More handpicked essays just for you.
What is symbolism in lord of the flies
Characters and character development in Lord of the Flies
Characters and character development in Lord of the Flies
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In the novel Lord of the flies the theme of leadership is consistent and the characters jack and Ralph are consistently used to highlight each other weaknesses and strengths. Golding uses other symbols such as the conch to showcase Ralph's future role as leader. Furthermore golding uses the other characters to be the catalyst of Ralph's gradual devolvement and doubtful thoughts.
When we are first introduced to Ralph we are shown the clear leadership trait he believes and also the idealistic features he held. By this golding is making us have the impression that he is bound for great things and that his physique and looks would be a significant character throughout the play. However later on in the first chapter Golding makes its apparent
…show more content…
Jack Merridew, another significant character, is seen as a threat towards Ralph's elected leadership as he is a savage and desires the will to power. Due to his manipulation skills he is able to influence the other boys that he is the better chief. Unfortunately Ralph begins to believe that as well, "I ought to given up being chief" and "I was chief" are very significant quotes in the novel as we the readers can predict the future chaos and divided between the boys. Golding could be trying to imbed the political allegory of the dived between the free world and the Soviet Union. As a result of this Golding is persuading us that Ralph is failing as leader as he can not survive through competition and carry on maintaining his role as …show more content…
Nevertheless we begin to see Ralph's devolvement and he starts showing traits of savagery and degeneration through "the desire to squeeze and hurt was over mastering" by this we can see Golding trying to illustrate that no matter who the person is the beast and inner Id will always come out. By Ralph being the leader who once believed in civilisation and order to then become savage and violent demonstrates that he is incapable of holding his original thoughts and
Leadership is a trait that many people have naturally and others try to obtain. Many people consider themselves a good leader when they fail to carry out the characteristics leadership require. In the book, “Lord of the Flies”, Ralph is a better leader than Jack because of the traits he possesses. That is why certain skills are necessary to be considered a successful leader.
To start off, Golding displays Ralph’s character development with a deeper meaning connecting Ralph with Adam in Garden of Eden. In the beginning of the book, Ralph takes his clothes off and goes swimming. The author describes, “He…stood there naked” (10). “Ralph danced out in the hot air” (11). Like Ralph, Adam is also playful and innocent. Ralph and Adam both come with main objectives. Ralph’s is to remain civilized, and Adam’s is to never eat the fruit from the tree. However, when faced with conflict Ralph ends up taking part in the murder of Simon and the savagery within him grows. Similar of that to Adam when he takes some of the fruit off the tree, he looses his clothes (innocence) and God drove Adam out of the Garden of Eden. Ralph discovers the “darkness of man’s heart” (202), and then ends up getting rescued. Golding based Ralph on the Garden of Eden to show the inevitable loss of innocence through the gaining of knowledge.
...e and begins a wild chant, dancing around a fire. Towards the end of the book, the reader can fully see Jack’s brutal and savage nature as he orders a fire to kill Ralph. This extreme growth in Jack’s sinister side is very significant as this is what gives him the ability to have control over the group. It is also important as Golding is showing that human nature can be unforgiving and that there is a good and bad side to everyone.
... into being a way to see all three properties of these theories of Natural Man and then the combination of the two theories found within his novel. Even though man will never be just a morally sound man, nor will he be totally wicked and cruel, men can be both. Therefore the basis for all men can be the natural combination of both good and cruel within human beings. Golding gives us the solution to the thoughts of the ability for how the combinations of these theories can exist; and that is Ralph.
Ralph’s power at the beginning is secure but as the group succumbs to their savage instincts, Ralph’s influence declines as Jack’s rises. This is due mainly to the cruelty and violence that goes on in the story. This cruelty reveals that Ralph’s commitment to civilization and being rescued is so strong that he will not allow himself to change his morals and become cruel like the others. The cruelty in this novel also shows that Ralph is a very intelligent character. His intelligence can be proven because there was a point in the novel when he hunts a boar for the first time and he experiences the thrill of bloodlust. He also attends one of Jack’s feast where he is swept away by the frenzy and participates in the killing of Simon. This is a very tragic moment for Ralph because this is when he realizes the evil that lives within himself and every human being. It is the cruel acts that happen in this novel that reveals Ralph’s character of being intelligent and being able to think deeply about human experiences. He even weeps when getting saved because of his knowledge about the human capacity for
For years, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, has been a staple in college, high school, and even middle school classes. The eloquent story follows a group of young boys stranded on a jungle island. They are left thousands of miles away from civilization and are left to survive by themselves. Throughout the story, many insights in leadership are seen through the power struggle between Ralph and Jack. Both have extremely different styles of leadership with varying levels of success. Lord of the Flies teaches me about leadership in the initial selection of the leader, how they solve problems, and how they motivate others.
