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Ralph as a leader lord of the flies
Character development in lord of the flies 10-12
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How Do the Main Characters in Lord of the Flies Develop in the First Six Chapters?
In Lord of the Flies, William Golding experiments with what could happen to a group of young of boys left in new surroundings with no adults present. The main characters of this novel are quickly established and are the oldest or tallest of the boys. All the characters change and develop enormously over the period of time when they have to adjust to living on the island.
The reader is introduced to Ralph first, as the ‘boy with fair hair’. Ralph enjoys standing on his head and shows how impulsive he is when he dives straight into the water. This suggests that he has little common sense and so may be irresponsible. He also appears to be a daydreamer and is convinced that his father will rescue him so does not face the reality of what has actually happened.
‘how does he know were here?’…because, thought Ralph because because.’
Ralphs’ father being in the navy could mean that Ralph has had a privileged upbringing which might be why he feels superior to Piggy and doesn’t think much of him. This is shown when Ralph orders Piggy to ‘get my clothes’, and when he broke his promise by telling the boys his nickname was Piggy. Ralph had possession of the conch, used it to bring the boys together and had a good physique (tall, blonde, ‘built like a boxer’), so he easily earned the respect of the boys and was immediately accepted.
‘There was a stillness about Ralph that marked him out…his size and attractive appearance, most obscurely the conch’
The first thing Ralph says as leader is ‘I can’t decide what to do straight of…’. He does not display authority or apply a task to anyone, so the boys have to find their own things to do, so he does not seem to have the qualities to make a good leader. However, the fact that his main priority is to get rescued and build shelters to survive, and that he tries to keep the island civilised shows that his ‘common sense’ is developing.
Similar to most other boys, Ralph enjoyed the absence of adults on the island and the island itself. Everyone wanted to have fun, but Ralph also wanted to be rescued so understood the importance of the fire. By the third chapter Ralph feels depressed because he cannot convince the boys of the necessity of the shelters.
That’s why if I had to pick between Ralph and Jack it would be Ralph because he is a caring person. Ralph overall really tried his best to be together as a team and a family. So the point of this is to tell you that Ralphs motivation was to find help to get off the island he wanted to keep people safe so that they would all help and comfort each other. The tragedies were hard but Ralph did contribute even when he was upset he still showed effort. Oh and all the deaths Ralph was speechless he could not have prevented it even if he wanted to and we know he really wanted to.
At the commencement of the novel, the author introduces Ralph as an innocent boy far from adulthood. Almost immediately, Ralph is described as a "fair boy." This phrase indicates a stereotype of the perfect child--blonde hair and blue eyes with blemish-free skin--which the author manipulated to show innocence. Also, Golding used this to give the reader a feeling of Ralph's position on the scale of maturation. It guides the destination of the novel and how much Ralph needs to grow to attain complete maturity. Ralph's innocence is further implied when he says his daddy is "a commander in the Navy" and that "when he gets leave, he'll come rescue us." Clearly, Ralph's comments call attention to his inability to view matters, especially his current situation, realistically, and to show Ralph's simplistic thinking, as well. Later in the novel, Ralph views Piggy as a fat bore with "ass-mar" and "matter-of-fact ideas." Ralph is still at the point where he believes that he is on a schoolyard playground where teasing and handstands are an acceptable practice. Similarly, Ralph's thoughts are intended to show what a sheltered child he has been all his life. Thus far, Golding developed Ralph so that the reader interprets him as an ideal child without any indication of maturity. The author will build upon this to transform Ralph as a character and as a person.
Henry James in Hawthorne mentions how allegorical Hawthorne is, and how allegory should be expressed clearly:
Ralph was introduced as a fair and likeable boy. His interaction with Piggy demonstrated his kind nature as he did not call him names with hateful intentions as Jack had. His good looks allowed him to be well accepted among his peers, and this gave him enough confidence. His handsome features and the conch as a symbol of power and order made him stand out from the crowd of boys and led to his being proclaimed Chief: "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 powerful, there was the conch" (p. 24). From the quick decisions he made as Chief near the beginning of the novel, it could be seen that Ralph was well-organized. Gradually, Ralph became confused and began to lose realness in his thoughts and speeches: "Ralph was puzzled by the shutter that flickered in his brain. There was something he wanted to say; then the shutter had come down." (p. 156) He started to feel lost as the boys, with the exception of Piggy, began to change and adapt to their freedom.. He was more influenced by Piggy than by Jack.
