Lord Of The Flies Chapter 5 Essay

The boys life has deteriorated a lot since they first arrived on the island and from the look of the situation things can only get worse unless they change their behaviour and attitude . There is a lot of conflict between Ralph and Jack, the fear of the unknown is growing, the boys are turning into savages and becoming more uncivilised by the day, rules and taboos are being disobeyed and ignored, and bullying and rivalry is becoming more of a problem. The conflict between Ralph and Jack is causing a lot of tension in the group and is therefore affecting the boys lives. It has already divided them into separate groups with different priorities as some have followed Jack and some have followed Ralph. Jack and Ralph’s different priorities is the main reason for the conflict between them as they are completely opposite. Jack wants control and started of wanting to be leader but was out done by Ralph who was voted the leader. Jack is short tempered and very big headed where as Ralph is realistic, kind hearted and organised. Ralph’s main priority is to be rescued and have fun have fun on the island. Their relationship is described in the book as ‘two continents of experience’ and ‘ baffled in love and hate’. Their personality also clash as they are completely different. Ralph is optimistic, respectful, fair, practical and naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve, where as Jack is arrogant, boastful, power hungry, self centred, easily angered and brutal. The boys fear of the unknown is represented in different ways but is rapidly growing and could get out of hand. It started of as being a beastie, then a snake like creature, and now a beast from water or even a ghost. At first it was only the ‘litluns’ that were scared of the beastie and believed it existed but now the older boys are starting to get worried and have their doubts so none of the quite knows what to believe. Even Ralph has his doubts about what the thing is and he is supposed to be leader, ‘ I don’t believe in ghosts at least I don’t think so’. This comment from Ralph shows that he is now considering there being some type of creature on the island even though he just dismissed the idea at the beginning. Deterioration has also been caused by the boys becoming totally uncivilised and turning into savages. Although they are now looking like savages as their hair has grown, Jack is mainly responsible for them turning into savages. He was so obsessed with hunting to kill that he influenced the other boys that became his hunters. At the beginning they hunted but did not manage to kill for a ling time. Then when Jack finally did he became even more obsessed and made masks that he could hide behind while hunting, ‘ the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack lived’. This made Jack a different person when he put on the mask, he was a killer with no taboos or responsibilities. Jack’s passion for hunting also caused a major disagreement between him and Ralph because on the day a ship went by the fire was let out by boys that Jack made go hunting with him that day. Ralph said to Jack when he got back ‘ There was as ship, you let the fire out.’ There was a strong chance that they may have been rescued then but down to Jack they ended up eating their first pig. From successfully killing his first pig Jack felt very strong and had fulfilled his ambition so did not really care about the fire or Ralph. Rules have been completely ignored lately and systems of organisation disrespected. This has led to the boys becoming lazy and uncivilised. At one point things were going well and most things were well organised. There was toilet system worked out so there was not mess all over the island and water was being stored in coconut shells in the shade so hat it would be cool and fresh. Though now these systems have been ignored and the boys are going to the toilet anywhere on the island and no water is being stored. Ralph also tried to built shelters for them to sleep in which would have been practical but Simon was the only one that would help in the end so they could not be completed. This shows how disorganised the boys have become and disrespectful. They have no taboos and without adults they have forgotten the way they had to behave. Bullying has also become a problem that has led to a deterioration in the boys life. Jack consistently picks on Piggy and uses him as scapegoat for his own mistakes. He makes little of Piggy and by doing this he is trying to show that he has power over the boys as well as Ralph. The litluns are also being ignored and sometimes bullied by the elder boys. Although this might have happened a bit before they arrived on the island but there were still taboos that the older boys had. All these reasons have led to deterioration in the boys life. Their behaviour on the island has had consequences and meant that their lives have become less structured and disciplined and more savage like. Ralph described the situation by saying, ‘we are all drifting and things are turning rotten’. This shows us that the boys are drifting apart and could possibly separate into different groups completely which would also make their life deteriorate more.