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What Does Ralph From Lord Of The Flies Symbolize In Chapter 7

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In Chapter Seven, Ralph is struggling to keep his civility from the ever increasing lure of atavism. Throughout the chapter, Ralph was attracted to savagery and atavism by taking part in many atavistic activities with Jack and the hunters. They tried to hunt pigs, play games, and climb mountains. While taking part in these activities, Ralph nearly forgets his real mission, to find the beast. The increasing lure of atavism nearly overtakes him when he watches a reenactment of a hunt by Jack and the hunters. After failing to catch a boar, Jack and the hunters decided to reenact the event, with Robert as the boar. The boys surrounded Robert and threw spears at him and sang hunting songs, nearly killing Robert. Although he knew that it was just …show more content…

The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering” (114-115). When presented with another view of society that seems to be fun and relaxing, a person will become interested in that view. Similarly, Ralph is being presented with Jack’s way of life on the island. Every time they kill an animal, Jack and his hunters surround the beast, sing wild songs, and chop its head off. When Ralph saw Jack’s reenactment, he is intrigued. What he is seeing is not a boring job of hunting animals for food, it is hunting for fun and for sprit. The bloodlust, joy, and power that comes with killing an animal is overwhelming. To Ralph, it looks like Jack’s way of life and method of hunting is exciting and energetic, compared to his monotonous task of building huts, watching over little kids, and making sure everyone is following the rules. Symbolically, Ralph is struggling to decide whether atavism or civility is the better choice to follow. His current method, using civility and reason to solve problems is not fun and easy. He has to sacrifice most of his fun to ensure order around the island. In contrast, the atavistic life Jack and the hunters are living is

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“How could you be safe by the little stream or on the open beach?” (183) After Ralph ran away, he was alone with no one to help him while he was injured. Ralph doesn’t feel safe anywhere since they group of savage boys could be anywhere to attack Ralph. After they group of boys decided to join Jack in his tribe, the group of boys turned into savages.

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and Jack replies “Hunters.” This shows that he was civilized enough not to make a scene about Ralph being chosen but, he still made sure he was the commander of the hunters. The second defining moment was on page 31 when

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Upon arriving, Ralph’s primary ambition is to get off the island safely, considering the expected immaturity in reaction to the boys’ sudden loss of authority. He manages to maintain this intention regardless of his job or worth in society among the boys. As evil challenges his capability to retain this quality by the irony of the fire, breaking of the conch, and overall destruction of civilization, demonstrates his level of mental strength considering all of the odds against his favor. Having the, “voice of someone who [knows their] own mind,” and instituting an independent attitude towards his goal, Ralph displays competence and trust in his capabilities rather than depending on that of others. As displayed in his immediate need for order, Ralph establishes a plan to get off of the island.

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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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162 Words | 1 Pages

I relate to Ralph because in the novel, Lord of the Flies, Ralph is shown as natural leadership qualities, while at the same time the average social and civilized teenage boy. I was a co-captain of my middle school dance team, therefore leadership skills come easily to me. He is sufficiently intelligent and also demonstrates obvious common since, this is an example of another similarity between the two of us. In addition to that, Ralph represented leadership and civilization. Throughout the book he strained to keep order between the boys and to bring them together as one in order to be rescued.

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870 Words | 4 Pages

This is a key moment because the conflict between Ralph and Jack has grown from audible disputes, to a physical divide between civilization and savagery of the boys. “Later in the novel, he even breaks away from Ralph’s newly formed society, forming his own tribe of hunters.” (Neighbors,1) This split shows the growing tension between the boys because they are now also splitting the other boys between the two sides. Ralph states that getting rescued should be their priority while Jack thinks hunting is just as important.

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843 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel, Jack consistently demonstrates a disregard for rules and a desire for dominance and power. When he leads the boys in hunting and violence, he taps into their savage and primal instincts - including Ralph’s. As Jack proclaims, "The conch doesn't count at this end of the island" (Golding, 150) it becomes evident that he prioritizes dominance and power over order, authority, and the established rules on the island. In the midst of their destructive rivalry, Jack’s failures teach Ralph important lessons. Witnessing Jack’s inability to maintain the signal fire makes Ralph recognize the value of collaboration, communication, and planning for survival.

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In chapters 6 and 7, there are more signs of Jack and everyone else disobeying Ralph, implying the further strain of Jack and Ralph’s relationship.    In Chapter 8, Ralph angered Jack simply by calling him and his hunters cowardly and ineffective. In response, he unsuccessfully tries to impeach Ralph then permanently runs away into the forest, with many others joining him. A small provocation from Ralph causing Jack to form his own separate group shows how volatile the tension in their relationship now is. It can also be seen that Jack now fully rejects Ralph’s leadership in favour of his own.

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The want for power strengthens and his hunger increases, but what he was unaware of was the fact that he was destroying his own mind. He was brainwashed by his surroundings to think that in that situation, it was acceptable. Jack’s evilness has officially broken everyone's norms on the island. These young boys have been exposed to the wild and this has destroyed the minds’ of these kids and has turned the kids into

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While Jack wanted to hunt for his own enjoyment and amusement, Ralph was thinking of others and what they could do to get rescued. Ralph was a natural born leader because he stayed civilized and had that value remain with him while making decisions and getting off the

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In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding there is an occurrence of various changes that are involved in each character. Throughout the book, there are characters that change since they were first introduced and some who have very little to no change. Ralph is someone in the beginning in the book who appears to be quite immature and adventurous. Ralph changes into an organized leader who appears to be more mature because he sees the bigger picture of being rescued and realizes life isn’t all fun and games which is significant because it conveys the maturity when kids start to grow up. Some experiences that show his change are when the fire goes out, when the group is seeking the beast, and the death of Simon.

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Ralph screamed of fright and anger and desperation. His legs straightened, the screams became continuous and foaming.” ( Golding 221). When Jack has finally had enough of Ralph he decides that the best option is to hunt him and kill him. He gathered his tribe and they make up a plan.

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213 Words | 1 Pages

I do believe that the main character changed by the end of the book, although some other characters changed a bit more, I still believe that Ralph changed drastically during the entire span of the book. Ralph, I believe that he starts out as an optimistic and calm boy, and with confidence in himself and that they are going to find a way off the island and a way back home. But, during chapter nine, a savage side shows while he joins the boys chanting about the pig. He only realizes, that later, he never should have participated in the cruel and horrifying act, because of how frightened the whole scene made him. As for what kind of character I believe Ralph is, I believe he is a dynamic character because he does change in his physical appearance(being

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1127 Words | 5 Pages

“They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you. They’re going to hunt you tomorrow.” (Golding, 170). After all the chaos from previous chapters of the novel, Ralph realizes that he’s completely isolated and lonely.

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700 Words | 3 Pages

Ralph and Jack had just met on the island due to the plane crash, signifying that they were strangers at the beginning of the story and all of them were forced with no choice but to become acquaintances as they were the only ones stranded on the desolate island. Their relationship started on a good note when Jack, Ralph and Simon decided to scout the island. As they began to scout the island, they started to warm up to each other. Shortly after, a bonding started to form between them as they braved through many difficulties climbing the mountain. This can be represented by this quote “They savoured the right of domination.

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