or ready to turn, to anger"
• Jack: Derived from Hebrew  name Jacob which means  ‘supplanter’ or ‘one who  takes over’. 
• He loves conflict
• Instinctive - "dog-like, uncomfortably on all fours"
• Instinctive - "Jack himself shrank at this cry with a hiss of indrawn breath"
• Instinctive - "Became less of a hunter than a furtive thing, ape-like among the tangle of trees"
• Instinctive - "A compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up"
• Instinctive - "The madness came into his eyes again"
• Instinctive - "Jack had to think for a moment before he could remember what rescue was"
• Negative - ‘hair was red beneath the black cap’ ‘eyes turning, or ready to turn, to anger’ ‘crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness’ 
• Represents dictatorial rule - ‘Castle Rock’ ‘chief’
• Is short sighted - ‘ought to be chief because I’m Chapter Chorister and head boy’ 
• Is obsessive / becomes a savage - ‘ape-like’, ‘dog-like’ ‘Jack himself shrank at this cry with a hiss of indrawn breath’ ‘he began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling’  
• Remains an innocent child - ‘placed it down with great care’ ‘play any longer. Not with you’ 
• Jack is the novel's antagonist, Ralph's adversary, and represents anarchy and lawlessness.
• He is head choir boy and uses the other boy's fears of the beast to wrestle power from Ralph and impose his tyrannical leadership.
• Jack is the master of manipulation; he creates his potent public image with calculating precision.