Literary Analysis In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses the symbol of the fire to develop the theme that fear can drive our decisions. In this book it starts out peaceful but the fire is one decision that may have been hard. These boys went from simple children to hunters and killers. This book is filled with fear and decision making. In Lord of the Flies they have to make a lot of decisions as a group and as a leader. The boys first decision is to find out if the land they are on is an island or not. Ralph decides to take two other boys with him to find out what it is. “Listen, everybody. I've got to have time to think things out. I can't decide what to do straight off. If this isn't an island we might be rescued straight away. So we've got …show more content…
They had to decide if this was a real actual thing or if he was just having a nightmare. Ralph didn't want to believe that there was a beast on the island. “By now, Ralph had no self-consciousness in public thinking but would treat the day's decisions as though he were playing chess. The only trouble was that he would never be a very good chess player. He thought of the littluns and Piggy. Vividly he imagined Piggy by himself, huddled in a shelter that was silent except for the sounds of nightmare”(Golding 117). Ralph knew he had a lot to think about, and that he had to make the right decision. He couldn't quite think of what had to be done about the beast or how to get away. He was more worried about what everyone else would think of him and what his decision would do. Ralph was scared and didn't want to make the wrong choice for the boys, because he knew the wrong decision could send the boys in the wrong direction. When Jack decides to use Ralph’s decision to run away against him to try and make everyone vote him chief. No one would vote him chief so he took off and took fire with him and then the chaos began. In the chaos a life was taken and more fears were brought
Ralph very scares and worries. Ralph tries to relax himself by thought that they are not as bad as it is, for all that has been done after killing Simon and Piggy. It explains by Ralph, “A spasm of terror set him shaking and he cried aloud. “No, They’re
Ralph represents order and discipline, while Jack represents an unhealthy drive for power and savagery. In the beginning of the novel, Ralph is voted the leader of the group and attempts to make life on the island disciplined and civilized, like their life in England. However, throughout the novel Jack rivals Ralph’s leadership role, attempting to overthrow him. As the boys’ savage impulses increase, more of them begin to side with Jack instead of going with Ralph. As Ralph loses his hold over the boys, almost all of them begin to act violently and barbaric. An example of this is when the children of the island murder Simon for no justifiable reason. Even Piggy and Ralph partake in the murder, showing that the violent human impulse is in
Ralph being the main character of the book and always trying to find a way to get them off the island is the main good guy, and Piggy can almost be looked at like his sidekick. While Ralph was elected leader in the story he admits, to himself, that Piggy is smarter than him. Whenever Ralph freezes or is at a loss for words Piggy is there to remind him what he needs to say. He is the only person that never betrays Ralph even at the cost of his own life isn’t trying to join Jack’s side. Ralph is the main character and protagonist of the story, but he does have flaws. From the very beginning he never had the leadership skills to get everyone to work hard as a group. It almost seemed that as the story went on he didn’t become a better leader, but a worse one. He would always lose his train of thought while speaking to the group, and couldn’t make them feel safe. They were all afraid of the beast. What makes him the hero of the story, is that he never gives up on being rescued. He also doesn’t become a savage like the other children do. His mind is always on the fact that they need to get off the island, even when the others
Ralph starts out making the island seem fun, that this is a grand adventure they’re on. But he also believes that they need rules and order, so they don’t become savages and forget who they are. This is why he uses the conch to create order and a system of rules. Ralph becomes leader and starts giving people jobs and making a fire become the most important thing. He wants to be rescued and is trying to get them off the island as fast as possible. “While we’re waiting we can have a good time on this island… It’s like a book.” Ralph is trying to make light of a bad situation and making the island seem like a utopia that the boys can explore. In life people do this all the time, they sugar coat the truth to make it seem like it’s better that it is or fun when in
Lord of the Flies is a novel written in 1954 by William Golding. A plane carrying a group of British citizens trying to escape the nuclear war gets shot down and lands on a deserted tropical island. The only survivors are children ranging from the age of six to twelve-year-olds. The younger children are nick named “littluns” and the older children are nick named “biguns”. At first, they celebrate their freedom from the war but then they begin to realize there aren't any adults to supervise them, they don't have food, they don't have shelter, and they are stranded on a deserted tropical island. One of the characters Piggy is classified as smart but is fat chubby and has asthma so he isn't capable of much things. “ “My auntie told me not to
Ralph's character is progressively broken down throughout the novel, only to be rebuilt stronger, and more knowledgeable in the end. If it wasn't for Ralph being hunted by Jack's tribe, the island would never be engulfed in flames; the boys would never be rescued. Thus, he also serves as the key character to the resolution of the novel. The events of the story prove that in a typical society, evil may gain control on occasion, but ultimatelyeverything will be balanced
In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of English boys in their adolescence are stranded on an island. They crash-land while being evacuated because of an atomic war, so the boys must learn to cooperate with each other in order to survive. The boys are civil at first, but the bonds of civilization unfold as the rapacity for power and immediate desires become more important than civility and rescue. The conflict between Ralph, the protagonist, and Jack, the antagonist, represents the conflict between the impulse to civilization and the impulse to savagery, respectively. In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses Ralph and Jack’s struggle for power to show that greed and lust for power can corrupt the best
If we go across--' He glanced round him. ' Someone's got to go across the island and tell Piggy we'll be back after dark.' " (117) This quote shows that Ralph is the only one who thought of Piggy during the hunt, showing that Ralph still has a moral sense of order and rightfulness.
