Music, like books, often reflects real-world problems, like loss of identity. In both Golding’s Lord of the Flies and the song “She Used to Be Mine” by Sara Bareilles from the musical Waitress, loss of identity in times of struggle is a common theme weaved throughout both. In Lord of the Flies, Piggy is the only boy with glasses. Ralph decides that they need to build a signal fire. The only way to make a fire was to use Piggy’s glasses. Later in the book, Jack splits off and creates his own tribe. The only kids left in the original group are Ralph, Piggy and the twins. One night Jack’s tribe breaks into the other’s camp to steal Piggy’s glasses so that they can make fire. Piggy’s responds to this by saying, “[The tribe] didn’t come for the …show more content…
In Lord of the Flies, of the boys on the island, Ralph has the most power. He is elected to be the chief and has power over all the boys. He is a very social person, always communicating. Whenever he calls an order, the boys obey and with one blow of the conch shell he is able to gather all the boys for an assembly. But then Ralph started losing power and one of the hunters, Jack, started to rise in position. Most of the boys joined Jack’s “tribe”. Even though Ralph loses his popularity within the group, he still has friends supporting him. A boy named Piggy, and a pair of twins, Sam and Eric, still remain supportive of Ralph and his ideas. At this point, Ralph is not lonely, but things start to change. Jack kidnaps Sam and Eric, and the tribe kills Piggy. At this point Ralph becomes lonely. He has absolutely no one and Jack’s tribe plots to kill him. Golding says in the book, describing Ralph’s circumstances as he tries to go to sleep at night, “Lying there in the darkness he knew he was an outcast”(Golding 191). Ralph loses his social identity. He goes from an identity with almost absolute power to one with friends and supporters, to like Golding says, an outcast. Ralph has to start a new life and identity as a recluse and a social outcast. But what was the reason for the loss of identity? Ralph lost his …show more content…
In Lord of the Flies, the boys in the tribe, face a major loss in their identities. Golding shows the loss in Bill’s identity when he writes, “Really thought Ralph, this was not Bill. This was a savage whose image refused to blend with that ancient picture of a boy in shorts and shirt” (Golding 188). Golding shows that names and appearance are not the only part of identity, for although this person is still called Bill and resembles Bill, it is not Bill. While trapped on the island, Bill and all the other boys have changed into savages. They have lost their child-like innocence and identity while on the island. Jack, a five-year-old boy, in the book Room by Emma Donoghue also faces a similar loss of identity. Jack has lived an unimaginable life. He has lived in one room his whole life. He was born in this room and has no idea of the world outside of this room. His mother, known as Ma, on the other hand, does know about the world outside, for she is kidnapped, and impregnated by her kidnapper. When Ma finally tells Jack about the outside world, he is confused, and Ma cannot think of the right words to explain it. When she tells this to Jack, he relates it to the book Alice in Wonderland and he thinks, “Alice says she can’t explain herself because she’s not herself, she knows who was this morning but she’s changed several times since then”
Throughout the novel when Ralph notices some of the boys have started to turn into savages, he tries to put an end to it as soon as possible. Ralph wants the young boys to remain as close to their old selves as much as they can, rather than transforming into unrecognizable people. Once the boys have gotten somewhat settled in on the island, they forget to watch after the most important job, as seen in Ralph’s eyes, “We’ve got to have special people for looking after the fire. Any day there might be a ship out there” (Golding 42). The majority of the group has turned to having fun rather than getting rescued. Ralph is one of the only people that has common sense and seems to know their correct priorities. We can see that choosing Ralph to be the leader may lead to benefiting them all. In chapter 11, Jack and his group have bombarded Ralph’s group and stolen Piggy’s glasses, so when Piggy asks what they are going to do, Ralph responds with, “Supposing we go, looking like we used to, washed and hair brushed- after all we aren’t savages really and being rescued isn’t a game--” (Golding 170). Ralph ends up handling this given situation like an adult. He can see quite clearly that the thought of salvation and maturity has no meaning to everyone in Jack's’ group. They have been treating their whole situation like it is just a game, but Ralph knows at this point that rescue is
Lord of the Flies was written by a British author in 1954. The book is about a group of British school boys that crash on an island and have to survive. During their time on the island they turn their backs on being civil and become savages. Ralph is the elected leader and always thinks civil. Jack leaves the group and starts a tribe with the boys and is a savage. Piggy is a boy who is knowable. Simon is compared to Jesus through the book and is the only naturally “good” character. The littleuns are the littler kids on the island. Roger is a cruel older boy who is Jack’s lieutenant. Samneric are twins who are close to Ralph but, are manipulated by Jack later on. In the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding some of the characters represent id, ego, and superego. Id, ego, and super ego are the three parts of the psychic apparatus expressed by Sigmund Freud’s structural model of the psyche. Golding expresses his message of evil and how it is natural in every person, and how we must recognize and control it through id, ego, and superego.
In the book The Lord Of The Flies , the characters all have a need for approval, recognition. Alot comes into play when it comes to seeking approval or at least know that they have somewhat of a big role on the island. Ralph is someone who naturally has leadership qualities but doesn’t expect respect, and recognition. Ralph was the one who always had the conch and called assembly's and set rules. In part of the book Ralph gets fed up with all the littluns not listening to the rules so he calls an assembly, and starts talking about the rules after he finishes his speech ¨the circle of boys broke into applause¨( Golding 23).After the boys broke into applause Ralph felt a breeze of pride he also felt importance because “ we all have what we may call the desire for reputation or prestige, recognition,attention, importance or attention”( Maslow 6).
