Comparing and contrasting Jack and Ralph gives the reader an insight and better understanding of how the book develops. They have many similarities and differences between them. These main characters help explain things in the book like the theme, characteristics, actions, and rivalries. Some major keys of the compare and contrast are qualities in leadership, lessons they teach, and their relationships. When it comes to leadership Jack and Ralph have very few similarities, and many differences. Jack seeks to take control and be the leader in every situation. When Ralph was elected leader, Jack interjected and elected himself as leader of his choir. He is very forceful when it comes to doing things his way. For example, this quote from …show more content…
Ralph teaches us a lesson that Jack cannot. Keeping a democracy in civilization is crucial for survival. He also teaches that children need guidance and discipline. Ralph makes it clear that without the establishment of rules many problems would be caused, as shown in the novel when all the boys act out. A similarity between Jack and Ralph is that their rivalry caused society and civilization to be torn, without that the community will not function properly. Another point to compare and contrast between Jack and Ralph is their relationships between each other, and the other boys as well. From the get go Jack is by far more confident in himself and his ability to talk to others. He knows what he wants and he is not afraid to get it, even if that means being rude to others along the way. Unlike Ralph who immediately comes off as timid and uninterested when he first starts talking to Piggy and a few other boys. A similarity between Jack and Ralph is that they create a small liking to each other in the beggining, caused by agreement in sharing different roles in leadership, shown in this quote, “Jack and Ralph smiled at each other with shy liking. The rest
Jack and Ralph were motivated for their actions in different ways. Ralph was motivated strictly by the hope of being rescued. Even though he called meetings and tried to organize the group of boys to do simple things like build huts or keep the fire going so they could be rescued or survive, the boys would go play or bathe. Ralph said to Jack "And they keep running off, you remember the meeting? How everyone was going to work hard until the shelters were finished?" (51) The only person who would listen or work with Ralph was Simon. Unfortunately, the other boys continued to ignore Ralph's leadership throughout the novel and eventually all turned to Jack for leadership. Jack was motivated by hunting and killing. His obsession for this began when he was frustrated with himself for not killing the pig in the first chapter: "He snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk. Next time there would be no mercy" (29).There would actually be no mercy from Jack from that point on. Eventually all of the boys, except for Ralph and Piggy, turned to Jack's evil ways, even to the point of participating in the killing of Simon. Effectively, Ralph was motivated by the hope of rescue for his actions and Jack motivated by bloodlust.
Ralph and Jack begin the novel with similar beliefs, both wanting to implement rules. “I agree with Ralph. We’ve got to have rules and obey them.” But then the wanting of power from Jack comes to- Ralph
Jack and Ralph were motivated for their actions in different ways. Ralph was motivated strictly by the hope of being rescued. Even though he called meetings and tried to organize the group of boys to do simple things like build huts or keep the fire going so they could be rescued or survive, the boys would go play or bathe. Ralph said to Jack "And they keep running off, you remember the meeting? How everyone was going to work hard until the shelters were finished?" (51) The only person who would listen or work with Ralph was Simon. Unfortunately, the other boys continued to ignore Ralph's leadership throughout the novel and eventually all turned to Jack for leadership. Jack was motivated by hunting and killing. His obsession for this began when he was frustrated with himself for not killing the pig in the first chapter: "He snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk. Next time there would be no mercy" (29).There would actually be no mercy from Jack from that point on. Eventually all of the boys, except for Ralph and Piggy, turned to Jack's evil ways, even to the point of participating in the killing of Simon. Effectively, Ralph was motivated by the hope
Ralph represents law, order, organized society and moral integrity. Throughout the novel he is constantly making common-sense rules for the boys to follow. Unlike Ralph, Jack is unkind, caring about no one but himself and how he can benefit. Jack simply wants to hunt and have a good time. He makes fun of Piggy, humiliating him, making him feel small and unworthy. "You would, would you? Fatty.... and Jack smacked Piggy's head" (Golding 78). Jack is a lost boy who begins to discover the evil within him. When he proposes to the group that he should be the new chief, they do not respond in his favor, and Jack runs away, hurt and rejected. He swallows his hurt ego and throws all of his energy into the only thing he seems to know how to do - hunting. He puts on face paint and hides his conscience. This changes him into a savage, an evil, violent monster. The colorful mask allows Jack to forget everything he was taught back in England. "The mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness" (Golding
Both Jack’s tribe and Ralph’s tribe are similar in characteristics, but have a few that set them apart from one another. A similarity that both of the tribes share is that both have one sole leader, with one
Jack demonstrates leadership qualities at the first place when coming up with a plan of being rescued. Nonetheless, as the time passes, he begins to enjoy a sense of power. He becomes forceful, hazardous, and is willing to kill. Jack and Ralph attempt friendship even though they have extremely different personalities. Their original feelings were
The conflict between Ralph and Jack shows how lack of civilization can result to savagery. Ralph states, “We need shelters” contrasting to Jack who says, “We need meat” (Golding, p.42). The lack of civilization in Jack shows because he thinks hunting is more important than shelters although he has yet to catch a pig, while on the other hand Ralph thinks it’s more important to build shelter for a sense of home and protection from the rain and the beastie that all the littluns are afraid of. “Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing”(Golding, p. 15). This quote states that Ralph should be in charge because he has the conch, and Jack gets upset since he is not voted chief but then Ralph puts him charge of the choir boys who later on become the hunters. Ralph creates civilization when he is given power to become the chief on the island, and he has the power with or without the conch. Later in the novel when Ralph realizes he doesn’t like being dirty and “disliked perpetually flicking the tangled hair put of his eyes,” it shows that Ralph is used the civilization he had before and wants to return to that civilization (Golding, p.66). Then Jack becomes an example of savagery when he shows up to the fire in chapter 8, “stark naked save for the paint and a belt” (Golding, p.125). Ralph and his followers show the civilized and orderly side of the island, but on the contrary, Jack and his tribe show the savagery of man and barbaric side of the island.
