When we first meet Jack, he is already a totalitarian
leader. He demands his choir stay in formation until Simon passes out. Later in the
novel, he rules through fear. He uses Roger as his enforcer, but Jack makes the rules
and demands they be followed. Because of this one could argue that Jack has not really
changed at all because of the setting. Jack was peeved when
Simon fainted at the beginning of their time on the island
and only allowed the choir to sit down because he realized he would face mutiny if he
did not. This giving in to what they wanted helped secure his position as leader, he
recognized by giving in the choir was thankful to him. He did not make this move out of
a humanitarian effort. Therefore it could be argued that he never showed humanity. If
you hold this belief, you could reasonably argue that Jack did not change at all because
of the setting.
On the other
hand, one could also argue that Jack did have humanity. One could argue he was not a
totalitarian leader at the beginning of the novel, before being stranded on the
island, but rather a little boy who was scared and trying
to keep some semblance of normalicy in a very abnormal situation. Keeping the choir in
line was his way of trying to control a world that was spinning out of control (with
both the war outside the
island, and the fear of being through a plane crash and
left without adult supervision). He showed humanity by letting the choir sit down when
they arrived with the other boys despite his opposite treatment of Simon, which was
obviously a common treatment thus also a semblance of normalicy. He also showed humanity
by his inability to kill the first pig. If you take this second stance, then the
setting had a great impact on Jack. Being forced to live
without the routine that he clung so desperately to (as with the pig dance) caused Jack
to degenerate. At first, this was a slow change, but once it happened, it quickened
because of the effect of the
setting.
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