Sometimes people get jealous and we turn into some kind of unpleasant beast when we don’t get something we want. It is a fact of life that this happens to everyone, no matter who you are or what you do. William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” and Nick Jonas’s “Jealous” have this similar theme in common. Although they are directed toward different people or ideas, it’s the same concept. In “Lord of the Flies” Jack is constantly thirsty for power and attention. He does anything to take it away from Ralph and have it for himself. In “Jealous”, Jonas talks about his jealousy toward other men interacting with his girlfriend. In both, “Lord of the Flies,” and “Jealous,” we learn that in life, people change their attitude, motives or actions because of jealousy and their fear of not having or being something.
In the beginning of “Lord of the Flies,” Ralph gets chosen to be chief because the group was drawn to “his size, and attractive appearance”. In the book, Jack was described as - “His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness.” Jack might be insecure about his appearance because Ralph is more attractive and, therefore, has a better chance of being admired in the group. It’s true that people tend to listen to people who are attractive to them. In “Jealous,” some of the lyrics “‘Cause you’re too sexy, beautiful, and everybody wants a taste, that’s why, I still get jealous” Jonas is referring to his feelings toward his girlfriend, this may be the complete opposite context to “Lord of the Flies” but they are similar in the cause for their jealousy. Because Ralph is more attractive, more people have the urge to listen to him which makes Jack jealous and a bit insecure about himself. He fears that the group won’t listen to him because of his appearance so instead he uses fear to help himself come to power.
In the middle, Jack’s jealousy grows more and he tries to get the boys under his power through fear. “Slowly the red drained from Jack’s cheeks, then came back with a painful rush. He licked his lips and turned his face at an angle so that his gaze avoided the embarrassment of linking with another's eyes.” This quote comes from when Jack decided to leave the group and is asking if anyone wants to join him. The quote states that the red from his cheeks drained, then came back. This is significant because it shows that he was afraid to voice his opinion to the thought of what the others reaction would be, after all, he’s only human. The “painful rush” came back because he realised that no one wanted to follow him. He was ashamed of himself that he proposed something and no one agreed.
Some people might argue that it was Jack’s fault for being cruel which is why no one wanted to join him. But what the author is trying to say is that maybe the people who are cruel or not nice is because they are misunderstood and want attention. It doesn’t always mean they were bad to begin with. He wasn’t always jealous, which means he wasn’t always a savage. He just feels left out. After being a bit ignored for a while, he starts to become more vicious. In “Jealous,” Nick Jonas felt as though he was getting ignored as well because all the attention was on his girlfriend. “I’m puffing my chest, I’m getting red in the face,” This shows what both Nick Jonas and Jack felt with no attention on them. They both wanted to seem like an alpha male so that people would listen to them so when Ralph is chief, Jack wants to seem more powerful and more like the ‘rightful’, tough leader that the group deserves.
In the end, Jack’s Jealousy gets out of control and he becomes a corrupt savage. Over the course of the story, he has gotten fed up with being misunderstood and the extra leader that he goes crazy and becomes barbaric. His jealousy made him so insane to a point where he is homicidal and wants Ralph dead. He went from an innocent little choir boy, wanting some attention, to a savage boy seeking revenge. Some of the lyrics in Nick Jonas’s “Jealous” - “It’s my right to be hellish, I still get jealous,” This is significant because it uses the word ‘right’. Is it really a right to be hellish? Jack was a bit under appreciated to begin with so maybe being jealous was okay. But turning that jealousy into something monstrous and hellish was a bit overdramatic. Jack wanted more and more. He wanted more attention than what he already had. Jealousy can spiral into something out of control if it is not dealt with.
In “Lord of the Flies” Jacks insecurity turns into jealousy and hatred toward Ralph throughout the book. His inability to capture everyone's attention changed him into a selfish, bloodthirsty beast. In addition, “Jealous,” also describes the narrator or singer (Nick Jonas) turning into something ‘hellish’ because of his jealousy. Both character/singer’s jealousy sprouted from their fear of not having something they desperately desired. It just proves that sometimes humans can go to extremes when they care or want something they can’t have.