Both Jack and Ralph were struggling for power. At first, Jack and Ralph had similar goals for what they should do on the island. They quickly retreated when Jack became obsessed with hunting for pigs on the island. Ralph thought that they should keep the signal fire going at all times. Jack started to see that he did not want to leave the island he like that there were no rules. Ralph on the other hand felt that they could not be here forever. Ralph wanted to be rescued from the island. They're very different opinion forces Jack to leave Ralph's group and start his own. Jack toke most of the other boys with him leaving Ralph with very few people. From all of this Ralph started to realize that leading a group of people was not easy. There would always be people like Jack that would disagree. Jack left feeling insulted from Ralph insulting his hunting he felt that Ralph had undermined him as a result Jack turned mean and
As one can see from the start, Jack's tribe changes their lifestyles to a primitive state, while Ralph's seeks the future in life. Ralph thus thinks on a more matured level by learning from past mistakes, while Jack only seeks the fun out of life. This is the main reason why Ralph's group, even though lonesome, still prevails. Ralph and Jack indeed set different rules under each other's turf. The two leaders follow different beliefs, and thus have different lives to live, and groups to lead.
Some might say that jak is a better leader than ralph, but jack is way more selfish and cruel that ralph, who is selfless and kind. This is expressed is the novel when it is stated on page 23 “with dreary obedience, the choir raised their hands” The novel use s the word “dreary” to show that the choir don’t like doing what jack tells them, but they follow him anyways because they are scared that he’ll yell at them, which isn’t a good trait in a leader. Ralph, on the other hand, has people that follow him because they agree with his methods of leading, and they actually want to follow
Jack has nearly every good quality of a leader: intelligence, military prowess, ambition, common sense, courage, power, mental strength, culture diversity, and a tad of humility and physical strength. However, he tends to have a one-track mind when it comes to his pride. He is vengeful, quick to become bitter, arrogant, and rude, which leads to his inability to listen to others of good reason, such as Piggy, when these poor qualities are in play. Jack, unfortunately, loses to his worst characteristics. On the other hand, Ralph is a courageous, optimistic child with physical strength, power, and plentiful energy to get things done when
Throughout the novel both characters, Ralph and Jack have a thirst for power. One may say that Jack is a stronger leader due to his persuasiveness with his need for power, but on the other hand Ralph is a great natural leader. From the beginning Ralph shows interest in getting home while leading the group of boys. Ralph may be young but he seems to have a general idea on how to get the group going in the right direction. He has an innate ability to split the group up and give them the important tasks that need to be done to survive for several days for example: tending to the fire, and hunting which was Jack and the choirboys job. To be a good leader you must stay positive which Ralph is able to do majority of the time by persistently believing that everyone
Ralph, who is the protagonist and plays the role as chief over the boys, represents order and leadership. Throughout the novel, Ralph attempts to keep the boys civil with each other by getting them to work with one another. From building a fire and shelter tents to making efficient rules to obey, Ralph gets the boys to all get along for a while, until they start to go stir crazy and break rules due to being deserted on an island for a long period of time. “We ought to have more rules” (Golding). As Ralph says this, he is referring back to when the boys just previously let the fire go out because of their carelessness as well as the fact that the boys were breaking rules and starting to act like savages. The character of Ralph plays an important role within the time period of all of the boys crash landing on the island to the point where Jack
Are we humans naturally innocent and savages? lord of the flies by William Golding shows the innocence and savages inside of us, between the creation of the antagonist and the protagonist in the novel. Ralph is one of the main characters in the book and he is the protagonist who was elected as the leader of the boys at the beginning of the novel, Ralph is the main rep. of order, civilization, and leadership in the novel. Jack is the antagonist, he is always in the way of Ralph's two goals of rulemaking, the scar (island) and creating a fire. He is the leader of the choir of the boys on the island, and despises ralph because, for jack also wants to be chief, because he is practically a control freak. This novel takes place at an island when
Jack, negatively portrayed in comparison to Ralph, tempts the boys with an array of forbidden treats, indulging their most violent, suppressed desires in an attempt to lull them away from the security of Ralph. In a sense, Jack is negatively compared to Ralph throughout the novel, and is often portrayed as confused and violent, very aware of the evil inside of him: “The real problem that arises among the boys involves their own inner nature…” (Johnston 2). When his plan fails, Jack feels as though his seat of power is threatened and therefore resorts to terrorizing, threatening and essentially forcing the boys to join him and align themselves against Ralph, alienating them from their former, comfortable life-style and thus making what they once failed to appreciate all the more desirable.