In Defense Of Jack Merridew (alternatively Titled: My Classmates Did Not Read The Book)

In defense of Jack Merridew (alternatively titled: my classmates did not read the book)

I don’t like it when people categorise any lord of the flies characters as “good” or “bad” (or in any other types of media, really) and it’s especially bad in class discussions. My classmates always say things like “Jack is crazy guys!” Or “Jack is evil!”, and it annoys me to no end. Are you trying to tell me that you read lotf off Sparksnotes? Anyways, these characters are too complex to be categorised into a single, black and white label, so I think picking up various traits based on the text is a better way of understanding the characters.

Two characters a lot of people like to put these labels on are Jack and Ralph. In my class Jack is seen as a batshit insane demon while Ralph is an angel with a shimmering halo. This is another time I ask them, “have you read the book with your eyes closed??”. When compared to Ralph, Jack does seem objectively, more chaotic, but that isn’t seeing the full picture yet. Today I’m going to clear up a few misunderstandings my classmates often have with Jack to prove that he is not in fact, evil.

1. Jack constantly bullies Piggy throughout the book

While it isn’t wrong to say this, he does bully Piggy quite a lot, I don’t think this is a valid point when discussing how he’s evil, because all of the boys, including Ralph, mistreated Piggy. This argument can’t be made solely for Jack. I would’ve gone on to explain how Ralph doesn’t treat Piggy that well either, but all this mistreatment is arguably a result of Piggy’s own decisions. Being a character that heavily relies on adults, Piggy decides to share the very name he doesn’t want people to call him to Ralph immediately. Since they’re Eton type school boys, of course this wouldn’t go piggy’s way. Him being bullied is a result of his own behaviour in the book, which doesn’t justify Jack’s actions, but explains it.

2. Jack is responsible for multiple deaths

This is another point my classmates often make. A pattern I’ve noticed is that they tend to weed out things that other characters are also guilty of, and direct it at only Jack. This is very frustrating because the main deaths in this book (Simon and Piggy) are results of the setting’s effect on all the boys. When discussing Piggy’s death in particular, Jack isn’t even the one who directly causes it, albeit he doesn’t seem very against it either. Anyhow, It’s not as if Jack purposefully intended these deaths, or even directly caused them, they are all at fault in some way or another. Jack is responsible, but not solely responsible for them. It’s just easier to point the blame to him because he’s the face of the hunters.

3. Jack is inherently evil

I think this is the most outrageous point by far. First off, this is literally proven wrong at the start of the book, where Jack struggled to kill any pigs. It’s shown when he, Ralph and Simon explore the island, in which he hesitates to do so, and another scene where he fails yet again when Ralph is building the shelters. Perhaps this is because British school boys were not taught how to hunt, but I believe it also shows how Jack is just another scared boy, and not inherently evil. There aren’t any other factors that stop him from it other than himself, making it different from Roger’s case where nothing other than societal norms stop him from throwing rocks at the littluns. I’m not saying that Jack is completely innocent, but he is most definitely not inherently evil. Despicable, apathetic characters that are evil at heart do not struggle to kill a pig.

Conclusion

Jack is as controversial as he is misunderstood. While he does harmful things in the book that lead to death and injuries, I believe that he shouldn’t be the only one responsible. Everything that happened on the island is a result of the setting’s effect on the boys, so we cannot direct the responsibility at a singular character. Jack is not inherently evil, nor is he a despicable villain (yes I’m talking to you villains wiki,) and if that’s what you got from the book please read again.

Side note

This is my first post ever so I hope I did okay and didn’t sound too arrogant. It’s mainly directed at my classmates. I know people can have different opinions, and you don’t have to agree with me, but please read the book at the very least. I might make a proper post about defending Jack in the future, but this is all I have for now. Thanks for reading!