Lord of the Flies - Compare and Contrast Ralph, Jack and Piggy

A character in a novel can represent a larger idea in society. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, each character is illustrated to represent a larger idea in society. Ralph represents democracy, Jack represents savagery, and Piggy represents a scientific approach.

Lord of the Flies has many meanings to it that are represented through the characters and their feelings. When comparing the characters in the Lord of The Flies, you can see the obvious change in most of them from the beginning of the book to the end. The two main characters are Ralph, the protagonist and Jack, the antagonist. Ralph and Jack both have different qualities and beliefs that define each of them completely and at times make them both alike in many ways. They both represent what we are and what they were, Civilized and Savage.

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of boys who are lost on a deserted island and must do what they can to survive. At the beginning of the novel, two of the boys, Ralph and Jack, become leaders. These differences will form the main conflict in the story. The differences will cause them to hate each other and the anger that results is a recurring part of the plot throughout the novel. These two boys can be compared by the way they change, the reason for their actions, and the way they use or abuse power.

In the novel Lord of the Flies, the author, William Golding, portrays a story about children that are stranded on an island with no adults to take charge and leadership; therefore, the children have to create their own system of government so they can survive. Throughout the story, there is a development of characters and each character represents various personalities and specific aspects of philosophies. Jack, Simon, and Ralph are the main focus throughout the book and their way of thinking is quite different from one another resulting in constant arguments.

Ralph and Jack are both powerful and meaningful characters in William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies.  Ralph is an excellent leader; responsible, and stands for all that is good.  Jack is a destructive hunter, selfish, and represents evil.  These two main characters can be compared by the actions they take as leaders, their personalities, and what they symbolize in the story.

Imagine the many dangers of being stranded on a desolate island. There is a chance of starvation, severe sunburn or sicknesses, and strange animals. The idea of being a danger to yourself does not usually cross a person's mind when thinking about this unimaginable situation. Being in such horrible conditions would make anyone start to go a little crazy, especially if they were young and immature. The little boys in Lord of The Flies show the true nature in humanity when times become desperate and cut throat. The main topic of this essay is to focus on similarities and differences of how two groups of boys, Piggy & Ralph and Jack & Roger, behave when they become stranded on an island and how they act to survive.

Imagine a world without order. A world with no leadership—no rationality whatsoever. Take Ralph's character away from the equation and William Golding's Lord of the Flies would be just that—chaos. Being the protagonist of the novel, Ralph is the major representative of civilization, order, and productive leadership. If it weren't for Ralph's coordination, determination, and logical thinking, the boys would never be rescued, and would eventually die. As the novel progresses, Ralph's self-confidence is gradually chipped away, leaving him only enough strength to fight for the one person who should matter most—himself.

Have you ever met someone who is a natural leader? In the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, British boys are sent to an island to keep them safe from a war. The boys are without any adults and must use what’s around them and what they know to survive. Ralph (one of the older boys) is a leader and tried his best to maintain peace and help the group survive. I believe Ralph doesn’t have a distinct character flaw.

Confidence is another trait a leader should possess. Both Odysseus in The Odyssey and David in the Books of Samuel demonstrate this quality. They have belief in their abilities to meet most challenges that come their way. Odysseus never believes a person initially, being it mortal or immortal. He always likes to be done in his way. Odysseus believes in himself rather than anybody else. He wants to figure what to do for himself and not someone else do it for him. For instance, he argues with Calypso and Ino because Odysseus did not believe them initially, but wanted things to be done his way (Book 5, line 180 & line 370). Moreover, David, another God-chosen King of Israelites, shows confidence when he tells Saul that though he (David) is young, he can fight the giant Philistine warrior, Goliath (1Samuel 17:32-37). However, David confidence is from the fact that God is on his side and will not let him down.

Something deep in Ralph spoke for him. “I’m chief. I'll go. Don't argue." (p.155)Throughout the novel, we notice the similarities between the two characters Ralph and Jack, however, there are several great differences in the way they use these traits to benefit both themselves and others. In the novel Lord of the Flies, the contrasts aid in displaying the variances between Jack and Ralph, such as their leadership styles, civilization vs savagery, and their motives throughout the story.

Throughout William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Ralph, the fair leader, responds to his unique setting in many ways. At first, Ralph is ecstatic to be on the island and to have freedom from society’s rules, adult oversight, and authority. However, he soon finds that an irrational fear of a beast threatens to cause chaos amongst the boys. When all rules are forgotten and savagery reigns without authority, he takes it upon himself to enforce the island’s laws in an effort to maintain order and morality. In the end of the novel, Ralph starts to lose the specific character traits that define him as a productive leader as the boys around him turn savage and civilization fades from their society. As the novel progresses, Ralph takes a turn for the worse as he forgets his core principles and is tempted by savagery.

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.

Both Ralph and Piggy show who they really are on the inside, when reasoning with Jack and his hunters. In this chapter, both Ralph and Piggy show that they are caring and kind people, who want to do what’s best for all the people on the island. I believe that Ralph and Piggy do not care that most of the kids on the island abandoned them and went to Jack, they just want everyone to work with each other and get rescued.

A good leader is someone who cares about everyone. They are loyal, and listens to everyone’s ideas. They are smart, strong, and can make tough decisions. A good leader could fight, but a better leader can choose not to. In the Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding, is about a boy named Ralph who wanted to get rescued and made leadership choices based on that, but another boy named Jack who prevented rescue by splitting the group up and turning survival into a game. Ralph and Jack were meant to be in the same novel because Golding wanted to show how the wrong leadership can go wrong, and on what leader you follow can be an effect on how you survive.

The novel " Lord of the Flies" focuses on the conflict that exists between two competing impulses that Golding, suggests exist within all humans; these being the instinct to follow the rules, act in a peaceful manner and comply to moral commands compared to the instinct to act violently in order to gain control over others and to satisfy our own greed and personal desires. The conflict exists within the novel in several forms; law and order vs. anarchy, civilization vs. savagery and the basic term of good vs. evil. Golding uses these themes consistently throughout the novel, clearly associating instinctive savagery with evil and the instinct of civilisation with good. The representation of this lies in Ralph and Jack, the two central