Jack and Roger

Jack and Roger

Jack and Roger are two allegorical characters in the story: "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding. They are both characterized as killers but they are very different from one another. The two young boys start off with the same intentions but as the story progresses we begin to see the differences in their personalities. While Jack's power hunger grows, Roger's sadistic nature also grows as well.


The character of Jack is an obvious id, he is a power hungry ruthless killer that would do anything for power. Jack is not always a killer, the events on the island lead up to his behavior. For example, when Ralph, Simon and Jack are in the forest and they see the pig for the first time Jack does not kill it no doubt from the taboo of killing. The second time he meets the pig he kills it with his knife and this is only the beginning of the change in his behavior. Jack's wanting of meat turns into obvious bloodlust later on in the novel, for example he kills the mother pig without even thinking if it was wrong: "Kill the pig, cut her throat, bash her head in!". Jack's decapitation of the dead mother pig proves that he is no longer the Jack that could not kill the pig but a much more blood-thirsty one that only wants to kill and not be rescued. Although Jack is not satanic like Roger, he loses all sense of reason, he is nevertheless a killer. Jack tries his best to do what is best for the boys but his power hunger actually makes the situation much worse: "The chief snatched one of the few remaining spears and poked Sam in the ribs" (P.182) Jack's own name has even become a taboo, he has almost god-like power and uses it for 'evil'. If it were not for the rescue of the boys, Jack's power-hunger and bloodlust would have eventually gotten them all killed.


The character of Roger is also an id but he is a satanic killer. Unlike Jack Roger's bloodlust can never be satisfied. He is a brutal killer and a perfect example of this is when he kills Piggy with the giant rock. Roger also has a mind of his own, he is a free spirit that does not follow orders. For example, Jack never ordered him to drop the rock on Piggy, it was purely Roger that did it on his own free will. He is a sick and twisted individual, another example of this is the way he brutally kills the mother pig. He would also show no hesitation to take a human life, not only does he kill Piggy but he also sharpens a stick at both ends for Ralph so he was obviously going to do to him what he did to the mother pig. Roger is just a worse version of Jack and like Jack too control of Ralph's power he would have taken control of Jack's power with an even more sadistic culture then the one that Jack has created.


Jack and Roger are both killers, one more ruthless and power-hungry then the other. Ralph lost his power to a person more sadistic, what is to say that Jack will not lose his power to Roger? and who would have been next after Roger? eventually the culture would become so sadistic and ruthless that death would be a regular event. Jack and Roger are both sadistic killers and one might argue that it does not matter if you are a killer or a ruthless killer because either way you are still a killer but one can also argue: "Do you honestly think that the boys would be the same is it were Roger and not Jack that became chief?