Cult Mentality in the Lord of the Flies

A cult is defined as a small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister. There are thousands of cults around the world today and many are bizarre and strange. One of the strangest things about cults is the mentality of their members. In William Golding's The Lord of the Flies, the group of boys progress into a cult and it can be argued Jack transforms into a dangerous cult leader.

 Psychology Today recently published an article about the characteristics of cult leaders (https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/spycatcher/201208/dangerous-cult-leaders). Former FBI Agent Joe Navarro dealt with cults in his career and goes on to describe how cult leaders are identified as dangerous. He says all major cult leaders are "individually narcissistic", or believe they are very special. Jack Merridew fits this profile. Throughout the book he stands out as a natural hunter, disregarding the ideas decided at the assemblies and focusing on his hunting. Jack thinks he is special, he is above everyone else because he is a killer. Navarro goes on to describe other characteristics of dangerous cult leaders.

These characteristics include but are not limited to: is arrogant and haughty in his behavior or attitude, has an exaggerated sense of power (entitlement) that allows him to bend rules and break laws, and has a certain coldness or aloofness about him that makes others worry about who this person really is and or whether they really know him.

Jack is arrogant when he defies Ralph and bullies Piggy. He steals Piggy's glasses and makes fun of him because he know there is nothing Piggy will do about it. Jack also feels entitled when he goes hunting and splits off from the group later in the book. Finally, Jack does have a coldness about him. After Piggy or Simon is killed he shows no remorse. Jack brutally kills the pigs and becomes obsessed with killing as the book progresses. All of these behaviors make Jack fit the profile of a dangerous cult leader. This is obvious as he gets them to nearly wipe out the other faction at the end of the book.
Billy Stoddard