Epilogue to William Golding's Lord of the Flies The officer led the boys to the ship, one by one in a line, they trudged behind him. Jack trailed a few feet behind the group, staring closely at his bare and dirty feet. Each boy, when their turn came, hopped on to the ship and there they were greeted by more navel officers. You could see the smiles appearing across the faces of the boys as they were surrounded by adults. For the first time in a while they felt safe again. The last child scurried onto the ship hoping not to get left behind. A tall officer with broad shoulders, and a thin brown moustache asked this child whether there were any adults on the island with him. 'No sir,' Ralph answered for him. The officer shook his head when he heard the answer to confirm Ralph's response. 'Well then,' said the tall officer once he examined the group counting a total number of twenty two boys. 'We better get you boys cleaned up, you like a mess.' Another officer, slightly shorter than the last one with dark curly hair, gestured for the boys to follow him. All at once they dashed behind him except for Ralph. The tall officer kneeled down until his eyes were the same level as Ralph's eyes. 'Is something the matter, kiddo?' Ralph ignored the officer's question as he was staring out at the island in deep concentration. He was wondering to himself, what if? What if Simon and Piggy were not killed and were sitting next to him today on this ship. What if the ship came a few weeks earlier? What would have happened if the ship arrived a few minutes later? Ralph trembled at the thought of the final scenario. He shook him... ... middle of paper ... ... Ralph's heart was pounding, he sprinted over to the other side of the ship. There he saw a large group of boys in a circle surrounding Roger who was faking an injury by clutching to his leg and crying. Ralph barged through. Two officers were trying to calm him down. When Roger saw Ralph live and well his crying came to an end. Everyone turned their heads and began to wonder why Ralph was in such a hurry as he barged through. 'Jack…overboard! I…. tried.... to… save him! But! Help! This way! Follow… me!' Ralph said gasping for breath. Ralph with all his energy dashed back to where he came from. The officers followed behind and some boys curious to know also trailed behind. Ralph reached the spot where Jack had fallen but, to his disappointment he was nowhere to be seen. Jack had drowned by the waves.
At this point, some of Ralph’s followers have joined Jack and his hunters. This means that more of the boys are focused on hunting and killing and fewer are concentrating on getting rescued.
This is the turning point for Ralph, not only as a person, but as a character in the book. Ralph goes from a somewhat flat character, to a round character, and with this transformation, he completes his dream, a dream which he had with him the whole time. Not only has he come to peace with himself and his accomplishments, he has come to peace with those around him, “Ralph watched the water fight with sadness in his heart, never guessing the scene would one day hearten him, as it did now.” (p296). Some may say that Ralph never achieved his dream. I say that he achieved his dream about half way through the book, he just didn’t realize all he had, and all he could lose until it was almost gone.
He has the regular recognition that such a large number of youthful Americans have; the possibility that as a result of the nation they live in, their identity, and where they originate from, there are openings that are legitimately theirs and little can turn out badly in getting what they need for their future. For Ralph and numerous youthful Americans, this dream rapidly demonstrates false as they grow up and encounter life. In the novel, Ralph's impression of New York City and America changes practically as fast as it was initially shaped. He is quickly stood up to with a dialect hindrance, abandoning him lost and separated from his new world. Before sufficiently long, Ralph "was starting to realize what was
-Ralph thinks about his childhood, showing that he is still innocent and wants to go home, showing contrast between him and the hunters, who are more focused on killing pigs.
After realizing that they are stranded on the deserted island, a group of young boys establish a
Katherine Paterson once said, “To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.” William Golding, who is a Nobel Prize winner for literature, writes Lord of the Flies, originally published in 1954. Golding’s novel is about a group of boys who crash land on an island. All of the adults are dead and they are abandoned on an island. The boys try to set rules and create a fire in efforts of being rescued. The group of boys chooses Ralph to be their leader. This choosing makes a literary character named Jack, who doesn’t show his anger until half way through the plot. The novel shows the nature of humans and how fear can control them. The novel also shows the difference between good and evil. Golding experienced this when he was in World War II. There were many times fear controlled the boys in the island in Lord of the Flies.
Ralph was introduced as a fair and likeable boy. His interaction with Piggy demonstrated his kind nature as he did not call him names with hateful intentions as Jack had. His good looks allowed him to be well accepted among his peers, and this gave him enough confidence. His handsome features and the conch as a symbol of power and order made him stand out from the crowd of boys and led to his being proclaimed Chief: "There was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerful, there was the conch" (p. 24). From the quick decisions he made as Chief near the beginning of the novel, it could be seen that Ralph was well-organized. Gradually, Ralph became confused and began to lose realness in his thoughts and speeches: "Ralph was puzzled by the shutter that flickered in his brain. There was something he wanted to say; then the shutter had come down." (p. 156) He started to feel lost as the boys, with the exception of Piggy, began to change and adapt to their freedom.. He was more influenced by Piggy than by Jack.
A flicker of light caught Ralph’s eye, but he ignored it. Somewhere deep in his mind, though, he sensed something familiar. A feeling of fear enveloped him and sent chills down his spine. He squeezed his eyes shut, and began rubbing the sides of his he...
The author, William Golding uses the main characters of Ralph, Jack, and Simon in The Lord of the Flies to portray how their desire for leadership, combined with lack of compromise leads to the fall of their society. This desire for leadership and compromise led to the fall of their society just like multiple countries during times of wars.
first things that Ralph, the central character of the novel, does upon his arrival on the
Numerous times in the book, this was acquainted with the characteristic of savagery. After failing to kill his first pig, and soon experiencing the rush of trying to catch another, the thirst for it began to become exposed. " Rescue? Yes, of course! All the same, I'd like to catch a pig first-" He snatched up his spear and dashed it into the ground. The opaque, mad look came into his eyes again” (Golding 53). Highlighting the mad look in his from this quote, really draws the attention towards the evolving butal nature inside of him. Almost paying no mind to this at the time, Ralph and the other boys let is roll of their shoulders. “‘You wouldn't care to help with the shelters, I suppose?’ ‘We want meat - ’ ‘And we don't get it.’ Now the antagonism was audible. ‘But I shall! Next time! I've got to get a barb on this spear! We wounded a pig and the spear fell out.’” (51) Each time he goes out, the frustration of his neglect rises from others especially Ralph, and his inhumanity
Over millions of years, man has transformed from a savage, simple creature to a highly developed, complex, and civil being. In Lord of the Flies, the author William Golding shows how under certain circumstances, man can become savage. During nuclear war, a group of British schoolboys crash land on an uninhabited island to escape. Ralph the elected leader, along with Piggy and Simon, tries to maintain civilization, while Jack and his group of choir boys turned hunters slowly become savages obsessed with killing. Through characters’ action and dialogue, Golding illustrates the transformation of civil schoolboys into bloodthirsty savages.
Ralph is a boy that is a typical young kid, he wants to have fun, he
is left with the decision of whether or not to drop the rock. Roger is
was Ralph's only way to get home and it is clear he knows this when he