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William Golding's Lord of the Flies and John Knowles' A Separate Peace

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Think of two twins who are not physically alike but have reflecting and opposite personalities. These two people are shadows of one another and resemble the duality of good vs. evil. These types of counterpart characters are known as doppelgangers. A doppelganger is an alter ego of one's charisma. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, the characters Ralph/Jack and Gene/Finny represent doppelgangers, explaining how they complement each other and maintain supremacy.
One significant pair of characters who separate is Ralph and Jack. Their dual natures cause differences among themselves due to various reasons. From a physical standpoint, Jack is described as “tall, thin, and bony: and his hair was red…show more content…
From the beginning, Ralph is elected chief of the boys and his authority is based upon the conch. The conch symbolizes democracy and Ralph’s power. Soon Jack’s jealously and addiction to savagery increased his desire to be chief. During one argument scene, Jack says, "And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can't hunt, you can't sing."(Golding) Jack begins to show character of an evil leader in himself; he blames Ralph for not doing anything productive for everyone. Implying that Jack alters the other boys’’ decisions between right and wrong, he continues to strive for dictatorship using brutal force. Likewise, Ralph stays democratic and gives other boys respect. ”Ralph realistically confronts the problem of survival and works out a practical plan for rescue. Jack is quick to revert to savagery, dishonesty, violence.” (Dickson 12-26) Contrary to Lord of the Flies, A Separate Peace features dominance over friendship. To begin with, Gene leads himself into malevolence towards Finny. “Gene is the persecuting double, bent upon his own selfish will to power and desired annihilation of Finny, while Finny is the beneficent double, through his sacrificial death bringing about hope and spiritual growth for Gene.” (Slethaug 259-270) Gene wants to eliminate Finny from his life and become the best at the Devon School. Gene’s character was approached in an egotistical manner . Another factor which increased control over friendship is
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