Jack competes with Ralph for leadership of the group the very day the boys arrive and find themselves on the island. He is over-ambitious. He despises Piggy because of his ability to reason and Ralph because of his charisma. Jack does not want to follow protocol as they have all agreed. Rather, he is more inclined by nature to rule with force and give orders as he wishes without being questioned or seeking the others' views. Jack is violent and blood-thirsty by nature and makes a reckless display of these in public. Jack, together with Roger, masterminds a reign of terror on the island. He trains the boys to become savages. Jack's love for power crowds out his thought of rescue. He concludes that they may not be rescued and the best course is to enjoy the game of survival. Thus he breaks away from the boys, and sets up his own community, where he can be the leader and dictate to his boys.
Jack wins the boy's support by creating avenues for them to have fun as he involves them in games and killing pigs for food. He also makes the boys dance which results in the accidental killing of Simon who is mistaken for the dreaded beast. Eventually the conch and assembly become ineffectual and the island becomes a place for the survival of the fittest. Piggy's pair of spectacles is stolen; and in the course of attempting to retrieve it, Piggy gets killed by Roger. Ralph is marked for death, as he is smoked out of his hiding, before being rescued by the naval officer.