What Personality? | What Personality?

In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding tries to expose the aspect of unsure personalities. One of the characters, Jack, switches his way of communicating with the others many times. "`At the beginning of the novel, he refers to the group of kids as we, we are English"'(Golding 42). "`When Jack says that they got to have rules"' he says it in a tone that tries to express the fact of him trying to fix their "society" in a positive way(42). Then later on in the book he expresses his anger to an extent of trying to get respect. `"Eat damn you! are the negative words he states in front of the littluns."' `"During the death of the first pig, kill the pig! Cut her throat! Spill her blood!, Jack speaks to the hunters as if he were their leader, although he is in a manner, but not their number one leader'" (69).

"fear can't hurt you anymore than a dream. There aren't any beasts to be afraid of on this island...Serve you right if something did get you, you usless lot of cry babies!" (82)

Jack is trying to tell the littuns that they are hopeless. They are being scared of something that does not exist but in their dreams. Golding is trying to show that people are afraid of things, indirectly. Jack uses this to become or try to become a stronger, braver, and tougher person so that the weaker ones could look up to him. At first he would try to give them advice but when he noticed that did not work, he tried to get their respect by force. At the end, jack wins the respect of the littluns through his intrigues of his personality.

In addition to Jack being unsure of the form of his personality, Piggy is also unsure. Piggy at the beginning starts out to become sarcastic. `"For example he refers to a spreading fire as a small fire"'(44). With this sarcasm he refers to himself in third person calling himself "Piggy".After this scene was over, Piggy becomes like a person who gives advice. He tries to tell Ralph that Simon's death was nothing more than an "accident". After this has been said, he turns into a state of anxiety because of fear. He falls into the tricks of Jack and believes the beastie is coming when he says "its come...its real!" (151). Throughout the book, Piggy moves back and forth and can not determine his personality.

"Which is better--to be a pack or painted Indians like you are or to be sensible...or to hunt and kill""(180).

Piggy has left his shell and speaks through his own mouth. Before he would speak through Ralph's mouth. He is trying to knock sense into the children. The author of the novel is trying to say that people sometimes need force to be shown what is happening. Piggy takes advantage of this to stop being the low life kid that everyone pushes around and tries to keep his feet on the earth.

People change their personalities while under pressure. Before the twin towers were destroyed, people would just go to work and not think about things. After the tragedy people would unite with their family a lot more. Golding uses the book to try to show the world how humans really act. Although to some people it is rather hard to see it, he brings it under light. If people do not understand their own personality, then how are they suppose to understand other peoples personalities.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Berkley. 1954.