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Characters and conflicts in Lord of the Flies
Comparing and contrasting characters in the Lord of the Flies
Comparing and contrasting characters in the Lord of the Flies
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William Golding's Lord of the Flies is about a group of boys that are stuck on an island because of a plane crash during an atomic war. As the book goes on, the boys become more comfortable with each other and themes start to show in the book. In the Lord of the Flies, the theme of reason versus impulse is portrayed in the following three ways: The boys splitting up into two groups, the stealing of the opposite groups, and the killing of Piggy. The boys splitting into two groups was a very impulsive and in the moment decision. “I’m going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too.” (127) This conflict started because of the arguments about hunting, building shelters, and the fire. Jack wanted to focus on hunting more, and Ralph was more worried about the fire and or the building of the shelters. “Trouble is, we haven’t got enough people for a fire. You got to treat SamnEric as one turn. They do everything together.” (138) After Jack started his own group, many people from Ralph’s group joined. This left Ralph with having a very small amount of people in his group. …show more content…
Another impulsive decision that the boys made, specifically Jack’s group, is the stealing of Ralph and Piggy’s things.
“Then there was a vicious snarling in the mouth of the shelter and the plunge and thump of living things… They’ve got our fire… They stole it!” (167) Jack and two of his hunters made a plan to steal Ralph’s things, especially the fire that Ralph treasures most. “I’m going to him with this conch in my hands. I’m going to hold it out. Look, i’m goin’ to say , you’re stronger than I am and you haven’t got asthma. You can see, i’m goin’ to say, not because you’re stronger, but because what right’s right.” (173) After the stealing of Ralph and Piggy’s things, Ralph made a plan to give up his position as chief, but the plan never ended up
happening. The most impulsive decision the boys had made was the killing of Piggy. “The rock stuck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” (181) The stealing of things all led to Piggy being killed. “He staggered to his feet, tensed for more terrors, and looked up at a huge peaked cap, and above the green shade of the peak was a crown, and anchor, and gold foliage.” (200) Shortly after Piggy and Simon died, the boys on the island had gotten saved by naval officers. William Golding's Lord of the FLies has more impulsive decisions than reasonable ones. In the book, Lord of the Flies, the theme and or reoccurring idea of the book is reason versus impulse. Overall, impulsive decisions definitely took more effect in the book than reasonable ones.
The book Lord of the Flies was William Golding’s first novel he had published, and also his one that is the most well known. It follows the story of a group of British schoolboys whose plane, supposedly carrying them somewhere safe to live during the vaguely mentioned war going on, crashes on the shore of a deserted island. They try to attempt to cope with their situation and govern themselves while they wait to be rescued, but they instead regress to primal instincts and the manner and mentality of humanity’s earliest societies.
Upon the arrival of the boys to the island Jack immediately found himself in the center of a power struggle. Although the conflict was brief, there was still a very obvious confrontation between Jack and Ralph. Once the boys had assembled themselves there was an election to see who was to be chief. Despite the fact that Ralph was voted leader, the desire to be in command never left Jack. Jack already had some leadership skills, being head choirboy at his old school, and he continuously challenged Ralph. The greatest source of conflict between Jack and Ralph was the debate over the necessity of maintaining a fire. Ralph felt that it was necessary to keep it burning at all times while Jack believed that hunting pigs and getting meat was much more essential.
The story, Lord of the Flies is mainly about good and evil on an island between a group of young boys aging from approximately six to twelve. The story is full of meanings, which involve certain characters.
At first the meetings were the things that brought them together. Meeting had rules and order in them. Jack was the boy that started the unraveling of civility. He wanted to be the chief and ended up being in charge of the hunters. He resented the power that Ralph had. Jack hated Piggy because he was always on Ralph’s side. The rule at meetings was a boy could only speak if he had the conch shell. While Piggy was talking, Jack interrupted him and tried to take away the shell. Ralph yelled out “The rules! You’re breaking the rules!” Jack shouted “Who cares?” Ralph exclaims “Because the rules are the only thing we’ve got!”( pg 91) Ralph was the one who tried to keep everyone together and Jack did every thing to turn the other boys away from Ralph.
The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding used a group of British boys beached on a deserted island to illustrate the malicious nature in mankind. Lord of the Flies dealt with the changes the boys underwent as they gradually adapted to the freedom from their society. William Golding's basic philosophy that man was inherently evil was expressed in such instances as the death of Simon, the beast within the boys, and the way Ralph was fervently hunted.
