The head boy of his chorus back in civilization, Jack becomes the leader of the hunters on the island. Jack loves power. Laws and rules interest him only because they give him the chance to punish the other boys and express his dominance over them. He loves to hunt and kill because it gives him a chance to dominate nature. Jack gets angry whenever he doesn't get his way: he believes a proper leader issues orders and is obeyed. By the end of the novel he becomes exactly that sort of leader, wielding power only for his own whim and benefit. Jack symbolizes the human love of dominance and power.
Jack Quotes in Lord of the Flies
The Lord of the Flies quotes below are all either spoken by Jack or refer to Jack. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4
Quotes
"Kill the pig! Cut her throat! Spill her blood!"
Related Characters:
Jack (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink.
Chapter 8
Quotes
The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands. The sow collapsed under them and they were heavy and fulfilled upon her.
Get the entire Lord of the Flies LitChart as a printable PDF.
Jack Character Timeline in Lord of the Flies
The timeline below shows where the character Jack appears in Lord of the Flies. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...of the older boys are members of a choir, dressed in black. Their leader is Jack, a redhead who tries to take control of the meeting. One of the boys in...
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The boys decide to vote for a leader. Everyone in the choir votes for Jack, but all the other boys vote for Ralph because he blew the conch. To keep...
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Ralph decides the boys must explore their island. He and Jack will both go, of course. Ralph ignores Piggy's whining pleas to be included, and picks...
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...mountain to the beach. On the way, they spot a wild pig caught in vines. Jack pulls out his pocket knife, but pauses before striking, and the pig escapes. Jack vows...
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Chapter 2
...blows the conch to call another meeting. Ralph announces that they're on an uninhabited island. Jack interrupts to say that they still need an army in order to hunt pigs.
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Jack, excited, shouts out that they can make more rules and punish whoever breaks them.
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...older boys dismiss this "beastie" as just a nightmare, but the younger boys seem scared. Jack grabs the conch and says there's no snake-thing. If there is, he adds, his hunters...
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...of dead wood on the mountain. They can't figure out how start the fire until Jack grabs the glasses off Piggy's face. Ralph uses the glasses to focus the sun's rays...
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...burns out because the wood is so dry. Piggy starts to criticize the boys, but Jack shouts him down. Simon points out that Piggy's glasses made the fire possible.
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Ralph says they have to keep the fire burning every day without fail. Jack volunteers himself and his hunters to do the job.
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Chapter 3
It's weeks later. In the deep silence of the jungle, Jack tracks a pig and hurls his spear at it. As usual, he misses. Jack returns...
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...he and Simon are working on the huts, which are falling apart. He complains to Jack that everyone else is off playing or hunting.
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Ralph's complaint offends Jack. Ralph points out that all the hunters except Jack came back hours ago, and are...
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Ralph and Jack argue whether hunting is as important as building shelters.
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...as if the island is bad, not the good island Ralph described in Chapter 2. Jack agrees. While hunting in the jungle, he says, he often feels like he's the one...
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Ralph puts the focus of the conversation back on getting rescued. He mentions Jack and the hunter's responsibility for the fire, which causes another argument. Jack claims hunting is...
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Chapter 4
Jack emerges from the forest and calls to Roger, telling him to follow. In the jungle,...
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...the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood." The hunters come up to the mountaintop. Jack, not realizing what's happened, is triumphant after killing the pig. Furious, Ralph tells Jack about...
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Piggy and even some of the hunters start yelling at Jack. Jack, humiliated and angry, hits Piggy. Piggy's glasses fly off, breaking a lens. Jack mocks...
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Eventually Jack apologizes for letting the fire die. Ralph asks Piggy's permission to use his glasses to...
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They cook the pig, but Jack refuses to give Piggy any meat. Simon shares with Piggy.
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Jack and his boys begin to reenact the killing of the pig in a kind of...
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Chapter 5
Jack stands and reaches for the conch so he can talk. But Ralph refuses to hand...
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...He doesn't know why, but he thinks they should discuss their fear to overcome it. Jack takes the conch. He calls the littleun's crybabies. He says he's been all over the...
