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All of the quotes below describe and paint a clear image of the character Jack Merridew form the novel, “Lord of the Flies.” They show that Jack is tall, thin and bony, with long red hair, light blue eyes, sandy eyebrows, dark sunburned skin, and brown freckles covering his entire body and face.  He wears minimal clothing, only his knife-belt around his waist holding up his tattered shorts and flower garlands.  He also carries a spear with him at all times and has his face painted with red, white, or green clay, as well as black charcoal at times.  He is a natural leader with a hunter instinct, so that he resembles a primitive tribe leader.

 

Quotes:

1 – “He was tall, thin, and bony: and his hair was red…His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness.  Out of his face stared two light blue eyes.” (Golding 25 PDF)

• This shows Jack’s physical appearance: height, hair, eyes.

 

2 – “His sandy hair, considerably longer than it had been when they dropped in, was
lighter now; and his bare back was a mass of dark freckles and peeling sunburn.” (Golding 66 PDF)

• This shows that Jack has long hair and now has a darker skin tone as well as a sunburn covering his body.

 

3 – “Jack planned his new face. He made one cheek and one eye-socket white, then he rubbed red over the other half of his face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from right ear to left jaw.” (Golding 89 PDF)

• This describes the face paint that Jack wears on a regular basis afterwards.

 

4 – “Demoniac figures with faces of white and red and green rushed out howling, so that the littluns fled screaming. Out of the corner of his eye, Ralph saw Piggy running. Two figures rushed at the fire and he prepared to defend himself but they grabbed half-burnt branches and raced away along the beach. The three others stood still, watching Ralph; and he saw that the tallest of them, stark naked save for paint and a belt, was Jack.” (Golding 201 PDF)

• This shows the clothes that Jack wears and that he keeps his face painted.

 

5 – “Ralph picked out Jack easily, even at that distance, tall, red-haired, and inevitably leading the procession.” (Golding 96 PDF)

• This shows Jack’s height, and hair colour again as well as that he is a natural leader.

 

6 – “He bent down, took up a double handful of lukewarm water and rubbed the mess from his face. Freckles and sandy eyebrows appeared.” (Golding 88 PDF)

• This gives additional details about Jack’s facial features.

 

7 – “Jack’s face went so white that the freckles showed as clear, brown flecks. He licked his lips and remained standing.” (Golding 145 PDF)

• This gives more details on Jack’s freckles.

 

8 – “Instead, he danced a step or two, then remembered his dignity and stood still, grinning. He noticed blood on his hands and grimaced distastefully, looked for something on which to clean them, then wiped them on his shorts and laughed.” (Golding 97 PDF)

• This shows that Jack just recently killed and is dancing because of the thrill of it.

 

9 – “Before the party had started a great log had been dragged into the center of the lawn and Jack, painted and garlanded, sat there like an idol.” (Golding 213 PDF)

• This shows that Jack is a sort of deity to the other boys and resembles a primitive tribe leader, painted face and garlands.

 

10 – “Jack leapt on to the sand. ‘Do our dance! Come on! Dance!’ He ran stumbling through the thick sand to the open space of rock beyond the fire. Between the flashes of lightning the air was dark and terrible; and the boys followed him, clamorously.” (Golding 217 PDF)

• This shows that Jack is a leader and that whatever he says the boys do.

 

11 – “A sharpened stick about five feet long trailed from his right hand, and except for a pair of tattered shorts held up by his knife-belt he was naked.” (Golding 66/67 PDF)

• This shows that Jack always has a spear in hand and only wears his knife-belt with no other clothing.