The Heroes of Lord of the Flies

The Heroes of Lord of the Flies

There are many possible interpretations of the word 'hero': sometimes it simply means the main character of a story, sometimes it denotes a person with a strong character who acts decisively, and sometimes it can mean the person we most admire in a story or who is the greatest force for good. Golding's Lord of the Flies has no clear hero but there are three major characters that could be seen as the heroes of the book.

The first possible hero is Ralph. He is perhaps the most obvious candidate as, at the start of the novel at least, he is a 'golden boy'. The second possible hero is Jack. This might seem unlikely, as Jack is in some ways also a possible villain, but Jack is a better leader than Ralph and is able to act decisively in a crisis. The third possible hero is Simon, the only one totally untouched by the boys' descent into savagery.

Ralph qualifies as a hero on several counts. Firstly, of all the characters in the book, the narrator follows Ralph most closely. It is Ralph we meet at the opening of the story and a description of Ralph ends the book. Secondly, Ralph performs heroic actions. He bravely explores the unknown island, attempts to stand up to the beast, and when the going gets tough he does not give up in despair. But above all of his physical bravery, Ralph shows moral bravery when he insists that the death of Simon is 'murder'. However, despite Ralph's physical and moral bravery, he is not untouched by sin and evil. Ralph was involved in the death of Simon and failed to provide clear leadership for the boys who put their trust in him. As readers we have the most sympathy for Ralph but we also have a clear understanding of ...

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... as its hero. Ralph is the closest to a hero in the literary sense of the word as the narrative follows him and it is his story. Jack, although he has heroic qualities, is perhaps too close to being the story's villain to be considered a hero but he is by no means a character with only one side. In my opinion, the only person in the book who is a true hero is Simon as he is courageous, brave and kind. He is also the only boy to remain uncorrupted by the island. In writing a novel without a clear hero, Golding emphasises its pessimistic message. Before the Second World War, Jack and Ralph, like their counterparts in Coral Island would probably have been allowed to show the stuff that made them potential heroes but, in the context of a world that had witnessed genocide and the atomic bomb, Golding suggests that the ordinary concepts of heroes are not enough.