How Does Golding Present Ralph's Character In Lord Of The Flies

In the real world there are evil and good people. A society needs laws and regulations to keep everyone safe and stop conflict. In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding, the author uses the development of Jack and Ralph’s character to convey society's civilizing influence and the instincts that exist within all human beings.

In the beginning of the novel Lord Of The Flies, Ralph is portrayed as a sensible person who represents order, leadership, and civilization in society. When Ralph was acknowledging the boys' situation on the island he let the boys know that “[t]here aren't any grownups.” and they “shall have to look after [themselves]” (33). This reveals Ralph has a position of authority and recognizes the need for teamwork. This also

When Ralph was trying to remind the boys of the rules Jack interrupted “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong—we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat—”(91)! This shows how Jack is in charge of the group's hunting activities, and he becomes obsessed with the hunt and the power it gives him. Jack also believes that following Ralph's rules are not as important as being a hunter. He places a higher value on killing and hunting than on maintaining the island's order and civilization which can lead to conflict. As the novel goes on, Jack isn't only bloodthirsty but also has a lust for power. Jack tells the boys that Ralph is “not a hunter. He'd never have got [them] meat. He isn't perfect and [they] don't know anything about him. He just gives orders and expects people to obey for nothing” (126). This demonstrates Jack’s cruelty and how he wants to make Ralph out to be a bad chief so he can try to take the power away from Ralph for himself. He is willing to do whatever it takes to get his way. Near the ending of the novel when most of the boys left Ralph's group and had joined Jack, He was very aggressive and boys were being punished for no apparent reason. When talking about how good of a chief Jack is Robert told Roger that Jack “got angry and made [them] tie Wilfred up” (159).