Lord of the Flies Research Paper Outline

At the time, Ralph heavily influences the boys and their actions for he resembles “the men with the megaphones” (18). He attempts to create order among the boys with rules, but most of the boys would rather play than follow the rules—for there are no adults to enforce them. With the role of leadership thrust upon him, Ralph has no choice but to stop playing games. His goals are to protect the boys and increase their chances of being rescued; however, the responsibility on Ralph’s shoulders soon begins to weigh him down. As “Ralph [watches the boys], envious and resentful” (75), the obligation to care for everyone on the island is a heavy burden to bear. His role as leader has forced Ralph to forget the joys of being an innocent kid and given him the encumbrance of responsibility, which causes the start of his maturation.

These masks, which are used by Jacks followers called ‘the hunters,’ are made of clay paint. The evilness of the boys is clearly shown when they wear the masks. It is almost as if an infectious disease is spread upon them; they lose all sense of civilization. After Jack paints the mask on his face for the first time, it is clear what it does to him. “He began to dance and his laughter became a blood thirsty snarling. “He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness.” (Golding 64). This not only shows the cruelty of the mask, but it also shows how it opens Jack into the world of being a savage. Also, Golding mentions the colors of Jack’s first mask as being Red, White, and Black. These colors symbolize “violence, terror, and evil.” (Golding).

In the beginning of the novel, Jack’s mask represents hiding from himself and to hide from the responsibility of the real world. Jack is standing over the water when he begins to create the mask out of different colors of charcoal. Once he creates his mask, he sees himself in the reflection of the water, “he began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling. He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (Golding 64). He becomes a different person and hides from his true self. A sense of anonymity arises to help relieve

jack’s behavior when he puts on the mask changes him because he feels different but not so much in a good way. jack became blood thirsty when he put on the mask and he wasn’t necessarily himself anymore. the purpose of a mask is to cover your face up, like in the story it says that “ he peered at his reflection and disliked it.” therefore showing that he did not like the way he looked so he made a mask to cover himself as if he was insecure or just wanted to feel more manly or like a hunter. yes everyone from time to time puts on a mask cause they are insecure and feel mistreated. when most people put on a mask they put it on because it makes them feel different and like a whole new person because they dont like the way they are.

“ “Shut up,” said Ralph absently. He lifted the couch. “Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things around here.” (Chapter 1, Page 22) Ralph immediately notices the boys need some leadership his natural choice is to help guide these boys. He, however, lacks this responsibility. He doesn't continue to command respect from the boys. Ralph grows up faster in the book due to Jack. Later Jack breaks the tribe apart with his appealingly savage ways. Jack ended up establishing a hunting tribe. Once the tribe breaks Ralph tries to bring it back together, but since he didn’t have solid leadership skills even though he might have developed some compassion. He tries to convince Jack that he is still in charge and has power over the boys. The changes Ralph undergoes, from self-centered to group centered, doesn't reflect the island as a whole. They are all too elated to abandon the trappings of society.

Before the loss of all societal rules, Jack shows the ability to maintain a good essential nature. Jack Merridew is introduced as the head of the choristers and is automatically second-to-none while explaining why he should be the chief of all the boys: “‘I ought to be chief,’ said Jack with simple arrogance. ‘Because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp’” (Golding 22). Although the title of head chorister shows Jack’s privileged life as a schoolboy, his initial display of his desire for power shows a glimpse into his aggressive demeanor. Jack’s soon demonstrates his desire for power as he loses his ties to civilization while hunting. At first, Jack struggles to kill a pig. The boys question why Jack does not kill the pig, but Jack quickly makes excuses to reassure them of his intentions. Golding states, “They knew very well why he hadn’t: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh” (Golding 31). The missed kill establishes that Jack is not a savage in the early stages of the time on the island because his conscious holds him

We see throughout the beginning of the novel Ralph is struggling to get all the boys to help him build the shelter, and the others are still goofing around. This shows so much about how great of a leader Ralph will be and this is why he deserves to be a

Through Ralph being the leader on the island, it shows him as a morally ambiguous character struggling with man’s innate evil. Ralph is clearly struggling to maintain calm when he says, “‘I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts--then you go off hunting and let out the fire--’” (Golding 70-71). Ralph talks about him being chief in the past tense as if he no longer is because from the ways the boys are acting, he does not feel that he is being respected. Ralph is annoyed that instead of building shelter the boys play in the water and that instead of manning the fire, the only chance for the boys to be noticed, they decide hunting is more important than being rescued. Ralph means well by these orders, he wants to see that every boy on the island survives. At the same time he is struggling to be calm and he is not doing a good job at it. Also as the leader Ralph is not the one

In this moment, Jack put white clay on one-half of his face and red on the other half. Jack put charcoal between the patches of red and white on his face and a mask on top of all of this. Jack put the clay on his face so he could disguise himself from the pig and creep up on it and stab it. The reader can tell that the mask is now controlling Jack and the other hunters because it said that “the mask compelled them” (64). This is significant because this is when Jack starts turning into an

Ralph was a positive thinker. He kept trying to convince all the other children that someone was going to be there to save them. He was positive about the fact that they were on an island that had fruit and pigs for them to eat. Even about the fact that there was water all around them which meant that they could take baths. Even though there were people around him that did not agree with what he thought was right and people who did not like to listen to him, he just kept moving forward. He did not let those people stop him from surviving on the island.

Secondly, Ralph is a better leader because he perseveres through the hardship. “Great leaders have a

Ralph's common sense and ability to recognize what is best for the group also shows his excellent leadership skills. His main focus throughout the book is getting rescued and tells the boys to make a fire and to keep it burning to make a signal. However, the boys do not listen and he becomes angry. "The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don't keep the fire going?" (p. 86) Ralph's determination to get rescued is not only for himself, but for everyone else

Character Description- gives the reader the perspective of the lives of the "New People"; the artist

Secondly, Ralph is not only a rational leader but also a moral person, who cleverly keeps the fairness in his group. “Ralph, looking more understanding at Piggy, saw that he was hurt and crushed. He hovered between the two courses of apology or further insult ‘Better Piggy than Fatty” (25). Ralph is sincere and considerate for other people. He apparently understand their feeling and particularly shows his sympathy for Piggy. Ralph is sensible enough to realize that everyone deserves to be respected. He believes no one should have to put up with being tormented. Ralph gently gains others’ support by treating them equally, showing his compassion and ability to empathize with them. Opposite to Ralph, Jack is immoral, violent and condescending. “He’s going to beat Wilfred” (159). He does not care or understand the natural equality of

Their masks hide the evil dwelling within their innocent souls, waiting to be set free. It emits human personalities and behaviors, allowing it to be impenetrable by visual perception. With these masks as a cover, Jack and his tribe members interact nicely; chaos rips through their society when they allowed their masks to fall off throughout many sequences of events.