Even good people can do terrible things if put in certain situations. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, innocent boys become cruel murderers when they were stranded on an island with no adults. This was the result from the actions of the characters, change of behavior, and symbolism. First, the actions of the characters lead to murders by picking leaders. Once the boys were stranded on the island, they decide to pick their chief which leads to jealousy, revenge and murder. This happens because Jack gets jealous of Ralph, who is the chief of the boys. Even when Jack wanted to vote Ralph out of power, later in the novel, no one votes for Jack, “Hands up, whoever wants Ralph not to be chief?”(127). In this quote, Jack asks the boys about voting Ralph out but, no one raises their hands. He becomes jealous, and makes a new tribe of hunters. Secondly, they get carried away with their roles. Jack gets carried away with being lead hunter to the point where he kills a sow with his bare hands. Also when they come to cook the pig, they play a horrible game by pretending like one of the boys is a pig, which proves that Jack gets carried away by treating a human like an animal. This is also very ironic because in the beginning of the novel, Jack says, “After all, we’re not savages” (42) but what he did is a savage thing. This is why …show more content…
After Jack started his own tribe, he became the leader and had power over a lot of boys. He becomes a savage by killing a pig with his bare hands and giving it to “the Beast” as a sacrifice, hurting little boys, and playing a savage “game” that ends up with the boys murdering Simon. The behaviours of the other boys also change throughout the story. They go from respecting Ralph and the conch to attempting to murder Ralph and destroying the shell. Kids were proper English boys until they adapted to the situation, took things way too seriously, and became
In the novel the lord of the Flies, Golding uses Ralph’s responsibility and Jack’s persuasiveness and authority to argue that effective governments must be both fair and able to keep peace in a country.
Have you ever thought of having the same personality for the rest of your life? Many people would expect to have same personality for the rest of their lives, but "change is constant [and] change is inevitable" (-). This is well demonstrated in Lord of the Flies, as the character Ralph regularly changes his attitude in the face of unpredictable events. Further, Ralph undergoes massive changes in mood, due to his lack in leadership, thus ultimately taking away his role as leader. Lastly, in the term of the story, the belief in Ralph's order begins to significantly fade, ultimately sinking into savagery.
Ralph- Ralph is the main protagonist in the Lord of the Flies. He becomes a chief when everyone who survived the plane crash voted for him. In addition and in my opinion, Ralph is a dynamic character because when Ralph first meets everyone he treats everyone with kindness and equality. However, towards the middle of the novel, discipline is injected into his behavior and attitudes. Overall, Ralph is a kind boy who cares for people around him by trying his best to provide them to help everyone survive. He sets a main goal to help everyone on the island survive.
Jack and his tribe show the true meaning of savagery creeping in when the rules of society are forgotten. Ever since the boys arrived on the island, Jack has wanted to be the only one in control. When the boys voted for Ralph over Jack he became angry. The boys separated, some decided to become hunters and the others desired rescue. Jack quotes “ who will join my tribe”, so now Jack does have the power he’s been wanting but only to the savages. Jack becomes obsessed with the thrill of killing pigs that he takes his killings to another level. Golding uses zoomorphism to describe jack and the people in his tribe; “Jack began to dance and his laughter became bloodthirsty snarling.” Golding would use this literary device to show the ptrue animals the savages are. The boys chant “‘kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in’”, this indirectly shows the savagery that the boys have developed since stranded in an environment where there is no authority. After Jack achieves killing pigs he becomes even more bloodlust. Jack and the boys kill Simon with no couth then Jack allows Roger, another savage, kill Piggy. After the murders they all act like nothing has happened. Jack doesn’t show pure savagery because he uses a clay mask when he hunts, which hides his true personality. This savagery creeps in when all
Ralph represents order and discipline, while Jack represents an unhealthy drive for power and savagery. In the beginning of the novel, Ralph is voted the leader of the group and attempts to make life on the island disciplined and civilized, like their life in England. However, throughout the novel Jack rivals Ralph’s leadership role, attempting to overthrow him. As the boys’ savage impulses increase, more of them begin to side with Jack instead of going with Ralph. As Ralph loses his hold over the boys, almost all of them begin to act violently and barbaric. An example of this is when the children of the island murder Simon for no justifiable reason. Even Piggy and Ralph partake in the murder, showing that the violent human impulse is in
A few days after the boys are stranded, the way Jack is described shows how quickly he is regressing. Jack is described as "Bent double... down like a sprinter, his nose only a few inches from the humid earth" (Golding 50). Jack is the head of the choir boys and not too long in the book he seems to be growing more animal like. This description suggests that no matter a person's status, everyone has a primitive nature in them waiting to be released. Golding further enforces this belief when Ralph spears his first pig. "Ralph talked on excitedly. 'I hit him all right.'" Ralph is the good leader trying to get everyone rescued and not get caught up in the killing while Jack is supposed to be the immature, animalistic savage. Readers were disturbed when they realized that good people, such as Ralph, can become just as twisted as people like
By the end of the novel, Jack has become a full blown barbarian. He is so caught up in killing pigs that he no longer listens to Ralph. He tries to become chief again and fails. Because of that, he starts his own tribe on the other side of the island where all they do is hunt pigs. The boys that follow him are transformed into the savage that he is. “Here, struck down by the heat, the sow fell and the hunters hurled themselves at her…Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife. Roger found a lodgment for his point and began to push till he was leaning with his whole weight. The spear moved forward inch by inch… [t]hen Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands.” Jack and his followers were demoralized and tainted
Thesis Statement: The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding portrays the theme that regardless of each person’s different background and characteristics, every individual has the ability to commit brutal acts. While this book depicts Ralph and Piggy as the most civilized characters, and Jack and his hunters as young English choir boys, their actions reveal that they all have the capability to act violently.