He represents the ego with Ralph, whereas the ego says “Well, maybe you can have some of it later,” and Ralph tries to be or is the remediator by always trying to make everything go right, and trying to enforce rules. Golding also represents the superego with Piggy, whereas the superego says “You can’t have it; it’s bad for you,” and Piggy yells at the people disobeying the rules, and demands that the others can not do the things that they do. A theme within this novel is the loss of innocence. The existence of civilization allows man to remain innocent, therefore when the characters lose their innocence, the civilization is gone or corrupt. One example of the loss of innocence would be when Jack was unable to stab the pig during the hunt.
After this incident we can see continual conflict between Ralph and Jack. We can see this when Jack proclaims that Ralph, “Isn’t a proper chief.” Golding is trying to show us that this conflict is very similar to the conflict between humanities inner barbarism and the living influence of reason. We can see other evidence of this conflict within ourselves, with the masks that Jack and his hunters put on. We are informed that Jack, “ rubbed the charcoal stick between the patches of red and white on his face” The mask represents the dark line (charcoal) between good (white) and evil (red) within ourselves. These masks also let the boys hide f...
Moreover, Ralph is Golding’s symbolic method of democracy. To the audience, Ralph seems like Franklin D. Roosevelt during the World War II—he was certainly capable of stopping the World War II from breaking out, but he could not force anybody thus letting the War break out.
Ralph's actions as a character in the novel assist in reinforcing Golding's point that the prevalent force within man is evil. While Ralph struggles, albeit unsuccessfully, to maintain a civilized society on the island, he repeatedly tries to resist the temptation of evil inside him. As the island descends into chaos under Jack's tyrannical regime, the rest of the boys on the island let their hair become longer, at the same time becoming increasingly vicious. Ralph tries to ignore the temptation of having long hair, trying to push it back to maintain the good he has inside him. Ralph wants to “have a pair of scissors” to cut his hair, but the hair is coaxing him to let evil dominate (109). ...
He blows the conch and summons the deserted children together” (Li & Wu 1). While all the boys are interested mainly in playing and setting out to satisfy their own needs, Ralph is focused on building shelter and keeping a fire going to facilitate their rescue. As one can see, Ralph is “the representative of civilization and democracy, lives by rules, acts peacefully, and follows moral commands and values the good of the group, who dramatically reveals the condition of civilization and democracy in Golding’s time” (Li & Wu
In William Golding’s novel, the Lord of the Flies, even though Ralph became chief of the stranded boys, Jack eventually rose to power through scare tactics, confidence, determination, and control. When Jack demonstrated his leadership skills, it was evident that he was superior to Ralph and would use his sense of Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest) and his oratory skills to surpass and isolate Ralph completely. Regardless of Ralph’s strengths, such as his conch, democratic maneuvers, firm motives, and kind demeanor, Jack’s mere presence ousted Ralph’s chances of taking effective leadership. By using propaganda against Ralph, gaining support from his partisan tribe members, and overpowering Ralph through his persuasive techniques and appearance, Jack clearly demonstrated how his leadership of the island was inevitable.
Ralph, the first character that appears in the Lord of the Flies, represents Golding’s view of democracy. Right from the beginning, a born leader takes center stage. Even before Ralph says a single word, Golding describes him as “a boy with fair hair” and by mentioning that “there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch.” (Golding 7, 22) These descriptions may not seem like much, but they create a character with which the reader wants to associate; they depict an image of power and control. As the story progresses, the reader becomes more attached to Ralph’s personality due to the social concern that this character presents through his interest in maintaining order and keeping everyone safe. From the obvious choice...
In William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies Ralph though not the stronger person, demonstrates a better understanding of people than Jack which gives him better leadership qualities. Ralph displays these useful human qualities as a leader by working towards the betterment of the boys' society. He knows the boys need stability and order if they are to survive on the island. He creates rules and a simple form of government to achieve this order. Jack does not treat the boys with dignity as Ralph does. Ralph understands that the boys, particularly Piggy, have to be given respect and must be treated as equals. This makes Ralph a better leader as he is able to acknowledge that he was not superior to any of the other boys. Ralph's wisdom and ability to look to the future also make him a superior leader. Ralph has the sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. He insists on keeping the fire burning as a distress signal. Ralph's leadership provides peace and order to the island while Jack's leadership makes chaos.
Ralph and Jack are both powerful and meaningful characters in William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies. Ralph is an excellent leader; responsible, and stands for all that is good. Jack is a destructive hunter, selfish, and represents evil. These two main characters can be compared by the actions they take as leaders, their personalities, and what they symbolize in the story.