Throughout the novel, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the character Jack finds his true identity through a clay mask of his own making. At the beginning of the novel, Jack is unable to kill a pig for food, however, he later puts on a mask in order to blend in with nature and not drive the pigs away. To the contrary, by putting on this mask Jack gains a newfound confidence that was nonexistent in his own skin. For example when Jack first put on the mask he “looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger” (63). By putting on a mask Jack is able to lose his identity a little bit and act and feel like a whole new person. This idea of taking on a whole new role when putting on a mask can be seen in many modern tv shows and movies.
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.
As the common adage states, “people change”. This maxim, however, does not explain the cause of this change or the reason why people lose their identities. In the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, loss of identity and the cause of this loss is a common theme throughout the novel. In the book, little boys turn from innocent children to bloodthirsty savages as a result of them being stranded on an island without any adults. This theme, loss of identity, and its cause are not just apparent in Lord of the Flies, but also in many other mediums, including movies, music, books, and news articles. These sources show that identities are not lost when all is well, but only when life becomes a living hell.
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
Although there are many interpretations of Golding’s Lord of the Flies, one of the most important is one that involves an examination of Freudian ideas. The main characters personify Sigmund Freud’s theory of the divisions of the human mind; thus, Jack, Ralph, Piggy and Simon are metaphors for the id, ego, and the super-ego of Freudian psychology, respectively. The inclusion of psychological concepts in this literary work distinguish it as a commentary on human nature, beyond labels of “adventure” or “coming of age” novel. Many readers are left in shock upon reading Golding’s masterpiece because of the children’s loss of innocence, but most fail to consider
Ralph is enthusiastic and energetic; he frequently grins, stands on his head, and says 'wizard' when excited. He is also a good leader; he listens to everyone's opinions during island meetings, prioritizes the needs of the tribe (a signal fire, shelter, enforcement of lavatory rocks), and tries to be diplomatic with the other boys (giving the hunters to Jack). Even after Jack has created a violent band of the island's boys and become enemies with Ralph, Ralph still tries to reason with him. He goes to Jack to ask for Piggy's glasses back peacefully and only becomes violent when he is left with no other option. Ralph serves as the chief of the first tribe formed on the island, the only true friend of Piggy, a voice of reason for the island, a source of animosity for power-hungry Jack, and a homesick boy stranded on an island. The quote that best reveals Ralph's character is from chapter
At the meetings, a sense of order is instilled because the boys are not allowed to speak unless they have the conch. He knows that the boys “can’t have everybody talking at once.” (31) This is something that Ralph establishes very early in the novel in order to avoid chaos and remain civilized. So to make communication during a meeting easier he announces that they will “have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school” which he will follow up with handing the person the conch. (31) Ralph is able to keep the boys under control by holding meetings. Ralph doesn’t fear about others acknowledging his leadership in the same way as Jack. While Jack continuously strikes fear in others to keep his power, Ralph only confrontates when someone is going against what is good for the community. One such example is when the fire goes out and Piggy calls Jack out on failing to tend to the fire, Jack becomes enraged and punches Piggy and breaks his glasses. When this happens, Ralph stands up and scolds Jack for his behaviour, and later, his apology, saying that it was “a dirty trick.” (76) After Jack leaves their group and war breaks out, Jack attacks Piggy and takes his glasses. Ralph goes up to Jack and offers him that they both could have used Piggy’s glasses for fire. Ralph still attempts to take responsibility for everyone and is still trying to get everyone rescued. He attempts to sort out this problem with Jack by negotiating in a civilized manner rather than resorting to savage violence. Only Ralph and Piggy know the need for rescue. Ralph struggles to keep a shaky peace and prevent violence. His meeting with the Lord of the Flies teaches him about the darkness in a human’s heart, which he finally comes to understand when he is rescued by a naval
Ralph is one of the few boys who realize that the only way to survive is through peace and order. Because he summons the boys at the beginning of the novel with the conch he and Piggy find, they look upon him as the most responsible of the boys and elect him as a chief over the humiliated Jack. Ralph creates a stable and peaceful society for the children to live; this significantly bothers Jack because he wants to have fun and do things that he never did back in the civilized society. Jack is eventually successful of pulling nearly all of the children out of Ralph’s control to form savages. Ralph represents the civilization, and Jack represents the primitive society.
Ralph shows that he has a better understanding of the boys than Jack. He knows that the boys need some sort of order on the island in order for them to survive. He starts a simple form of government and sets a few rules for them. Even though they don’t last very long, the fact that he tried to help the group is what makes him a better leader. Ralph’s wisdom and ability to look toward the future also has an advantage over Jack. He has a sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. When the fire goes out, Ralph gets upset because the chance to be rescued was gone as well. Ralph enforces his role of leadership as he gives the boys a sense of stability of an authority figure. He keeps the boys in pretty good order at the meeting by making a rule that they can only speak if they have the conch. Ralph knows that the littleuns are afraid and they need shelter to feel more secure. They work together for a while, but as the time goes on the smaller boys want to go play. They slowly lose all their help until Simon and Ralph are the only ones left to work on them. Ralph knows that this is a necessity and keeps bringing it up at the meetings. Jack, on the other hand, is doing nothing but causing chaos.
Much of history’s most renown literature have real-world connections hidden in them, although they may be taxing uncover. William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies, is no exception. In this work of art, Golding uses the three main characters, Piggy, Jack, and Ralph, to symbolize various aspects of human nature through their behaviors, actions, and responses.
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
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