What will be focused on first to demonstrate the fall into savagery, is how Jack and Ralph’s physical appearance differs from each other, and how that affects life on the island. To start off, Ralph is quite clean and respectable, with his fair hair and conch. “But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch” (22). Everyone notices this respectable appearance right when they meet him. Closer to the middle of the book, Ralph starts to become sweaty and his hair begins to grow longer. This reminds him about his childhood. This remembrance is a reoccurring problem for him. Because his hair keeps getting in his eyes, and reminding him of his peaceful childhood, he isn’t able to be the grown up on the island that is needed for the boys to stay in order. …show more content…
With his hair out of the way he is able to be the fair-haired-chief that all the boys need (76-78). But as we get further into the book, and closer to the end, Ralph’s appearance becomes much more like a savage. He gets very dirty, grimy, and bloody from fighting with, and running from, Jack and the other savages that are trying to kill him. This is heard of throughout the entire length of chapter 12. This appearance compelled Ralph’s human nature to fall into savagery. Jack, on the other hand, starts out with a bit more fancy of an appearance, with his black robe and clean hair (20). He looks very proper yet many fear him because of it. They see right away that he is the leader of the choir, and a strict one for that matter: “The tall boy shouted at them. ‘Choir! Be still!”(20). This makes them all quite afraid of Jack, and it definitely affects who the boys chose to give their vote to for chief. As the book goes on his appearance begins to change very