Both Macbeth and Jack hide behind masks, in Jack's case literally, and in Macbeth's case, metaphorically. In chapter 4 of Lord of the Flies , Jack creates his own mask out of clay and charcoal, and when he sees his reflection in the water, he sees not himself but "an awesome stranger." Jack's mask liberates him "from shame and self-consciousness," and from behind the mask he indulges his most primitive, animalistic impulses. He allows those impulses to consume him, and eventually becomes violent, sadistic and psychopathic. Macbeth, on the other hand, has no literal mask to hide behind, but creates false appearances to deceive and distract the people around him. Lady Macbeth, in act 1, scene 5, instructs him to "look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under't." And later on, in act one, scene seven, Macbeth says to himself, that he must with a "False face...
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. . . hide what the false heart doth know." For a while, Macbeth manages to deceive enough people to hold on to the power he acquired after murdering King Duncan, but he too, like Jack, becomes more and more violent, and more and more mad.
The predilection for violence is another characteristic shared by both Macbeth and Jack, and it seems to come naturally to both. In act 1, scene 1, Macbeth is described as a brave warrior, fighting for his king, carving through the enemy ranks with his sword. And when he meets on the battlefield the enemy, Macdonwald, he carves him "from the nave to the chaps," and then fixes "his head upon the battlements." Jack, meanwhile, at the beginning of Lord of the Flies, is keen to hunt and brandishes his knife as a symbol of his capacity for violence. Both Macbeth and Jack become more and more accustomed to violence (used by both as a means by which to get and keep power) so that eventually they become desensitized to it.
A third, perhaps more surprising characteristic shared by Macbeth and Jack is, at least initially, compassion. In chapter 1 of Lord of the Flies, Jack can't bring himself to kill the pig, "because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh." In Macbeth, it is Lady Macbeth who convinces her husband to kill King Duncan, after he almost tries to reason himself out of the act. Lady Macbeth, in act one, scene five, acknowledges that her husband's nature is "too full of the milk of human kindness," and takes it upon herself to "pour (her) spirits in (his) ear." Thus, both Jack and Macbeth do evidently exhibit at least traces of compassion. Macbeth is talked out of his by his wife, while Jack's is so fragile and weak as to be easily dominated by his liberated, more violent ego.
Jack Merridew from Golding's Lord of the Flies and Macbeth from Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth are similar in that they allow their need for power and control to override their good judgement. Jack does not agree with Ralph's leadership, and instead of trying to use the forum of discussion through the conch to solve his conflict with Ralph, Jack decides to break away from the greater group of boys to do things his way. As more and more boys leave Ralph to follow Jack, Jack becomes increasingly greedy for power and control. The boys must obey his every command or suffer severe consequences. Similarly, Macbeth's intense desire for power and control motivate him to murder Duncan to take the throne. Once king, Macbeth uses his power to manipulate members of the kingdom and to threaten people to do evil deeds on his behalf. Macbeth cannot get people to follow him in the way the Duncan was able to do, so he tries to force people to be loyal to him by using fear. In these ways, Jack and Macbeth are similar.