Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews June 4, 2023 May 28, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
I ought to be chief...because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.
In Chapter 1, Jack stakes his claim as natural leader of the boys based on somewhat arbitrary prerequisites. However, due to Piggy’s crucial vote for Ralph, Jack fails to be elected leader, but is allowed to maintain control over his choir. While Jack does have inherent leadership abilities, he is bested by Ralph’s charm and desire to develop a set of civilized rules for the boys.
His specs – use them as burning glasses!
In Chapter 2, Jack realizes that Piggy’s glasses can be used to start a fire on the island, and aggressively snatches them from Piggy’s face. Jack’s actions foreshadow the importance of Piggy’s glasses to the plot and to the survival of the boys, while also highlighting Jack’s physical dominance over Piggy.
I agree with Ralph. We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best at everything. So we’ve got to do the right things.
In Chapter 2, Jack asserts that the boys should adhere to the rules of British civilization on the island. This statement is ironic because Jack and his followers are quick to shirk the constraints of society and give in to savagery. Jack’s logic that the boys should act civilized because they’re British – not because they’re humans – foreshadows the tribalism that develops later on. The example of Britain as a model civilization also mirrors the Naval officer’s disappointment at the end of the book to see British boys reduced to savagery.
I thought I might kill.
Jack returns from an unsuccessful hunt in Chapter 3 and tells Ralph he almost succeeded. Jack’s frustration at his inability to kill the pig is mirrored by Ralph’s frustration at Jack’s neglect of other duties to help the group. Ralph wants Jack to either catch a pig, or give up and help build shelters for the others. Tension grows between Ralph and Jack as their motivations on the island diverge.
Eat! Damn you!
When, in Chapter 4, Jack finally kills a pig, he angrily demands the group eat in acknowledgement of his success as a hunter and provider. Jack notices that his rage elicits respect from the other boys, and for the first time recognizes his lust for power and controlling others. He will learn to use this rage, and the fear it incites, to motivate the boys and inspire their allegiance through the rest of the book.
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 - !
In Chapter 5, 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 begins establishing an authoritarian system focused on hunting and barbarity.
I’m not going to play anymore. Not with you...I’m not going to be a part of Ralph’s lot—
Hurt and embarrassed after Ralph belittles his hunters, Jack decides to leave the group in Chapter 8 and go off on his own. Jack’s tears remind us that despite their adult actions, these characters are still children. Jack’s humiliation is directly tied to his violence later in the book, when he realizes that fear is an effective tool for getting the others to take him seriously.
Sharpen a stick at both ends.
In a particularly brutal hunting scene in Chapter 8, Jack tells Roger to use a sharpened stick to mount the dead pig’s head and leave it as an offering to the beast. The head becomes the Lord of the Flies with whom Simon has a hallucinogenic conversation. In the final chapter, Roger and Jack sharpen a second stick. While they don’t explicitly state their plans, because of this earlier quote we know they intend to mount Ralph’s head as an additional offering to the beast.
No! How could we--kill--it?
In Chapter 10, Jack asks Stanley how they could kill the beast, even as the boys quietly suspect the beast was actually Simon. Like Piggy and Samneric on the other side of the island, Jack refuses to admit that he helped brutally murder Simon, not the beast. Because Jack needs the boys to continue fearing the beast in order to maintain his control, he tells his hunters to prepare an offering just in case the beast returns, again disguised as something or someone else.
Please wait while we process your payment