Ralph And Jack In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

If Ralph became the opposite gender, the novel would change as Jack would become chief of the group and lead the group on a path of self-destruction demonstrated by the usage of foil, imagery, and symbolism. The narrator’s foil between Ralph and Jack during their discussion of how Ralph was “chosen” (5.91) to be the leader, whereas Jack thinks “Why should choosing make any difference” (5.91) represents a clash between democratic governments and autocratic governments. Democratic governments are where leaders are elected by the people to represent them as opposed to autocratic governments where leaders take supreme control of the people. The differences in views create a dispute within the group and split them into Ralph’s faction conflicting Jack’s faction. The discrimination of women at the time was still

Furthermore, the imagery of the sow being speared “right up her ass”(8.135) depicts the depravity that the boys have fallen to. The choice of words is similar in description to the sexual assault of a female. Ralph is the only female leading her to be targeted and easily killed. Once there is no common enemy or common opposition, Jack’s faction would “hunt and kill”(11.180) each other because that is the only thing they know to do because there are no rules that constrain them before, and no opposition for them to unite against, conditions that would only be fulfilled if Ralph was a male who could rise to be a leader. The symbolism of the beast being “like a great ape”(7.123) with “teeth”(6.100) and “claws”(6.100) from the characters’ perspective represents their own malevolent natures. The emphasis on “teeth” and “claws” shows that the beast possesses monster-like traits and can do harm while being “like a great ape” shows that it is a figure close to man but is animalistic. Additionally, Simon points out that the beast is “only us”(5.89), “only us” means that the beast is a part of one’s