Lord of the Flies

Maddy Malloy

Jack’s behavior proves that “crazy” behavior does not happen randomly -- it is a natural reaction to emotional and stressful situations. If you are put under a lot of stress in an unresourceful environment like the jungle in Lord of the Flies, you will become distressed and act out like Jack has done. Throughout the book, Jack has become emotionally distressed and acted out in violent ways such as killing pigs in a heinous way. Anyone who sees someone that is involved in violent actions, they will automatically register it as that person is crazy or out of their mind. The way society runs and how people react to it determines the madness of people; along with stress contributing to the violent actions, which in this case is Jack acting out by viciously killing pigs.

In the show Naked and Afraid, you are placed on an island with absolutely nothing with just your brain trying to tell you how to survive. Along with trying to keep up with surviving, you do not have any provided food or water. This adds on to stress because these are the regular necessities to survive everyday. As the show comes to an end, you can see that the once nourished and healthy faces of the contestants, are now the hungry and worn down people that had participated in the game. “Thompson-Nelson is seen throwing a tantrum and verbally threatening Lautakoski. Producers for the show intervened and asked Thompson-Nelson to "tap out" or withdraw, which, according to Thompson-Nelson, was a first for the show.” This is an example of what happened to a contestant due to not eating properly in seven days which drove her to go a little insane and lashed out at another contestant; you need the right amount of nutrients everyday, and be in a stable environment to function normally, or you will become violent just how this contestant has become.

At this point in the book of Lord of the Flies, Jack lashes out at Piggy and calls him “Fatty”, and even physically abuses him. “This from Piggy, and the wails of agreement from some of the hunters, drove Jack to violence. The bolting look came into his blue eyes. He took a step, and able to last to hit someone, struck his fist into Piggy's stomach. Piggy sat down with a grunt. Jack stood over him. His voice was vicious with humiliation." You would, would you? Fatty!"... Jack smacked Piggy's head.” (pg. 71) Like in Naked and Afraid, the contestant had lashed out at her teammate, verbally abused them, and then quickly after was told to tap out. In the Lord of the Flies, this moment represents another moment  in which his innocence is slowly decaying from him; lashing out at his close friend, verbally and physically abusing him.

Going into more depth about people who act out in violent ways, contestant Honora Bowen threw all of her tools to help her and her team survive into a river. When placed on the show, Naked and Afraid, you are stripped of your clothes and can only take one thing with you. In this case, Bowen had two other men with her which made the group have three items to carry onto their island. These three items included a knife, machete and a water bottle; three essential items to help her and her team survive. This compares to Lord of the Flies when Jack and his friends got into an argument and Jack acted out in a violent way; Bowen had gotten into an argument with two of her teammates, and as a result, Bowmen acted out and threw important items to survive in the river. Although it was not as violent as what Jack was going to do, Bowmen still acted out by doing this.  

At this point in Chapter 3 of Lord of the Flies, the kids are hungry and want food; specifically pig or any sort of tasty, substantial food at this point. The conversation in this scene happens between Jack and Ralph, and quickly spins into an enraged conversation because of how Jack responds to him. “Jack Flushed. "We want Meat" ...The Madness came into his eyes again. ...." You wouldn't care to help with the shelters, i suppose?" " We want meat" " And we don't get it" " But I shall! Next time! I've got to get a barb on this spear! We wounded a pig and the spear fell out. If we could only make barbs-" (pg 51-52) In this quote we can infer that what Jack is saying is considered violent and this is where his personality is similar to what we would consider as insane. Jack comes up with other violent ways in which to kill the pig that they wanted for food, which hints that Jack is too violent. Like in the show, Naked and Afraid, Bowmen lashed out at her teammates, and threw all of their items into a river.

Crazy behavior does not happen randomly. From my two examples of Naked and Afraid, it is clear that without the regular resources that are provided for us in everyday life impact us if we are without them for too long. Another example that ties into this is when people get headaches from not eating for a long time and this ends up affecting their mood; they lash out at people. This is similar to my previous examples, except that being malnourished for several days would intensifies people’s actions, such as lashing out at close friends and teammates. The surroundings and lack of nutrients a person needs is what really affects others who act out in violent ways.

WORKS CITED

1. Cummings, Tommy. “Controversial Texas Contestant on 'Naked and Afraid' Upset with How She Was Portrayed on Show.” GuideLive, 12 June 2016, www.guidelive.com/reality-tv/2016/06/10/controversial-texas-contestant-naked-afraid-laura-thompson-nelson.