Showing posts with label Jack. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jack. Show all posts
Monday, March 21, 2016
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Jealousy: Books and Real Life
In a perfect world, people would all get along in harmony. Everyone would be happy with what they have, and everyone all gets along. But in this world that we live in, some people are jealous of what other people have. Everyone is jealous of someone else. That boy living in the better house. That co-worker who makes more money than you. That leader which everyone listens to, but not you. Jealously resides in everyone. In “Lord of the Flies”, a group of boys are stuck on an island, but a boy named Jack is jealous that he doesn’t have the power he was always used to getting. Similarly, in “All Summer in a Day”, the group of children are jealous that they haven’t seen the sun, yet a child called Margot has. In both “Lord of the Flies” and “All Summer in a Day”, they show the contrast of jealously, and its varying results.
In both stories, the children and Jack start to become jealous. Even both of these books explore this idea of jealousy, the way they are portrayed and how it escalated to the state that it is are different.
In “Lord of the Flies”, when the boys are on the island, a chief was to be picked between Jack and Ralph. Other than Jack’s choirboys, the unanimous vote for Ralph as leader was the start of the problem. When deciding on who should be the chief, Jack immediately says with “simple arrogance, ‘because [he was the] chapter chorister and head boy.” (Golding, 22) Since Jack was what seems like to be born into a leadership role, he doesn’t seem to understand the importance of a chief during survival situations. All of Jack’s leadership roles before were merely for the point of having a leader. Ralph is a sympathetic ruler who understands the group of boys, and has the compassionate personality to help the boys when they are in need, while Jack, on the other hand, is the opposite.
In “All Summer in a Day”, the jealously from the other children started when Margot, as she often does, talks about the sun. Margot was the only child that remembered what the sun looked like, as she only came to Venus five years ago from Earth. The other children are jealous of the luxury Margot had to see the sun, and often mistreat her because of this. Margot is staring at the rain behind the window when she was shoved by William. But “she did not move; rather she let herself be moved only by him.” (Bradbury, 2). This shows that this has happened to Margot before and she has accepted the abuse that the kids give her. This could all stop if Margot stopped talking about the sun, but she believes so strongly in the sun that she was willing to take the abuse, just so she could prove them wrong about the sun and its feeling. But how jealously came to Margot was different from Jack’s, as Margot’s was self-inflicted, as she constantly talked about the sun, which probably led to the gradual build up of jealousy from the other children.
As both texts progress, the after effects of the jealousy is shown. In “Lord of the Flies”, Jack starts to manipulate the boys to join him out of jealousy. He uses tactics such as fear, violence, fun and threats to make the boys on the island follow him. Almost immediately after Ralph sets a task for the boys, Jack immediately goes off with his choirboys to go and hunt. After Jack comes back from hunting, he exclaims that “[he’s] killed a pig - [and he] stole up on them - [and they] got in a circle” (Golding, 69). This shows how jealousy has lead to a rebellious attitude from Jack, and decides to go against the grain. His jealousy eventually leads to the overthrow of Ralph, and he takes over the mountain top. The tribe that he has created now from the fear of the beast that the boys had. As it escalates even more, it leads to the death of Simon and Piggy.
While on the other hand, in “All Summer in a Day”, the jealousy of the children lead to the torturous scene of them pushing Margot into the closet. The children “surged about her, caught her and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then crying.” (Bradbury, 3) The jealousy of the children led to the imprisonment of Margot, where she is trapped and unable to see the sun. Even though Margot is trapped and it seems like it is the children who do it, the book sway to the fact that Margot is the reason why this happens. As stated earlier, this self inflicted jealousy from the children is because of Margot, as she always talks about the sun. This makes it believe that the author is trying to show that it wasn’t the children’s fault that Margot was thrown into the closet, but her own fault.
