There are many different types of people in this world with an abounding variety of personalities, but even as polar opposites many are similar in their own measure. Simon and Roger are like night and day but despite their differences they are each very important to each of the leaders as well as becoming more and more independent throughout the book. On the other side of their personalities is where they become polar opposites. Roger being ruthless, violent, and rebellious while Simon is intelligent, peacemaking, and nonchalant. In William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” he talk about two characters names Simon and Roger. Although they may not be the main characters they are each significant to both the protagonist Ralph, and the antagonist …show more content…
“High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever.” (Golding, 180) Although Jack may not have audibly told Roger to roll the boulder down castle rock, Roger and Jack have the same mentality when it comes to solving problems. If Roger had not rolled the mass down castle rock striking Piggy the conflict would most likely had become violent anyway, Jack would most likely take things into his own hands and strike Ralph. In Lord of the Flies our main character Ralph has a few followers who help keep him on track and remind him of their goal to get rescued as well as guiding him. Simon is very important to Ralph in a sense of reasoning and advice throughout the book. “We ought to draw a map,’ said Ralph, ‘only we haven’t got any paper.’ ‘We could make scratches on …show more content…
Simon is the only member of the choir who does not become a hunter along with the other choir boys and Jack their leader. He is also the only one on the island to put the pieces together and realizes the “beast” lives within themselves. “What I mean is . . . maybe it’s only us.” (Golding, 89) The boys have all gathered for an important assembly and in the midst of all the arguing about who gets to speak and who has the conch Simon realizes the beast lives within the boys. This shows how Simon is intelligent and problem solving, he outsmarted all the other boys who fear something in the forest while the thing they should fear most lives in their hearts. Contrarily Roger is ruthless, unforgiving, and savage. For most of the book Roger is under Jack’s ruling but still seems to make room for his own rules here and there. In chapter eleven Jack, Piggy, and Samneric go to regain Piggy’s glasses from Jack and the choir boys, when they begin to argue Roger rolls the boulder down the cliff striking and killing Piggy. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” (Golding, 181) Him doing so is almost solely because he can, because there is no one on the island that can bark orders at him, he can get away with anything he wants
While Jack and Ralph represent the distinct polarization between civilization and savagery. Simon is separated from both of these dimensions. Simon represents built-in goodness. The other boys who hold on to their sense of morality only do so because society has conditioned and trained them to act in a certain way. They do not have an innate sense of morality. Unlike the other boys on the island, Simon does not act morally because an external force has compelled him to do so, instead he finds value in performing good actions.
In conclusion, Simon’s lifetime on the island has taught the boys that a humane nature is important when trying to deal with others. His personality and relations with the other characters lead them to be strong for a great amount of time before it starts to die off and they lose their innocence with all the evil nature on the island. As the plot develops, everyone becomes savages and forget who they originally were and how to act like they did when there were parents around. A majority of the problem could have come to an end if all the characters could support each other and have a state of mind of what was going on around them. Simon led a meaningful life and is an example of peace and good nature throughout the novel.
When the boys first landed on the island, Golding describes Roger in the quote, “There was a slight, furtive boy whom no one knew, who kept to himself . . . He muttered that his name was Roger and was silent again,” (Golding 14) Roger wasn’t really one of the bolder boys and was timid at the beginning, when they had first landed on the island. He says his name quietly and that is all to be heard of shy little Roger. Roger is also the one who suggests having a vote to pick a chief, ending the argument between Ralph and Jack and coming up with a solution that is more sophisticated than other options. When they are trying to light a fire, Roger says “‘You make a bow and spin the arrow,’ . . . He rubbed his hands in mime,” (Golding 32). This indicates that Roger knows about how to survive and that he is slowly coming out of his shell, the transition to savagery has begun.