When they first arrive at the island, Jack and the rest of the boys wears the same mask of innocence as every other human being, but it soon begins to slip. Throughout a massacre of pigs, Jack and the other boys releases their animal nature. Initially, the boys try to set up an island society that mimics the English society, with discipline and authority. The behavior of the boys is the same as they showed at school back home, but the need to be the survival of the fittest pushes the boys’ past their humanized nature. The children want to have familiar rules. Piggy says, “We’ll have rules!” he cried excitedly. “Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks ‘em--” (Golding 25). Everyone follows the rules in the beginning, hoping that it will lead their rescue. But when their hopes dwindle, they soon fall out of order, becoming two independent and opposed groups. To become superior to the others, Jack kills pigs and humans and earns the place of a tribe leader. His actions show that humans act to
In our society we have our system for power set up making the understanding of who is in charge easy; However, when the boys are stranded on an island they are forced to come up with their own system, causing rivalries and corrupting rights and values. Before being stranded on an island Jack was an innocent, well-behaved child, however, when thrown into a foreign place with no society and no system of power it is very easy to destroy all of your innocence when obtaining most power. Jack was a hunter and was in charge of all the hunter, he eventually made his own tribe and almost everyone followed him, giving him a mass amount of control. Golding shows that Jack uses his power in ways only beneficial to him, easily seen when the remainder of Ralphs tribe approach Jacks and see him, “ painted up and wearing garland around his neck” (54). Jack uses his power to idolize himself and make the other
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.
Ralph shows a great of courage and determination to be rescued, during his time on the island.Ralph commitment to society and morality is strong, and all he wants to do is leave the island and go home.As a leader,Ralph has to set an example for the boys on the island, and has to face many obstacles alone.This is why Ralph has to show courage and determination. "Ralph went for the end of innocence , the darkness of a mans heart, and the fall through the air of a true,wise friend called Piggy (Golding 225).This quote concludes the novel and shows how Ralph is relieved and accomplishes his goal of being rescued, and how he reflected back on the memories on the island, the memories of his good friend Piggy. Just before Piggy died he makes a valiant
Jack insists that since Ralph had never hunted and provided meat for the boy’s he shouldn’t be chief; the other boy’s disagree, and, upset that he has not proven himself to the boys, says, "I'm not going to play any longer. Not with you… I'm going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too" (144). Jack then walks off, and many of the boys follow him and leave Ralph behind; in doing this, Jack takes a good portion of Ralph’s tribe, as well as much of Ralph’s dignity as a chief. Later, Jack names himself chief of the other group of boys. He uses his power to make rules, all of which establish that Jack’s side of the island is different from Ralph’s; "We'll hunt. I'm going to be chief… I say this. We aren't going to bother about the beast… And another thing. We shan't dream so much down here. This is near the end of the island" (146). In his anger, Jack created a society based on what children want instead of what adults need, which Ralph had. Jack has made himself the opposite of Ralph out of
Meat is something all the boys on the island want, and some even want it more than they want to be rescued. As originally being the leader of just the hunters, Jack leads the hunt that catches, and kills, a pig that gives the boys the meat they so desire. This success makes him more popular with the boys, and results in Jack having more pull over the boys. While not convincing anyone to vote Ralph out as chief; Jack goes on to start his own, more successful tribe. His tribe has the majority of the boys. All except Simon, Piggy, Ralph, and Samneric join his tribe willingly. Furthermore, Jack is a better leader than Ralph. While he has atrocious morals, the boys actually listen to Jack and do what he says. Opposed to Ralph, who can’t get the boys to listen to him, even with the conch. Jack has more success than Ralph, who has better morals and rules, when it comes to
To further illustrate, in “Lord of the Flies” the character, Ralph, is a round and dynamic character. Ralph can be classified as this type of character because of the changes he undergoes as the story unfolds. To explain, at the beginning of the story, Ralph is confident and optimistic when himself and multiple boys crash on an island. He takes control and earns the trust if the group. Ralph conducts assemblies and his words are determined and civilized, “All at once he found he could talk fluently and explain what he had to say… ‘we want to be rescued; and of course, we shall be rescued…we must make a fire”’ (Golding 32-38). Ralph’s words and actions show his boldness to take control and his strong belief in being rescued. However, as the story continues, the system and trust Ralph establish begins to diminish, resulting in two separate groups. The one group contains Ralph and very few civilized boys, and the second group is made up Jack and the savages. Although the groups are at peace at first, multiple fights and Piggy’s stolen glasses causes Ralph to partially change. This change is revealed to the readers when Ralph and Piggy go to the saves to retrieve the glasses, “Truculently they squared up to each other but kept just out of fighting distance… ‘Ralph-remember what we came for. The fire. My specs”’ (Golding 177). During this mission, the once civilized Ralph begins to fight with the savages and he acted barbaric himself. Ralph’s and actions and Piggy’s words show the reader how Ralph transformed the course of the book from being civilized and confident with his word; however, Ralph is now becoming a savage and loses his optimistic attitude. Piggy’s words to Ralph, shows how Ralph is forgetting the idea of being civilized because Piggy must constantly remind Ralph of their mission, but Ralph seems to just want to fight. Ralph’s shift in personality shows the reader that he is a dynamic and round character. Therefore, Ralph’s character undergoes development; however, Brutus in “Julius Ceaser” changes in an equivalent way.