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Ralph In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

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Lord of the Flies: Character Analysis Lord of the Flies is a timeless classic in which we see what happens when we remove government and civility from our society. Following a group of boys after a plane crash, we get a glimpse into the world of savagery, where everyone is fighting a losing battle against their humanity. The personalities of the children play a role in their decisions and how they interact with others. Following the main characters of the book, we can take a closer look on how they react to the world around them. Ralph, who is the protagonist in Lord of the Flies, comes off as rude and inconsiderate in the beginning of the book. In “The Sound of the Shell”, Piggy tells Ralph a secret and Ralph tells the rest of the boys. “‘I don’t care what they call me,’ he said confidentially, ‘so long as they don’t call me what they used to call me back at school.’ Ralph was faintly interested. ‘What was that?’ The fat boy glanced over his shoulder, then leaned towards Ralph. He whispered. ‘They use to call me ‘Piggy’....As long as you don’t tell the others”(11). “You’re talking too much,’ said Jack Merridew. ‘Shut up, Fatty.’ Laughter arose. ‘He’s not Fatty,’ cried Ralph, ‘his name is Piggy!”(21). Ralph’s actions in this …show more content…

In “Gift for the Darkness”, Simon finds himself alone with the Lord of the Flies and the pig head starts to speak to him. “‘Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!’ said the head. For a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody or laughter. ‘You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?’”(143). Simon realizes that the beast isn’t an actual animal, it is the boys. The beast lives inside them, and it comes out as the boys go deeper and deeper into their savage roots. Since Simon is a young boy, it’s very uncommon for a child his age to realize something so

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1039 Words | 5 Pages

He sees himself as Ralph’s equal and is angered when Piggy a boy that, in Jack’s point of view, is useless. For example, there are many instances where he shows his distaste for Piggy and jealousy in his situation. “[to Piggy] Who cares what you believe- Fatty!” (81), “[to Piggy] You shut up, you fat slug!”(82), and showing his jealousy, “[to Ralph]

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584 Words | 3 Pages

“The Word, that understandable and lawful Word, was slipping away.” (Golding 82). Ralph, the original leader of the boys in the Lord of The Flies, is initially a great leader and person. Ralph soon becomes pulled by his desires, a recurring theme of human nature seen frequently. Ralph experiences a man vs. societal conflict due to Jack’s influence but is resolved through the arrival of the long-awaited Naval officer.

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959 Words | 4 Pages

[Ralph] is like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn’t a proper chief”[ Golding, 138]. By saying this, Jack is showing the other boys that to survive you need to hunt and be strong, not use your brain. This paints a negative image in the little boys and about Ralph and Piggy, resulting in Jack looking like the best.

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930 Words | 4 Pages

Ralph nervously asks Piggy, ‘“Aren’t there any grownups at all?” And Piggy responds “I don’t think so”’(Golding 8). Although there were none Ralph took charge and remained calm. It was extremely hard for Ralph to get all the respect and attention he deserved. Often when Ralph would talk he was ignored and talked over.

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738 Words | 3 Pages

He uses it to compare the characters Jack, Ralph, and Piggy in the way each boy has different levels of respect from the boys. While at the top of a mountain on the island a heated argument breaks out between Jack and Ralph, “You’re always scared-yah fatty.” (Golding 38). Piggy is already established as fat and short and using this to his advantage Jack can bully Piggy with no repercussions. Earlier in the novel Jack is described as “Ugly without silliness” and the boys know not to mess with Jack based on physical appearance (Golding 20).

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709 Words | 3 Pages

“I hit him said Ralph again and the spear struck in a bit.”- (Golding 113) Ralph had just stabbed a boar, and he just kept talking about it and ignoring everything else even when they saw that Jack had got hurt from it he kept trying to grab everyone’s attention instead of worrying about his friend, In this novel he does these things continuously especially to piggy where at the start of the novel he promises piggy not to tell everyone his name is piggy but he does and he bullies him with everyone else in the book too but He doesn’t do it as much. This all ties to how Ralph is a morally grey character but in the end, he became good and risked his life for his friends.

