Jack versus Ralph Without rules, chaos would take control, and the foundation of civilization would crumble. The book The Lord of The Flies by William Golding was inspired by his experiences in World War II. He saw what happened to people when they had minimal rules and wanted to kill. In this book, a group of young boys are stranded on an island. The boys start with rules and a democratic system, using voting and the conch as a way to take turns talking. Unfortunately, this takes a turn for the worse. One of the boys, Jack, gets obsessed with hunting and disobeying the chief, Ralph. Jack and his group of hunters then turn completely savage. Jack and Ealph contrast in the text, including leadership, priorities, and will to survive. The two …show more content…
And another thing. We ought to have more rules. Where the conch is, that's a meeting. The same up here as down there.” (Golding 42). Ralph was more concerned about making sure the fire was lit and smoking. Ralph is trying to lead everyone to survival and rescue. Later on, Piggy, Ralph's sidekick, was talking to Ralph about him staying chief. He says “If Jack was chaid hed have all hunted no fire. We’d be here till we died” (Golding 98). When Piggy says “We'd be here till we died” he recognizes the fact that Jack doesn’t want to lead everyone to survival. He just wants to have fun and hunt. Again, Jack is only trying to have everyone hunt. The group splits up and Jack says “We’ll hunt, I'm going to be chief” (Golding 132). He thinks all the boys need to do to survive is hunt and get meat. Ralph's leadership style is democratic while Jack is an enthusiastic leader. Ralph Strives to keep civilization in opposition to Jack, who is barbaric. Ralph is trying to convince Jack to stop being savage. He says, “Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up.” (Golding 180). Ralph senses that what the boys are doing is …show more content…
Ralph also makes sure to keep the fire going. He makes sure that other ships can see the smoke, and he hopes to get saved. “The fire is the most important thing. Without the fire, we can't be rescued, I’d like to put on war paint and be savage. But we must keep the fire burning.” (Golding 142) Even though Ralph wants to have fun with Jack, he wants to survive more. Jack is immature and gives in to his wants. Ralph knows that Jack shouldn't be doing this. Jack progressively gets more savage and feral throughout the book. At some point, he turns into a wild animal. Golding says, “He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling.” Jack is transforming from a child of innocence into a savage, hunting, animal. The boys developed differently. Contrasting each other's actions and ways of survival. The difference between the boys is the difference between life and death. They were both leaders, but led their groups with different mindsets and goals. Jack felt the need to hunt for fun and survival. Ralph knew Jack's way of living wasn't the way to escape the island. Ralph believes in rules, fire, and fun. If Jack were to follow the rules, conflict could've been