Ralph Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis

The book Lord Of The Flies by William Golding is definitely deep and complex, filled with very interesting and surprisingly young characters. One of these characters, who is typically seen as a leader throughout the novel, is Ralph. He would have been, if the novel were to have had one, the ‘main character’ of Golding’s story. In the very beginning of the novel, you can tell that Ralph is an idealist, and, before the book took place, he was probably the type of boy to lead a group project. He has that certain air of leadership around him, which is backed up by his actions and statements. But, at the end of it all, he is just a child, and being stranded on an island, with little hope of escape, reasonably challenges him.

At the very beginning

The fire on top of the hill to signal planes and ships was definitely one of them. He tried to keep it maintained throughout the story, though his efforts are usually in vain, because of Jack’s inability to keep track of it. Which, naturally, leads to many arguments between the two. One of the most notable ones being when a ship is on the horizon, and, because of Jack, the fire is out and unable to signal it towards the island. The reason for Jack’s inability to keep the fire going was because he was out hunting for food with the choir boys. When Jack returned to camp, Ralph had a few choice words for him and his little band of hunters. The two argued for a while, and Jack somehow ends up manipulating most of the members of the choir, and even some of the other children into following him, when he decides to leave. After that, it was the most of the children against Ralph, Piggy, Sam and Eric (the twins) and Simon (the only member of the choir who decided to stay behind). It was difficult for all of them to live by themselves after a large part of the group separated itself from them. But, after a while, Ralph, being the leader he always is, decided it was all very silly. He knew that they should confront the group, if nothing other than to have some food to eat. So he and Piggy met up with them at the fire on top of the hill, where the group was cooking their fresh kill. Ralph and Piggy were clearly not wanted there, but Ralph was adamant about staying. Another one of Ralph’s attributes does seem to be his inherent stubbornness when he believes that he needs to do something. He is able to get Jack to give him and Piggy some food but not too long afterward, the group of hunters, which seemed more like a tribe than anything, started to chant around the fire, and as a very dehydrated Simon stumbles out of the woods, they attack