Ralph Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis

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The book, Lord of the Flies, is a novel by William Golding on the events that transpire once a group of boys crash land on an island with no adults surviving. They try to form somewhat of a civilized system, but it fails as the boys slowly succumb to their natural instincts. William Golding uses the characterization of Simon, Jack, and Ralph to show his view on humankind’s true nature. Simon represents the sparse group of people who are truly good. As he walks along the fruit trees, littluns approach him. With no words being said, “Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands”(56). The older boys don’t care about the littluns;…show more content…
Like Jack, Ralph brings with him a civilized personality at the start of the story. Once Ralph is elected leader, he starts making decisions for the good of the group. After Jack and his hunters failed to keep the signal fire going, Ralph addresses the problem: “The fire is the most important thing on the island…I tell you the smoke is more important than the pig” (80-81). Ralph civilized nature is clearly shown at this point of the story. Lighting the fire requires order and organization, rather than hunting which is chaotic. Ralph prioritizes lighting the fire rather than hunting, but looking closer they can be seen as of equal importance. The only reason Ralph wants a fire is because he is still bound by civilized rules. This is how most people would react as well, because people are taught what is wrong and what is right from the very beginning. Once they have no constraints, they either choose to do what they were taught, or what they want to do. But try as people might, deep down within everyone they are savages as well. Later on in the story, Ralph joins Jack’s hunting group. They come across a boar and start attacking, but are unable to deal a fatal blow. Ralph, overjoyed about his performance, loudly exclaims, “’I hit him all right. The spear stuck in. I wounded him!’ He sunned himself in [the hunters] new respect and felt that hunting was good after all” (113). Ralph begins to succumb to his own instincts as well. He enjoys doing a job that he once thought was unimportant and meaningless. Ralph feeling that “hunting was good” shows humankinds true nature. The desire to wound hurt, and kill are natural instincts that everyone is born with. Ralph is very much similar to Jack, but he manages to stay civilized by the end of the novel. Golding portrays Ralph as the average person, as he suppresses his savage nature with civilized rules. Human nature is complex in the way that we have evolved past what we
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