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...boys if they're humans or savages? He mentions the hunters letting the fire go out. Jack furiously rips the conch from him.
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Ralph accuses Jack of breaking the rules. Jack questions Ralph's leadership. He says he doesn't care about the...
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...down as chief, but Piggy protests. He says everything would descend into chaos, and then Jack would target Piggy.
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Chapter 6
Ralph calls a meeting that quickly becomes heated. Jack questions Ralph's decisions and leadership, mocks Piggy, and claims the conch no longer matters. For...
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...the littleuns. At the far tip of the island, the biguns find a rock formation Jack calls the "castle." The rock is accessible only by a piece of stone forty feet...
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The boys find no beast, but Jack is excited because the rock protects a cave and would make a terrific fort. It...
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Chapter 7
...they need to use a real pig next time, so they can really kill it. Jack suggests they use a littleun. All the other boys laugh.
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Jack mocks Ralph's concern for Piggy. Ralph asks Jack why he hates him. The question makes...
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At the base of the mountain, the boys stop for the night. But Jack questions Ralph's courage, and so Ralph agrees to climb right then. Only Roger agrees to...
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Chapter 8
Jack says his hunters could kill the beast. Ralph says they're just boys with sticks. Infuriated,...
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Next Jack accuses Ralph of belittling the hunters. He says Ralph is like Piggy and isn't a...
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Jack storms off, humiliated and crying. He vows to form a new group, and says anyone...
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...that all the biguns but Samneric and Piggy have disappeared. Most have gone to join Jack.
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Elsewhere in the jungle, Jack declares himself chief of the boys who have joined him. As chief, he says he's...
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The boys track, corner, and kill a big sow (a female pig). Jack cuts off its head. He decides they'll raid Ralph's camp fore fire to cook the...
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Jack emerges from the forest into Ralph's camp. As his followers steal fire from the signal...
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...have fun on this island!" The beast warns Simon that if he tries to interfere Jack, Roger, Maurice, Robert, Bill, Piggy, and Ralph will "do" him.
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Chapter 9
Meanwhile, everyone but a few littleuns and Ralph and Piggy have gone to Jack's feast. Ralph mocks the feast as a bunch of boys "pretending" to act like a...
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Jack acts like a savage chief at the feast. His face is painted and he wears...
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When Ralph arrives, Jack asks the gathered boys who will join his tribe. Ralph says that he's still chief...
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It starts to rain, and Ralph laughs that Jack's tribe had no foresight to build shelters. In response, Jack whips the group into "their...
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Chapter 10
...next morning, Piggy and Ralph discover that every bigun except them and Samneric has joined Jack's tribe. Ralph tells Piggy that the "beast" that came out of the forest was Simon,...
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Jack moves his tribe to Castle Rock. He orders his savages to post a guard and...
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Jack says they'll go hunting tomorrow and have a feast. To cook the meat, they'll raid...
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Chapter 11
...an assembly. He does. They decide to go to Castle Rock. Piggy plans to ask Jack to give back his glasses because "what's right's right." Ralph, Sam, and Eric decide to...
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Jack appears from the forest behind Ralph's group, followed by hunters carrying a pig on a...
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Ralph demands that Jack return Piggy's glasses. He mentions again the importance of the signal fire. Jack's tribe has...
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Ralph and Jack start to fight again, but Piggy asks to speak and Ralph relents. Piggy raises the...
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Stunned silence descends over the tribe. But suddenly Jack screams and throws his spear at Ralph, aiming to kill. Ralph runs into the jungle,...
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The tribe brings Samneric into the fort. Jack prods them with his spear to terrorize them into joining his tribe. Roger brushes past...
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Chapter 12
...a hiding place in the forest. He thinks the boys have become savages and knows Jack will try to kill him.
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...on Castle Rock. Samneric are guarding the gates. He sneaks up to them. Frightened of Jack and Roger, Samneric beg Ralph to leave. But first they give him meat and tell...
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...of the forest behind Ralph. The officer asks who's in charge. Ralph says he is. Jack is quiet. Percival Wemys Madison tries and fails to say his own name.
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