Piggy's intelligence is unmatched by anyone on the island. The kids are panicking because they have just seen the beast and no one can light the fire, aside from Piggy who remains calm. “We've got no fire. That thing sits up there-we'll have to stay here,” (29) Ralph says grievously. Piggy stays calm and is the one who actually takes time to think about the situation. He suggests to move the fire down next to the campsite which Ralph agrees with. Later when Jack leaves, Ralph does not know what to do and turns to Piggy and asks, "Piggy, what are we going to do?"(139). Ralph looks to Piggy when he is uncertain or hesitant for guidance. He knows that Piggy can think and trusts his decisions. Jack is fighting Ralph when Piggy says, “ Ralph-- remember what we came for. The fire. My specs” (177). Piggy reminds Ralph of the real importance of what their doing and to not get side tract with Jack. Piggy knows what needs to happen in order for him and everyone to survive. He is one of, if not the only, boy on the island who can make a truly intelligent decision.
After rallying the boys from all around the island Ralph calls a meeting. At the meeting he tries to create order by having the boys elect a leader, all of the choir boys vote for Jack but the rest vote for Ralph. Ralph wins the vote. He starts organizing a way to survive. First, he assigns Jack and the rest of the choir boys as the hunters. Later he has the boys build huts for them to live in until they get rescued. He also assigns shifts for the fire to help as a signal and to get rescued. He constantly shows leadership and sense of
When Ralph does take charge he does it silently and does not flaunt his intangibles, like Jack Merridew did, saying he is the lead choir boy amongst other things. Ralph took control of the castaways and won the boys over without being aggressive, without disrespecting Jack, and without arrogance and self made pride. He wins the boys over with his calming presence and his ability to get everyone on the same page. It is for all those reasons, that Ralph was able to win over the boys and ultimately take over the island, but doing so in a well balanced, fair democracy. While Ralph does lead the boys, however, there is still no love loss between Jack and Ralph. Later on in the novel, some of the boys have begun to lose interest and faith in Ralph's leadership. But instead many boys are becoming intrigued with by what Jack and his hunters are doing. It is for that reason that Ralph must give into the ways of these barbaric actions by the hunters. While out hunting one day, Jack and his fellow hunters are accompanied by Ralph who wants to contribute, learn, and feel the rush of hunting. The hunters and Ralph see a scurrying animal trot across the jungle, “ ‘Through here’ ‘But he’d do us!’ ‘Through here!’ Jack said… ‘I hit him!, said Ralph again’, and the spear stuck in a bit … ‘I saw you. Right on his snout, Whee!’ “ (113)
This passage is a demonstration of loss of hope and the strength of civilized instinct. Ralph’s hope has decreased when there is no one beside him but a few biguns and a few littluns, his strength of civilized instinct diminishes causing him to forget why there needed to be a signal fire in the first place, until Piggy reminds him of the fact. He proclaims he did not forget even though he did, however he does not own up to it.
At the time of the chase, he needed time to think of what to do and formulate a plan. Without the help of his smart advisor Piggy, he is at a loss of what to do. There is a consensus that Piggy is a smart boy, as he thinks scientifically, is aware of the situation on the island from the very beginning, and is not swayed by the talk of the beast. Therefore, it is safe to say that Piggy is a symbol of knowledge, and the lack of Piggy is a lack of knowledge in Ralph’s eyes. Ralph is confused and his brain is in chaos in addition to the physical chaos happening outside of Ralph’s brain:
In Lord of the Flies, Golding is suggesting that freedom, when given to fully too quickly can be a detriment to society. As the boys break the rules that were set for them, like not letting the fire go out, and do not get punished, chaos slowly overtakes the boys. The fire symbolizes how the hope that the boys once had to be rescued starts to waver. This opens up their minds to be overruled by emotions.
“Isolation is a dream killer” (Barbara Sher). In the novel Lord of the Flies written by William Golding, kids stranded on an island must figure out how to survive. By hunting pigs and building shelters the kids tried to subsist on the island. Through the process of hunting, the kids became cruel, evolving to the point of being barbaric. Thus, through the barbaric actions of the boys and the outside world, Golding shows that savagery exists in all people.