In real life, everyone is jealous of someone else. As seen in these texts,, everyone has different ways of coping with this jealousy. Other than hurting and abusing those who caused the jealousy, other solutions could be made. Often voicing your anger is a good first step for people. Both Jack and the children, they internalized this jealousy, therefore it built up to the disastrous events caused by them. The large concept of jealousy can often be overcome with the help of others, but without consultation it creates an extremely large problem.
In both stories, the children and Jack start to become jealous. Even both of these books explore this idea of jealousy, the way they are portrayed and how it escalated to the state that it is are different.
In “Lord of the Flies”, when the boys are on the island, a chief was to be picked between Jack and Ralph. Other than Jack’s choirboys, the unanimous vote for Ralph as leader was the start of the problem. When deciding on who should be the chief, Jack immediately says with “simple arrogance, ‘because [he was the] chapter chorister and head boy.” (Golding, 22) Since Jack was what seems like to be born into a leadership role, he doesn’t seem to understand the importance of a chief during survival situations. All of Jack’s leadership roles before were merely for the point of having a leader. Ralph is a sympathetic ruler who understands the group of boys, and has the compassionate personality to help the boys when they are in need, while Jack, on the other hand, is the opposite.
In “All Summer in a Day”, the jealously from the other children started when Margot, as she often does, talks about the sun. Margot was the only child that remembered what the sun looked like, as she only came to Venus five years ago from Earth. The other children are jealous of the luxury Margot had to see the sun, and often mistreat her because of this. Margot is staring at the rain behind the window when she was shoved by William. But “she did not move; rather she let herself be moved only by him.” (Bradbury, 2). This shows that this has happened to Margot before and she has accepted the abuse that the kids give her. This could all stop if Margot stopped talking about the sun, but she believes so strongly in the sun that she was willing to take the abuse, just so she could prove them wrong about the sun and its feeling. But how jealously came to Margot was different from Jack’s, as Margot’s was self-inflicted, as she constantly talked about the sun, which probably led to the gradual build up of jealousy from the other children.
As both texts progress, the after effects of the jealousy is shown. In “Lord of the Flies”, Jack starts to manipulate the boys to join him out of jealousy. He uses tactics such as fear, violence, fun and threats to make the boys on the island follow him. Almost immediately after Ralph sets a task for the boys, Jack immediately goes off with his choirboys to go and hunt. After Jack comes back from hunting, he exclaims that “[he’s] killed a pig - [and he] stole up on them - [and they] got in a circle” (Golding, 69). This shows how jealousy has lead to a rebellious attitude from Jack, and decides to go against the grain. His jealousy eventually leads to the overthrow of Ralph, and he takes over the mountain top. The tribe that he has created now from the fear of the beast that the boys had. As it escalates even more, it leads to the death of Simon and Piggy.
While on the other hand, in “All Summer in a Day”, the jealousy of the children lead to the torturous scene of them pushing Margot into the closet. The children “surged about her, caught her and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then crying.” (Bradbury, 3) The jealousy of the children led to the imprisonment of Margot, where she is trapped and unable to see the sun. Even though Margot is trapped and it seems like it is the children who do it, the book sway to the fact that Margot is the reason why this happens. As stated earlier, this self inflicted jealousy from the children is because of Margot, as she always talks about the sun. This makes it believe that the author is trying to show that it wasn’t the children’s fault that Margot was thrown into the closet, but her own fault.
In real life, everyone is jealous of someone else. As seen in these texts,, everyone has different ways of coping with this jealousy. Other than hurting and abusing those who caused the jealousy, other solutions could be made. Often voicing your anger is a good first step for people. Both Jack and the children, they internalized this jealousy, therefore it built up to the disastrous events caused by them. The large concept of jealousy can often be overcome with the help of others, but without consultation it creates an extremely large problem.
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