Firstly, Ralph and Jack have different and conflicting personalities. Jack clearly has an aggressive personality, as he tries to argue back to defend himself, as seen from the passage that he said that he “let them go” and that he “had to go on”. Also, Jack has a great desire to hunt, as the “madness came into his eyes” as he responded to Ralph’s question. Also the passage stated that in his response, he tried to “convey his compulsion to track down and kill”, this, followed by the fact that it was “swallowing him up” reinforces the point that Jack was obsessed with hunting and would do anything as an excuse to hunt, also seen from the point when Ralph asks him to help with the shelters, and he replies with “We want meat”.

Ralph on the other hand, has a much more composed personality, easily seen from the way that he handled the argument. Also, Ralph is pragmatic, as he does not care that Jack put in effort to try and get the meat. This is seen when Jack repeats throughout the argument that he “might” kill. However, after Jack says all this, he responds with the truth that Jack “[had not] yet” gotten meat for them. Also, he makes great use of his oratorical skills to drive home the point to Jack that they had not gotten the meat by turning Jack’s excuse not to build the shelters against him. The conflict would not have been so bad if Ralph had not been so good at speaking.

Secondly, Ralph and Jack have conflicting priorities. Jack sees hunting as the most important element. As stated earlier, he uses hunting as an excuse not to help out with building the shelter. As when Ralph tells him that “you (Jack) wouldn’t care to help with the shelters’, he responds with the fact that the boys “want meat”. Through the use of excuses and also the term “might”, we can conclude that Jack handled the conflict in a very defensive manner as he knows that fault would be found in him and is trying to minimise the impact that this would do to his reputation.

Ralph on the other hand, sees building shelters as the top priority. However, Ralph also thinks that hunting is important, which was why he made the choir hunters. Also, at the start of the conflict, he said “We want meat”, showing that he sees meat as something that is important for survival, and is disappointed that Jack does not return with meat and tries to make excuses for his own folly. Ralph handled the conclusion in a very calm and composed manner and he used this to effectively tell Jack that meat was important, and that he should not make excuses for his own failures. His feelings, which are portrayed in the “hidden passion” in his voice, also add weight to this.

Lastly, the supporters of each activity are also important. The choir supported Jack, but they came back empty handed “hours” before Jack and were “swimming”. This gave Ralph another point to use against Jack. However, Ralph expresses his discontent towards the attitude of the litteuns, who support him, to Jack, telling Jack that only Simon has been helping him to build the huts.

In conclusion, the conflict between Ralph and Jack and the “antagonism” between them was caused most importantly by their different views to each others’ top priority. However, their conflicting personalities and the actions of those who supported them also added to this “antagonism”.

Jack resents Ralph as the authority.

When Ralph was elected as the “chief”, Jack was shocked as he expected to defeat Ralph in the election, as the “freckles on [his] face disappeared with a blush of mortification”. However, Jack can see that Piggy is the main source of ideas for Ralph, and takes advantage of the fact that Ralph does not chose Piggy to follow the boys on the expedition to bully Piggy, telling Piggy that “they [did not] want him”. This could be in an attempt to make Piggy less loyal to Ralph, as he resentful towards Ralph’s position, and if Piggy should not provide Ralph with good ideas, Ralph would not be a better ruler than he was and he would be able to take over.

Also, Jack expresses his discontent towards Ralph through disrespect of the conch, as when Ralph suggests making a fire, half the boys get on their feet. Jack then clamoured around them and went with them up the mountain. This shows that Jack has realised that he needs to win back the popularity of the rest of the boys, and shows it by leading them towards the fire, as if the idea was suggested by him.

When Jack failed to kill the piglet, Ralph mocked him as he realised that Jack did not dare to stab the pig as he did not want to see the “unbearable” blood. This makes him resent Ralph because Ralph is mocking him due to his failure. This resentment makes him very scheming and wanting to get the upper hand over Ralph. He tries to do this by gaining popularity and support amongst the boys, which he does throughout the book.

Jack’s scheming nature is clear at the top of the mountain, when he breaks the rule of the conch by saying that the authority of the conch “[does not] count on the top of the mountain”. When Piggy protests against this, Jack tells Piggy to shut up. Again we can see that Jack does not think much of Piggy and wants to demoralise and intimidate him. Jack succeeds this time round as shortly after, when Piggy wants to speak again, he “caught Jack”s eye’ and kept quiet. Then Jack, with his scheming nature and a desire to gain popularity, respects the authority of the conch and agrees with Ralph, then he makes tells everyone that he would split his hunters up so that some people will take care of the fire. He impresses everyone with the generosity of his statement, and has managed to gain some point over Ralph. Also, he has gained an important asset over Ralph, that is the control of the fire, which he will also eventually own in the end. Ralph has failed to see through Jack and he has been outwitted.

Also in the same situation, he grabs Piggy’s glasses and uses them to light the fire, this is a premonition of what Jack will do in the future, when he steals Piggy’s glasses later in the book. This shows that Jack knows that Piggy is weak and susceptible to abuse, and he takes full advantage of this to mock and demoralise Piggy throughout the book.

In conclusion, Jack’s resentment towards Ralph’s leadership is expressed through his desire to take control and gain popularity, his scheming nature, and his abuse of Piggy, the source of ideas for Ralph.