The lord of the flies is a book about a group of boys stranded on a tropical island to illustrate the evil characters of mankind. Lord of the Flies dealt with changes that the boys go through as they gradually got use to the stranded freedom from the outside world. Three main characters pictured different effects on the other boys. Jack Merridew began as the bossy and arrogant leader of a choir. The freedom of the island allowed him to further develop the darker side of his personality as the Chief of a savage tribe. Ralph started as a self-assured boy whose confidence in him came from the approval of the others. He was kind as he was willing to listen to Piggy. He became increasingly dependent on Piggy's wisdom and became lost in the confusion around him. Towards the end of the story when he was kicked out of the savage boys he was forced to live without Piggy and live by himself. Piggy was an educated boy that was more mature than the others, that was used to being picked on. His experiences on the island were a reality check of how extreme people can be with their words.
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is tale of a group of young boys who become stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Intertwined in this classic novel are many themes, most that relate to the inherent evil that exists in all human beings and the malicious nature of mankind. In The Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the boys' gradual transformation from being civilized, well-mannered people to savage, ritualistic beasts.
Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding in 1954 about a group of young British boys who have been stranded alone together on an island with no adults. During the novel the diverse group of boys struggle to create structure within a society that they constructed by themselves. Golding uses many unique literary devices including characterization, imagery, symbolism and many more. The three main characters, Ralph, Piggy, and Jack are each representative of the three main literary devices, ethos, logos, and pathos. Beyond the characterization the novel stands out because of Golding’s dramatic use of objective symbolism, throughout the novel he uses symbols like the conch, fire, and Piggy’s glasses to represent how power has evolved and to show how civilized or uncivilized the boys are acting. It is almost inarguable that the entire novel is one big allegory in itself, the way that Golding portrays the development of savagery among the boys is a clear representation of how society was changing during the time the novel was published. Golding is writing during
One day on the island, Jack creates two different sides. One side being where Ralph is chief and Jack is chief: “I’m not going to play any longer...I’m not going to be a part of Ralph’s lot”(Golding 127). Since Jack does not want to be “a part of Ralph's lot” Jack creates a great chaotic mess. One reason is because Jack has now split the boys into two non-working communities. Now the boys do not know what the other side is going to do because the boys are immature. Next, Jack orders his side to kill Ralph because Jack thinks Ralph is no longer needed: “They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you”(Golding 188). Ralph off in the distance could here the chant the boys created to kill. SamnEric run to Ralph telling him “they’re going to do him”. The boys are very immature because they want to kill one of their own. Thus, when a immature community gets separated, chaos is even greater then being one community.
While the boys are under Jack's control, they quickly went back into how they started when they first got there. However, Ralph was able to keep the boys under control by holding meetings. At the meetings, a sense of order is instilled because the boys are not allowed to speak unless they have the conch shell. "I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking." (p. 31) By making this rule, he gains respect from the boys and becomes for confident as a leader. Ralph uses his power to tries to make the boys better people. He shows his by building them shelters. "They talk and scream. The littuns. Even some of the others." (p. 53) Ralph is saying that the boys need the shelters because they are afraid and the shelters will help the boys feel more secure. This shows he has better knowledge of people making him a better leader than Jack who does not understand this. Jack does not realize that the boys need to feel secure and need someone in control.
Ralph first takes on the position as leader at the beginning of the story, when the rest of the boys vote him in as chief. He carries this position until Jack and his fellow hunters break away from the group. Ralph makes it his job to set out the rules to organize a society. Ralph always thinks of what is best for everyone and how they will all benefit from his decisions. Rules and standards are set when Ralph is the chief. He orders the group to build the basic necessities of civilization, shelters, and most importantly to keep the fire going, in hope that they will be rescued and return to humanity. "But I tell you that smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one" (Golding 75). Jack, on the other hand, takes on the idea of every man for himself. He does not care about making homes, only about hunting. When Jack is the leader, evil takes over and all good is destroyed. Under Jack's power both Simon and Piggy are killed.
of Louis XIV was that he thought human nature would always be the same. The
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies shows man’s inhumanity to man. This novel shows readers good vs. evil through children. It uses their way of coping with being stranded on an island to show us how corrupt humans really are.
Lord of the flies is not just a story about boys trapped on an island; it is a story about power struggle over democracy and dictatorship in societies. They are many objects used in the novel to show dictatorship and democracy. Also, they are many situations between characters in the novel to show the power struggles between the two ideologies. Between the power struggle, characters also use these objects to control emotions and people’s decisions in the novel. People and societies give away too much power to objects and let them control their lives.
In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows a story of boys who are trapped on an island, and must figure out how to survive. The story represents the fall of mankind, as symbolism is present throughout the entire novel. It is best seen through a historical perspective. Golding uses events from his own lifetime, the Operation Pied Paper, and Hitler’s ruling to compare it to the major events, the beginning of the story, and Jack’s personality.