Lord of the Flies Chapter 4-6

Context: After being on the island for just a brief time, one of the boys, Ralph, decides to take charge and blow into a conch shell to call any other boys on the island down to the beach and they all have a meeting to establish some structure into this small “society” that they are about to build.

That's a reef out to sea." These statements show Ralph to have intelligence to make conclusions on his own accord, and we are able to see the character can think for himself. Continuing through the first chapter, after the meeting with the conch, we see Ralph as a natural leader, "there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out…. Ralph raised is hand for silence" throughout the clamour of choosing a leader, we see Ralph is willing for others to get their say, yet he is still able to have control over the situation and manages to leave the group in awe of him. Throughout the first meeting, Ralph is perceived as someone who does good, such as calling all the boys together, yet he is not so out of touch that he can't relate to the normal temptations in life. These qualities Golding describes Ralph to have in this first chapter, and incredibly important for the remainder of the novel.

For a moment, Ralph felt the tears well up his eyes as a thought crossed his mind about the time he spent with the boys on the island. 0Whenever Ralph looked at Jack and the boys with painted faces and long hair, it reminded him of his loyal friend named Piggy who was killed many days ago. He couldn’t believe things would have gone this far and the boys have fallen within a few months, Ralph also blamed himself for not being a good

Ralph is an insufficient leader, which causes his society to greatly decline. Ralph creates the policy of only speaking when one holds the conch in their hands; only Ralph is allowed to interrupt since he is the leader. The boys are at the top of a mountain, defeated, because their fire didn’t stay lit. When Piggy tries to explain why it didn’t work, Jack interrupts him.

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

Ralph had stopped crying, and resorted to distracting himself with thoughts of seeing his dad and being home again. He knew that his Britain had been destroyed, but he held on to the hope that everything would be back to normal soon. He was more satisfied with his appearance after showering, which felt very foreign after only a couple of weeks. His hair was still covering his eyes, but it was less of a hassle since it was clean. Ralph mostly had been sitting in the large room with the other kids, but he kept to himself. Actually, most of the boys kept to themselves. The realization of what happened on the island hung heavily in the room, silent all for a few smaller kids crying together in the corner.

In chapter 3 an argument breaks out between Ralph and Jack over the group's priorities. Ralph is trying to build shelters and an SOS fire while Jack and his hunters are craving some meat. I agree with Ralph wanting the priority to be on getting rescued and staying alive, but I disagree with him complaining about it because he is the leader and it's his job to get everyone working. With Jack I understand and agree that people will get tired of eating fruit and other foods similar to that, but I dislike how he's complaining when he's the one that is responsible for hunting. The argument that these two boys have are what I believe to be purely because of laziness. However if they don’t set things right, this problem is only going to

Ralph is not only a leader, but a voice of reason within the group. Ralph’s main priority throughout the novel is to be rescued, even when it did not seem as important to the other boys in the group. Ralph creates a signal fire and consistently reminds the boys that it is imperative to their survival. Ralph explains, “Don’t you understand? Can’t you see we ought to--ought to die before we let the fire out?” (Golding 81). Ralph’s scolding to the hunters is well deserved considering that they wasted a possible opportunity to be rescued after letting the signal fire go out. As time went on, Jack and his hunters become more and more consumed with hunting and order began to turn into chaos. The hunters chant, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in” (Golding 75). Ralph refuses to join the boys and viciously murder pigs. The boys’ hygiene habits were also worsening, to the point that the boys were defecating in the wrong areas. Ralph tries to address it at a meeting, but the boys’ find their animal-like behavior amusing. Throughout the loss of civility and order, Ralph always keeps a persistent effort to keep the signal fire going and keep order within the group. Ralph’s attitude towards the entire situation drops, however he never completely lost hope.

1. Ralph's contemplation's at the beginning of the chapter are about how he feels about the boys on the island. He just talks and walks around the beach by the lagoon about how he feels about everything that has happened and perhaps a little bit about how much respect he's getting. One of the things Ralph is most bothered by is the fact that the littluns are not working and doing whatever they please. Another thing he might be annoyed by is the fact that Jack is getting a little too focused on hunting.

The naval officer took all the boys that were on the island to the ship. One by one they got on the ship and sat down quietly. Most of them thought about the things that happen on the island like what happen to Piggy and Simon and the littlun with a mulberry-colored mark on his face. Others thought about what they were going to do when they got home with their families and how their families were going to react. Ralph thought about his friend, Piggy, and how he got killed. Jack thought about his mom and what would happen if she knew what he did on the island. Everyone’s faces seemed shocked by the news that they were rescued. Ralph seem like he wanted to say something, but he was too shocked to even say a word. The naval officer asked the littluns what their name was but some of them did not even remember their names not even Percival.

“Meanwhile Ralph continued to blow till voices shouted in the forest” (18). This quote demonstrates that although the boys have just arrived on the island, the conch shell’s sound attracts their attention. They all rush to the sound, and because Ralph is holding it, their attention diverted to him. “But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive

The novel, The Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, applies a variety of symbols to represent how the boys use tangible items in attempt to stay civilized and become savage. When the boys first land on the island, Ralph, later know as the chief, finds a glamorous shell, the conch. He uses the conch to call meetings when one is due, and the boys use the conch to control the flow the gatherings. They may only speak if they are holding the conch: "The conch goes to the next person to speak" (Goulding 33). The conch unites the boys in an orderly and organized way.

When the boys first discover the Conch shell, it brings about unity between them. Ralph spots the

Although the boys would prefer to have fun and play games, they follow Ralph’s rules at first. This order is maintained until Ralph loses his leadership role to Jack. After providing, or bribing, the boys with juicy pig meat, Jack asks “’Who’ll join my tribe and have fun?’” (211). This lure of enjoyment along with the promise of more food sways the boys to follow Jack. With the demise of Ralph’s leadership and under the leadership of Jack, the boys begin to turn towards savagery.

Throughout this novel, Ralph represents the civilization side of society. Ralph wants the boys to know that they are not living a very humane lifestyle and that they need to start acting like regular school boys. He decides to blow the conch and host an assembly to try to embed this information into their brains:”’We have lots of assemblies. We decide things. But they don’t get done’” (Golding 79). This quote relates to Golding’s message because Ralph tries to get the idea across to the boys that if they do not choose to follow through with their ideas then