Characterization of Ralph

The Lord of the Flies depicts a human race through its dynamic characters, which embody a combination of logic, goodness, violence, and anarchy. Ralph, the protagonist of the novel, is the “public face of civilization” (Anjum 4). In the beginning of the novel, naïve, young Ralph hopes to construct some form of civilization into the boys to attain rescue. However, as the novel progresses, Ralph becomes vulnerable to the savagery and anarchy of the other boys on the island. In The Lord of the Flies, Golding demonstrates this struggle between savagery and civilization through the characterization of Ralph, an innocent child who is forced into maturity by his experiences on the island.

In the beginning of the novel, Ralph, is a pure child, who is “turning handsprings of joy upon finding an island free of adult supervision” (Oldsey 3). He is a typical boy with average capacities and desires for rescue and enjoyment. Therefore, Ralph is the standard representation of order, leadership, and civilization. Hence, after landing on the island, he does what civilization has taught him to do, using diplomatic means and intelligence to create a democratic leadership that will help the boys attain rescue. For instance, Ralph calls for an assembly with the conch, a representation of civilization’s order and rules, which helps him be the “strong conscience, the one to bar against savagery and instill civilization” (Anjum 5). Furthermore, his urge for a fire to be made for rescue, huts for safety, and a division of power to gain all survival necessities are other ways Ralph hoped to further civilize the boys. Therefore, Ralph’s determination to keep civilization in the boys’ life is what makes Ralph the better leader than the power-driven Jack ...

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...sizing Ralph’s character development, from innocently trying to rescue lives by instilling civilization to witnessing deaths because of savagery.

Through Ralph’s character, Golding emphasizes the “befuddled everyman” that “straw boy of democracy tossed about by forces he cannot cope with” (Anjum 7). Golding’s message is that innately everyone is savage and civilization is needed to keeps savagery from breaking out. Thus, without civilization, circumstances occur that makes one vulnerable to falling into savagery. After living through these experiences, one will have reached adulthood, and lost this utopian ideal of a perfect humanity without society. As a result, in The Lord of the Flies, Golding exemplifies this loss of innocence through Ralph, who is forced to grow up and act savage, despite being initially civilized, because of his experiences on the island.