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426 Words | 2 Pages

Lord of the Flies demonstrates the gradual but powerful decline of moral intention without the structure of society. The boys learn while stranded that justice does not prevail outside of civilization. Their experience on the island show the terror and tribulation a child experiences without law enforcement and adult

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314 Words | 2 Pages

At the beginning of the novel Ralph is mean to Piggy and mocks him viciously “Ralph shrieked with laughter. He jumped up ‘Piggy! Piggy’” (Golding 11) With time though, you see a growing appreciation in Ralph for how Piggy’s intelligence and eventually he values Piggy as a friend. After the death of Piggy “Ralph wept for the end

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1359 Words | 6 Pages

Ralph exclaims, “He’s not fatty. His real name is Piggy!... “Piggy” “Piggy” “Oh, Piggy!” (21). In this moment Ralph realizes he has betrayed Piggy and thrown his trust out the window. This action by Ralph will lead to the nickname of Piggy, spreading like wildfire, and Piggy being known as this.

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434 Words | 2 Pages

At first glance, Ralph is a central character who starts and completes William Golding novel The Lord of the Flies. From the onset of the novel, he is described as a “fair boy” with an “attractive appearance” (p7, 29). The author compares his stature as that of a boxer, “as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went, but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil” (p11). He has the physique and presence of a typical leader – strong but with a kind heart that makes him trustworthy.

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1578 Words | 7 Pages

Firstly, in the beginning when Ralph first awakes on the island and meets Piggy, Ralph is indifferent to and mistreats Piggy. For example, Ralph keeps ignoring and trying to get away from Piggy, and shares Piggy’s nickname with all the boys even after Piggy asked Ralph not to. Another way Ralph shows evil is when the boys are going around the island to find what is thought to be a beast, the group runs into a boar and Ralph successfully hits the boar Ralph then gets genuinely excited and really proud and feels that “hunting [is] good after all” (Golding 124). The feeling that Ralph has after hitting the boar is that hunting may not be so bad. Ralph usually thinks that there is no need for hunting, but after experiencing it, Ralph shows thrill, excitement, and pride in being able to have the ability to harm a living creature.

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675 Words | 3 Pages

Ralph’s attitude towards Piggy was negative as he felts uninterest in Piggy's talk and statements. Ralph kept ignored almost everything that Piggy spoke because he didn't care much, and plus the fact that Piggy always referred to his auntie about what to do and what not annoyed him. Instead, he found himself more interest about the surrounding, "Protected from the sun, ignoring Piggy's ill-omened talk, he dreamed pleasantly...vivid phantoms of his day-dream still interposed between him and Piggy, who in this context was an irrelevance,"(pg.15-16). This quote shows that Ralph annoyed by Piggy's talk, and he tried to ignore Piggy and enjoyed the scenery.

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1288 Words | 6 Pages

Simon was one of the choirboys who was prone to fainting when something made him frightened or stressed. When he needed to escape the loud and annoying boys, he would sneak away to a clearing in the woods where he could observe nature and calm down. Unfortunately, during one of the hunts the boys went on, they killed a pig and left its head as an offering to the beast, in that clearing. When Simon returns after this, he is confronted by the Lord of the Flies and faints in terror.

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470 Words | 2 Pages

A character that has been constantly alienated in this story has been Piggy. His nickname, weight, asthma and poor eyesight are all factors in his separation from the boys’ society. For example, Golding writes “then, went on Piggy ‘that boy-I forget’. ‘You’re talking to much ’said Jack Merridew. ’ Shut up fatty’.

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765 Words | 4 Pages

On the beach, Ralph and Piggy meet each other for the first time. When they introduce themselves Piggy politely tells Ralph, “I don’t care what they call me, so long as they don’t call me what they used to call me at school” (Golding 11). Here, Golding is trying to show that in school the boys are in a structured environment and on the island there is no structure or rule. Knowing he will not be punished for disrespecting Piggy’s request by an adult, Ralph introduces Piggy to everyone at the assembly announcing, “his real name’s Piggy!”(Golding 21). Since the boys are not in school or around adults they do not feel the need to follow rules or

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