Tuesday 5 August 2014

In the novel Lord of the Flies, when does Jack become a filthy animal?

Jack becomes a filthy animal the moment he smears white and red clay all over his body. Jack claims that the clay and charcoal disguise him from the pigs while he is hunting. This takes place in Chapter 5, (pages 63 and 64 of my edition) of the novel Lord of the Flies. When Jack emerges from the forest concealed in "paint," Roger and the twins are intimidated and awestruck at his appearance. Golding...

Jack becomes a filthy animal the moment he smears white and red clay all over his body. Jack claims that the clay and charcoal disguise him from the pigs while he is hunting. This takes place in Chapter 5, (pages 63 and 64 of my edition) of the novel Lord of the Flies. When Jack emerges from the forest concealed in "paint," Roger and the twins are intimidated and awestruck at his appearance. Golding mentions that the twins began to protest timidly, and Roger stared with an incomprehensible gaze at Jack. After Jack reapplies new clay and charcoal, he sees his reflection in the water and begins to laugh and dance. The narrator states that Jack's laughing becomes a bloodthirsty snarling. Jack's "mask" allows him to feel liberated from shame and reduces his self-consciousness. Jack is literally "filthy" because his body is covered with clay, dirt, and charcoal. Jack's mental state and psyche become "animalistic" when the paint is applied. This disguise allows Jack to become unbridled in his savagery, void of morality and civility. His primitive instincts parallel that of an animal. A fair description of Jack wearing his "war paint" would be a "filthy animal."

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