Survival In Lord Of The Flies

Group Survival within: Lord of the Flies

Survival is an omnipresent principle that all life depends on for existence. Within the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, survival is observed as a major and important element that has to do with part struggle and part endurance. Within this novel, several characters come across the need to survive on an isolated island, but they are unable to due to obstacles such as fear and doubts of vacating a creature filled island, controversies and quarrels with the group and stressful geography of the island. It is because of a person’s ability to persevere through uneasy trials, they have a chance at survival.

Fear is perilous to the mind during aspects of survival. Within the novel, the character

Ralph reflects upon the groups previous days nervously, scared of the events that are yet to come as their time on the island prolongs. Despite the doubts and anxiety Ralph had about the group and their survival, he persevered through.

Ralph is faced with another challenge of confronting the groups’ actions that are damaging their survival chances. Ralph and the group notice a ship and an opportunity to be rescued off the island, but they are forced to watch this opportunity dwindle away due to an ignorant act made by Ralph’s antagonist, Jack. Jack ignored his post of maintaining the fire to hunt a pig causing the ship to evade the island. Ralph is filled with rage, but he tries to calm himself down. “‘There was a ship’… Ralph brought his arm down, fist clenched, and his voice shook. ‘There was a ship. Out there. You said you’ll keep the fire going and you let it out!’ He took a step toward Jack, who turned and faced him. ‘They might have seen us. We might have gone home—’” (70). Ralph is furious with Jack for foiling the groups’ chance of leaving the island over the need to hunt. Plus Ralph is not only annoyed with Jack; but with the rest of the group as well. Ralph staged a meeting with the group of boys on the island during sunset. The group already knows Ralph has not been pleased with them recently and they should expect his irritability. They were correct.

Ralph is the elected leader of the group and as the group’s leader his first role was to learn the islands geographical landmarks. “Ralph’s left the perspectives of palm and beach and water drew to a point at infinity; and always, almost visible, was the heat” (10). Ralph clearly sees the importance of the role given to him and decides to map out the island as a starting point as the group’s survival leader. During this voyage, Ralph leads a small set of boys up to the mountain of the island to grasp a better perspective of the island. Ralph tackles his geographical obstacles with his wit and his will to ensure the survival of the group:

‘We’ll try climbing the mountain from here.’ he said… There’s less of that jungly stuff; and more pink rock… The most usual stuff on the rock was a pink cliff surmounted by a skewed block; … Where the pink cliffs rose out of the ground there were often narrow tracks winding upwards. They could edge along them, deep in the plant world, their faces to the rock (26)

Ralph uses his geographical skills to navigate and ensure the survival of the group by hiking up a mountain and observing the island’s fortuitous landscape. Although, Geography proved itself to be a burden to Ralph and his group their determination resulted in higher chances of