Jack Merridew MBTI Personality Type
Personality
What personality type is Jack Merridew? Jack Merridew is an ESTP personality type in MBTI, 8w7 - so/sp - 837 in Enneagram, SLOEN in Big 5, SLE in Socionics.
ESTJ? IMO Jack seems a lot like an ESTP. Jack and Ralph disagree ultimately because of Jack's desire to hunt and immediately interact with the physical world (Se). He fails to see the long-term implications of his actions, which is why he prioritizes hunting over things like building shelters or maintaining the fire. When he comes up with the idea of using face paint, he is restless to put his idea into action. Jack keeps saying that the boys need to hunt because they "need meat." To him, hunting is what logically is the best thing to do (Ti) in the moment (Se). Ralph's idea of keeping the fire alive to get them rescued does not quite resonate with Jack, which is why he finds himself disregarding it. "This from Piggy, and the wails of agreement from some of the hunters, drove Jack to violence...his voice was vicious with humiliation" (71). Before he paints his face, we can see that Jack often turns red of embarrassment, such as when the others vote for Ralph to be chief instead of him. Jack is ego-defensive, negatively using Fe by appearing to be confident, even if he does secretly desire validation from the other boys. Jack proves that he can get physically aggressive when his image is threatened. When he apologizes to Ralph about the fire, it is for the sake of getting the hunters' "admiration at this handsome behavior. Clearly they were of the opinion that Jack had done the decent thing...and Ralph, obscurely, in the wrong" (72). Furthermore, Jack shows that he does believe in the beast, at least, a little bit (Ni). On page 37, he says that he and his hunters will make sure the beast doesn't exist when they go hunting, and that they will kill it if they do come across it. Let me know what you think; I am open to counter arguments!
Biography
Jack Merridew is the main antagonist in Sir William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies. He battled through civilization, morality, and order, even when it resulted in his descent to madness, painting himself dramatically. Described to be physically unattractive but played by Tom Chapin, Jack is the tallest out of the boys, bony, but strongly built, sandy red-haired, freckled, and blue-eyed. The strong-willed, egomaniacal Jack is the novel’s primary representative of the instinct of savagery, violence, and the desire for power—in short, the anti-thesis of Ralph. From the beginning of the novel, Jack desires power above all other things. He is furious when he loses the election to Ralph and continually pushes the boundaries of his subordinate role in the group. Early on, Jack retains the sense of moral propriety and behaviour that society instilled in him—in fact, in school, he was the leader of the choir-boys.
