More handpicked essays just for you.
Ralph's determination in lord of the flies
Essay on characters in lord of the flies
Lord of the flies character analysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In the Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of British boys are stranded on an uninhabited island and try to govern themselves. The leader of the group is Ralph, the main representative of order, civilization, and productive leadership. Ralph exhibits the traits of an excellent leader throughout the novel by being kind, responsible, and determined. Because of the aforementioned traits, the boys feel safe and even hopeful about being rescued.
Ralph is one of the oldest boys on the islands, he was elected as leader at the beginning of the book. Ralph treats all the boys with respect throughout the book even when he begins to lose sanity himself. Ralph organizes all the boys in hope to keep them alive until they get saved, he makes them build shelters, keep the fire burning, and keep them all fed. Constantly throughout the book Ralph tries to keep the boys civilized whereas Jack does the opposite.
A leader to one may not be a leader to all, but a respected leader is recognized as the best. A group of boys stranded on an island starts the tale of Lord of Flies by William Golding leading to an adventurous tale. This takes place in World War II surrounding the life of young British Boys. The boys on the island vote to decide on a chief among themselves and Ralph comes out victorious. Although Ralph is not the oldest or strongest, the little ones follow him endlessly through the well-earned respect that shines in his leadership.
He formed his own tribe, which planned to hunt down Ralph’s group. Eventually, that dispute for leadership in the beginning led to Piggy’s life being lost. The second way that this book relates to the quote is that Ralph was thought of highly because of his leadership capabilities and his acceptance towards others. In the first chapter, Ralph is promptly elected
I believe that partially everyone was to blame for what happened on the island but most importantly I believe it was mainly Jack and Ralph. The reason why I think Ralph is to blame is because he kept the fire as one of the main priorities and wouldn’t really shut up about it and I think that if he did focus as much as he did on the fire with shelter, attaining food and water then they wouldn’t have divided. The other reason I believe Ralph is to blame is because he only enforced that someone would have to keep the fire in control and didn’t coerce the boys into making shelters. I think Ralph is to blame for what happened on the island because he was cocky and didn’t really want to listen to other boys. I think if he toned it down a little bit,
[Ralph] is like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn’t a proper chief”[ Golding, 138]. By saying this, Jack is showing the other boys that to survive you need to hunt and be strong, not use your brain. This paints a negative image in the little boys and about Ralph and Piggy, resulting in Jack looking like the best.
Ralph’s leadership over the boys begins to wane and his control over the boys is not as solid as when the boys first arrived on the island. At the meeting Jack calls to discuss what occurred on the mission to investigate the beast on the mountain, Jack asks “who thinks Ralph oughtn’t be chief?” questioning Ralph’s ability to lead(127). The “near-white, and transparen[t],” conch shell is representative of the breakdown in order and how Ralph’s leadership is on shaky grounds(78). On the investigation to find the beast, Ralph uses his id as opposed to his ego when he participates in hurting Robert when Robert is pretending to be a pig .
In the end Ralph starts to act like Piggy. Ralph is strong and kind of a bully to Piggy at the beginning. He was the other civilized character. At the beginning, Ralph uses a conch shell to call a meeting of all the boys (p 17). He organizes what will be done after he is voted to be the chief (p 23).
In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses items and people to symbolize many different things. These symbolic things include Piggy’s glasses, Simon’s epilepsy, the Lord of the Flies, and arguably the most important symbol, the conch shell. The conch shell was first found in the water by Piggy, who then comes up with the idea of using the conch as a blow horn to call for meetings. Throughout Lord of the Flies, the conch shell becomes not only associated with Ralph and his leadership, but with Piggy and his intuitive and wise ideas and Jack and his dictator-like, irresponsible authority. The conch shell, representing law and order, assisted in the election of Ralph as chief and ultimately determines the future of the island.
There are three main characters of the book: Jack, Ralph, and Piggy. Jack is where the immorality on the island originates from, and it spreads to the other boys. Jack is very reckless and careless in his decisions. Ralph was the leader of the island, until Jack took control of the tribe and turned all of them into savages. Ralph was an image for the boys to follow but spoke Piggy’s words.
The events of original evil which ironically issued positive results prove Ralph’s success as an individual in contrast to his responsibilities as a leader. Even though he finds trouble accepting his flaws as an untrusted leader, he uses his beliefs in self-importance to overlook the negative possibilities to his selfishness. Piggy recognizes Ralph’s individuality due to his lack of attention and care toward him concerning the respect of his appearance from the other boys on the island. Ralph’s introduction to the conch open the eyes of the boys to a new way of life and hopeful survival, while Jack’s approach to culture on the island institutes the idea of corruption. It is then distinctive that Ralph, “the being that had blown [the conch][...]was set apart” from the rest of the boys (Golding 22).
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.
Ralph is first introduced as the fair boy who is a natural born leader. He applies Piggy’s intelligence to think of a way to summon the other survivors on the island. Ralph follows through with Piggy’s idea and uses the conch which emits a loud sound that can be hear through the island. The sound eventually lures the group of boys towards them. His leader instincts are best portrayed when he’s able to side with Jack after offering to share his power: “The suffusion drained away from Jack’s face.
Dynamic Vs. Static Many things can influence one’s opinion, so that one can develop as a person. Some things are from others’ influences or a realization. People are always dynamic, because people change with their experiences.
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