At the beginning, clearly Ralph feels that Jack is an ally, a companion; not a rival for leadership, "Ralph found himself alone on a limb with Jack and they grinned at each other ... that strange invisible light of friendship". The chosen leader of the group, Ralph tried to lead the stranded boys into some kind of order. The authority of Jack and the sensibility of Piggy easily sway him. When Ralph first meets Piggy, he sees him as a lower person who should be ridiculed. He starts off by asking for his name and he is told that people used to make fun of
group of adolescent boys. The boys are forced to learn how to live on the land
Hawthorne’s love for literature blossomed at the age of seven when he was unexpectedly injured. Because of this injury, he was bed ridden for fifteen months, thus leading him into the path of literary works. He even began to believe that if a person read a lot, he or she would write well (Meltzer). This belief was proven to be true and even helped him in creating his own unique style of wri...
The imaginative foundation of a writer’s work may well be an inner drama or ‘hidden life’ in which his deepest interests and conflicts are transformed into images or characters; and through the symbolic play of these creations, he comes to ‘know’ the meaning of his experience; the imaginative structure becomes a means of reaching truth. . . . he lives ‘a life of allegory,’ and each of his works expresses one facet or another of the total structure. . . .heart-leading symbol. [The Heart became] Hawthorne’s central preoccupation and his leading symbol (68).
Ralph, the first character introduced to the audience, is probably the most likable character in the entire story. Although he does not ponder such deeply like Piggy, is not as spiritual like Simon, or as energetic as Jack, there is something in him that attracts the audience. Ralph serves as the protagonist of the story. He is described as being a playful, innocent child in the beginning, but towards the end he matures significantly. In the first chapter where he takes his clothes off and goes swimming like any child would do, he seems to be Adam in the Garden of Eden, a child left to play with the nature.
The book Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an exhilarating novel that is full of courage, bravery, and manhood. It is a book that constantly displays the clash between two platoons of savage juveniles mostly between Jack and Ralph who are the main characters of the book. The Kids become stranded on an island with no adults for miles. The youngsters bring their past knowledge from the civilized world to the Island and create a set of rules along with assigned jobs like building shelters or gathering more wood for the fire. As time went on and days past some of the kids including Jack started to veer off the rules path and begin doing there own thing. The transformation of Jack from temperately rebellious to exceptionally
... writer who includes many similar elements in his works. These elements of writing which can be found in so many of his stories come together to make a style which cannot and most likely will not ever be seen in the works of anyone besides Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne distinguishes himself through the use of descriptive sentences which include complex vocabulary and contain a formal tone, the incorporation of a dark/gothic tone, also using characters who fall under scrutiny and alienation, and also the use of autobiographical elements. These are just five of the many connections which can be made between the three stories which were discussed in this paper. Also, although there were only three stories which were analyzed it is more than likely that if one read any of the other stories which Hawthorne wrote in his day than the same findings would be made.
The novel, “Lord of the Flies” is about a group of boys between the ages of
However, at the end of the book, he simply stood for a common human being. In the beginning of the story, before a formal introduction, Ralph was described simply as “a fair boy.” This already sets him out in a favorable light. Then it further describes how he is apparently good-looking and has the natural air of leadership. Of course, the conch played a big role when the kids voted him for leader, but his appearance played a large role as well. For the good first part of the book, Ralph has always symbolized leadership. As the story progresses and the kids became more and more distant from the idea of civilization, Ralph became more like a representation of common sense. Golding wrote, “‘I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts-then you go off hunting and let the fire-’ He turned away, silent for a moment. Then his voice came again on a peak of feeling. ‘There was a ship-’” At this part, Ralph criticized Jack for not doing the necessary civilized things in favor of quenching his thirst for a hunt. As more and more of the kids become more and more uncivilized, Ralph became one of the last voices of common sense. When Simon and Piggy died, Ralph was the last one who retained that common sense and yearned for civilization. He had no leadership powers left anymore, and he stood for nothing more than a
Nathaniel Hawthorne, known for his use of allegory and symbolism, is now one of the most studied authors. He became famous for his novels and short stories that revealed the portrayal he had of the world. His works have been properly recognized for more than a century. Hawthorne’s perspective of life comes from his history that gave him a sense of inherited guilt. Even with the setbacks during his journey to success, Hawthorne managed to surpass them and become the wonderful writer he is known to be.
and he is the person who first tries to create an order on the island. In some ways Ralph's motivation for being a good, powerful leader is his longing for home. Ralph's relationship with another boy on the island, Jack is very important also. From the beginning of the book Ralph takes charge over his newly acquainted companion Piggy. When he calls the other boys together he takes control over the entire group and