Lord of the Flies Essay

Statement Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the prosecution will prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the defendant, Jack Merridew, is guilty of two counts of murder. We will show that Mr. Merridew was fully responsible for the deaths of Simon and Piggy when the boys were stranded on an island without adult supervision. We will show that Jack quickly became a sadistic savage who believed that the rules and laws of civilization did not apply to him. He constantly fought against and disobeyed Ralph who was the democratically elected leader of the boys. He valued killing above all other activities and constantly tried to convince the other boys to follow him and not listen to Ralph. Although the circumstances surrounding Simon’s death were accidental, the prosecution will show that Jack’s behavior caused the boys to act as killers. Jack ruled his boys through fear and he made them follow him because they believed that he could protect them. We will show that Jack knew that the beast was not real but he pretended it was so that all the boys would continue to be afraid. One of Jack’s strategies to make the boys feel braver was that he created the death chant, â€Å"kill the beast, cut his throat, spill his blood. † Also Jack created the dance where a boy pretended to be a pig while all the other boys stood around him and pretended to spear him to death. It was in the middle of this crazed dance that Simon stumbled out from the jungle and all the boys fell upon him and killed him. The prosecution will also present evidence that shows that Jack was responsible for Piggy’s death. Shortly after the boys crashed, Jack broke Piggy’s glasses making Piggy even more helpless than he already was. Then Jack raided Ralph’s camp and stole Piggy’s glasses. This final act was a death sentence for Piggy because without his specs he could not see the rock tumbling down the mountain towards him that killed him. The prosecution will also show that from the very beginning Jack’s hatred of Piggy influenced all the boys. Jack hated Piggy because Piggy was fat and physically weak. Jack believed in the law of the jungle, which states that only the strong survive. Jack makes up the chant â€Å"kill the pig† and this chant always causes the boys to be frenzied, crazed, unthinking savages. â€Å"Kill the pig† could be seen as being close to â€Å"kill the piggy† so it’s not a surprise when Piggy is finally killed. Piggy wants Ralph to remain the leader because he knows that he is protected and won’t be hurt by Jack as long as Ralph is the leader. When Piggy is killed, Ralph is no longer the leader and after Piggy dies Jack screams â€Å"that’s what you’ll get† and he throws his spear at Ralph. Questions for Witnesses Ralph 1. When Jack threw his spear at you and then hunted you, did you think that he was going to kill you? 2. Were you afraid of Jack? 3. Was Jack a bully? Sam and Eric 1. Did Jack’s boys ever hurt you? 2. Were you afraid of Jack? 3. When Jack kidnapped you and tied you up did you want to be part of his tribe? Piggy’s Auntie 1. How well could Piggy see without his glasses? 2. If Piggy had been wearing his specs could he have seen the rock coming towards him and gotten out of the way? 3. Since Jack stole his glasses do you believe that Jack is responsible for Piggy’s death? Naval Officer 1. When you arrived on the beach what was Ralph doing? 2. How did all the boys look? 3. Do you think that they were playing a game or was the hunt real? Roger 1. What do you admire about Jack? 2. When you pushed the rock down the mountain and killed Piggy how did you feel? 3. When you were torturing Wilfred and Sam and Eric did you believe that this was wrong? Jack’s Parents 1. Did Jack ever get in trouble at school for being a bully? 2. When Jack played with other boys what kinds of games did he like to play? 3. Did Jack ever steal anything? Percival 1. Were you afraid of Jack? 2. Why did you choose to join Jack’s tribe? 3. Do you think that Ralph or Jack was the better leader? Maurice 1. Why did you choose to go with Jack to steal Piggy’s glasses? 2. Why didn’t you just ask Piggy if you could borrow his glasses? How did you feel when you knocked over the littluns’ sandcastles? Robert 1. When you pretended to be the pig, were you hurt? 2. Were you afraid during this activity? 3. Were you afraid of Jack? Closing Statement Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, we believe that the constitution has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the defendant, Jack Merridew, is a sadistic bully without conscience or regard for the laws and appropriate behavior that are part of civilized society. Jack chose to be a savage criminal on this island. He disobeyed Ralph’s rules that provided structure and order. Ralph was the elected leader and Jack intentionally broke away from this group and formed his own tribe of savage hunters. He ruled this group through fear and physical violence. The boys of Jack’s tribe paid no attention to morals or good behavior. They simply did what they wanted to do and never stopped to say to themselves, â€Å"Is this a good way to behave? † or â€Å"is this right? † From the beginning Jack was a boy who was obsessed with hunting and killing pigs. Then he became a complete savage and the sport of hunting pigs became boring. He needed more excitement so he invented the sport of hunting and killing human beings. You the jury have the responsibility to render a verdict of guilty for two counts of murder. Jack is responsible for the deaths of Simon and Piggy. It is true that he did not push the rock down the mountain that killed Piggy. But he was responsible for creating a tribe of boys who no longer had good moral behavior and who didn’t value human life. It is true that Jack alone that Jack did not kill Simon. But he was responsible for creating the frenzied crazed behavior through his chant and dance that led to Simon’s death. Jack is guilty of murder. The prosecution rests.