Growth in the Midst of a Fire In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, you are introduced to a vast array of young boys. As time goes on, you learn more and more about how they arrived on the island, who they are, and what they will become. Golding very quickly introduces the reader to Ralph, the sandy haired, twelve-year-old protagonist. Voted to be the leader on the island, he showed promising leadership skills; everyone seems to recognize Ralph’s power and respects it. However, in time, he slowly lost sight of his goals and respect from the other boys. NO THESIS Ralph, from the beginning, had the hopes of being rescued. He even told the first boy that he met on the island, Piggy, that his Navy father would come and save him. “I could swim when I was five. Daddy taught me; He is a commander in the Navy. When he gets leave from …show more content…
Once he was elected leader and grew in knowledge of the island, he realized that this life isn’t what he he thought it would be. It was brutal, even vicious, trying to keep order with the irresponsible boys. Not only did they lose focus on their civilized nature to turn to savagery, but their common sense was dwindling every day. An example would be when the adolescent boys brutally murder an innocent Simon, mistaking him for the beast. Instead of taking responsibility for their sickening actions, they disregard their inhuman actions with an excuse of “Coming in the dark- he hadn’t no business crawling like that out of the dark. He was batty. He asked for it”(157). Only a few boys on island, including Ralph, were willing to accept what tragically happened that night was a vicious murder. As the boys slide further and further into savagery, Ralph tried to keep his civilized nature and common sense alive. He was a mature leader, who pulled greatly on his skills to lead the boys through the