Symbol Of The Knife In Lord Of The Flies Essay Example

Golding uses the character Jack and the symbol of a knife to establish the social connections between violence and power and the underlying presence of savagery in humans. Jack's odd connection between arbitrary skills and leadership is an important detail: “I ought to be chief...because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.” (Golding 22). Interesting enough that Jack uses his successes in life to make the other boys think he is more fit to lead, it is also interesting that Golding chose to use C sharp as the note he could sing rather than a regular C or C flat. The word sharp, in referring to his singing, also alludes to the fact that Jack will later become someone with great power wielding a sharp object: The knife. Relating C sharp to Jack’s knife expresses the underlying presence of savagery in humans. Slipping deeper and deeper into disorder, Jack and some other older boys go up the mountain to see the surrounding area. During this, the group encounters a wild pig. Before checking on the other boys and their safety, Jack runs off hunting down the small animal. After ultimately failing at killing the pig, Jack’s true nature begins to become unhinged:  "Jack draws his knife with a flourish and pauses long enough for them to understand the enormity of the downward stroke"(Golding 28). This is the first time real violence was pursued on the island. Jack, being the one to hold the dagger, attempts to kill the pig but could not. He then later expresses how he will not hesitate the next time; this shows the character’s rapid decline into savagery and disorder. While Jack’s steady decline is apparent, this also shows Jack’s uprising into power by violence. 

Jack's knife is a symbol of military power, violence, and control through intimidation. Most of all, the knife symbolizes the boy's decline into savagery. In this case, the brute force of the knife overtakes reason as expressed through the civilized leadership of Ralph. After a heavy decline into anger, Jack brutally exclaims to the boys to “Eat! Damn you!” (Golding 74). Jack angrily demands the group eat the pig he killed to make them acknowledge his success as a hunter. Jack notices that his rage ignites respect from the other boys, and for the first time recognizes his lust for power and control of others. He will begin to use this rage, and the fear it incites, to control the decision-making of the other boys and affect the thoughts of who should be the leader. After Ralph expressed the need for a meeting due to the fire dying and other circumstances, Ralph lays out rules to follow in order to stay safe. Jack, without the conch, expresses his disappointment and anger with the rules: “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong – we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat - !” (Golding 91).  Jack feels that being a hunter is more important than following Ralph’s rules. He values killing and hunting more than contributing to the order and civilization of the island. Jack demonstrates his growing desire for power over the others as he suddenly begins thinking of an authoritarian system focused on hunting and barbarity at the end of chapter 6. Jack’s relationship with the knife bounces off one another connecting them to humanity and human nature. The actions of Jack and his knife express Golding's view of human nature; that humans will revert to savage behavior if there is no voice of reason to point out the consequences of their actions.