It could be said that tragedies serve as Humanity’s catalysts of thought. When we line up literary eras with wars, the shifts in eras are always marked by some war- especially in America. The Romantic period was broken by the dawn of the civil war, and took a little magic from the world of writing. Writing shifted to realism, which was the polar opposite of romantic thought. When the First World War broke out, the modernist movement overshadowed realism. Similarly, the Second World War produced postmodernism. Should there be another horrible tragedy, the view will shift similarly. Whatever the implications may be, tragedies seem to change how us humans think and act. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, he tells the story of a group of schoolboys
Both Ralph and Simon did not think the ideas of Jack and the rest of the children were very good because their ideas involved bad choices and horseplay. In the novel, Golding writes, “Piggy urges Ralph to blow the conch shell and summon the boys back
Symbolism is defined as the representation; treatment or interpretation of things as symbolic. In society and in particular, literature, symbolism is a prominent component that helps to illustrate a deeper meaning then perceived by the reader. Symbolism can be anything, a person, place or thing, used to portray something beyond itself. It is used to represent or foreshadow the conclusion of the story. In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies symbolism of the main characters Ralph, Jack and Simon plays a very important role in helping to show how our society functions and the different types of personalities that exist. An examination of Simon as a symbol of good, Ralph as a symbol of the common man, and Jack as a symbol of evil, clearly illustrates that William Golding uses characters as a symbol of what is really happening in the outside world throughout the novel.
Simon, sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it. The twins giggled and Simon lowered his face in shame.
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.
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.
The very first time Ralph is introduced to the reader, one can see his sense of observation even in the first sentence that he says: "This is an island, at least I think it's an island. That's a reef out in the sea. Perhaps there aren't any grownups anywhere." As everyone knows, a good sense of observation is essential for a leader. He was chosen as a leader by the other boys, which shows the civilized instinct with humans. Ralph represents order and discipline in this chaotic world without grownups, which is shown by his character and composure during the first meeting. He almost defines himself with his first speech, "Listen everybody. I've got to have time to think things out. I can't decide what to do straight off. If this isn't an island, we might be rescued straight away. So we've got to decide if this is an island or not. Everybody must stay around here and wait and not go away. Three of us-if we take more, we'd get all mixed, and lose each other-three of us will go on an expedition and find out. I'll go, and Jack, and, and...." (p.23-24) Ralph wastes no time in bringing order to the group. He shows intelligence and self-control by not jumping into conclusions and by wanting "time to think things out." That displays to the reader he is cautious . Surely the other boys recognized this also, for he had earned the title, chief.
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a peculiar story about boys stranded on an island, and the plot and characters relate to many prevailing events and problems. A specific problem that is currently occurring is the mutual hatred and enmity between North Korea and South Korea. This is a current event, but the North and South’s hostility has been ongoing since 1945, when Korea was split into North and South, Communist and Capitalist. When the 38th parallel(Border between North and South Korea) was created, Kim Il-Sung ruled the North, and Syngman Rhee ruled the South. As of now, a power hungry dictator, Kim Jong-un rules the north, and an optimistic president who wants to see change was recently elected in the South, named Moon Jae-in. In Golding’s book, Ralph is a character who aimed to keep everyone alive and to stay together. Jack on the other hand, wanted to have fun and hunt, and although he also wanted to be rescued, he made no effort to help. In this sense, North Korea is a clear representation of the character Jack and his quest for power, and opposingly, South Korea is a representation of Ralph and his strive for order, democracy, and civilization.
Towards the middle of Simon's stay on the island, he started to realize that he truly was different from the others. Every time he tried to talk to the other children, his 'effort fell about him in ruins; the laughter beat him cruelly and he shrank away defenseless to his seat.';(89) Just when he thought he had been accepted he embarrassed himself again, 'When he bashed into a tree Ralph looked sideways impatiently and Robert sniggered.';(104) They were getting restless with his behavior.
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.
Contrasting Ralph and Jack in Lord of the Flies & nbsp;& nbsp; & nbsp; 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. & nbsp; Ralph first takes on the position as leader at the beginning of the story, when the rest of the boys vote him in as chief.&nbs Rules and standards are set when Ralph is the chief. He orders the group to build the basic necessities of civilization, shelters, and most importantly to keep the fire going, in hope that they will be rescued and return to humanity. " But I tell you that smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one" (Golding 75). Jack, on the other hand, takes on the idea of every man for himself. He does not care about making homes, only about hunting. When Jack is the leader, evil takes over and all good is destroyed. Under Jack's power both Simon and Piggy are killed. & nbsp; Not only do the two character's decisions clash so do their personalities. Ralph is caring and considerate, being kinder to Piggy, making friends with him and constantly confid Ralph represents law, order, organized society and moral integrity. Throughout the novel he is constantly making common-sense rules for the boys to follow. Unlike Ralph, Jack is unkind, caring about no one
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