Ralph picked up his wedding photo and smiled peacefully. It had been two years since he met his wife, and one year since he married her. She had been a blessing to his life. Ralph thought no one would accept him as a regular citizen when he got back from the island ten years ago. Sure his mom and dad welcomed him back with open arms but when he came back to school everyone treated him as an outcast. No one wanted to talk or play with, a savage, or a member of the beast cult. The newspapers always liked to twist the truth to gain readers. Although Ralph still kept in touch with Samn’eric, he started to believe no one would accept him for who he truly is. Until his 20th birthday. Ralph stayed in his bookstore even after closing time. It was …show more content…
the anniversary of his father’s death. His father was diagnosed with cancer three years ago and unfortunately passed away a few months later. His mother passed away a few weeks later due to a broken heart. Ralph’s fingers skimmed the books on the third shelf and sighed. Another year he was alone. A bell chiming woke Ralph up from his thought. He quickly walked to the front of the entrance and said, “Sorry, we’re closed.” “Sorry,” the young woman said. She was had long brown hair and was wearing a trenchcoat to protect her from the chilly air. “I was hoping to buy a book I really wanted. I’ll come back tomorrow.” Before the young woman left, she turned around and asked, “Aren’t you the young man who was trapped on an island about eight years ago?” Ralph nodded and looked down. He encountered this conversation and most of them ended with, “Oh,” and the person walking away. The young woman smiled and said, “I was so intrigued by that article. But how about you tell me what really happened? I hate how the newspapers always tries to change the truth.” Ralph’s jaws dropped. He was in shock. But he slowly nodded and pulled out a chair for her. And that was the beginning of Ralph and Stephanie. Ralph placed down his wedding photo and looked at the clock.
The clock read 7:50 PM, he was going to be late if he doesn’t get going soon. Ralph promised to meet him at exactly 8:00 PM and he doesn’t want to be late. Ralph quickly grabbed his coat and headed out the door. Ralph walked into the small cafe shop down the street and sniffed the espresso-filled air. He was five minutes early. Ralph ordered a small cup of hot chocolate and seated himself near the window. The weather looked depressing. Fat pellets of rain dropped from the sky hitting every exposed object in its way. The bell chimed indicating that the someone came into the cafe. Ralph looked up and gulped. He looked the same, but slightly maturer and older. Dark circles surrounded his eyes and his face seemed more chiseled in. He walked up to Ralph’s table without ordering anything. Ralph stood up and put on a strained smiled. “Hullo Jack.” Jack also put on a strained smiled and seated himself. “Hullo Ralph. Long time no see.” An uncomfortable silence filled the air until Ralph cleared his throat and said, “So why’d you want to meet me here?” Jack looked down. “It’s been ten years since we got off the island.” “I'm aware.” “And I just wanted to apologize for what I
did.” Ralph looked up in shock. “Excuse me? Did you say apologize?” Jack let out a small chuckle. “Yes, I did say apologize. What I did on the island was totally immature and reckless. I really regret what I did. Especially to Simon and Piggy.” Jack’s voice trailed off a little towards the end of the sentence. Ralph furrowed his eyebrows. “Why now? It’s been ten years. We were so young and immature.” “But it’s been bothering me ever since we got off the island. Knowing that I was the cause for what happened to Simon and Piggy, I can’t forgive myself.” Ralph looked straight into Jack’s eyes and saw remorse and sadness. He saw pain and he knew Jack has been struggling to do this for a long time. “I forgive you. We can’t change what we did, but at least we can grow from it. So I forgive you.” Jack relaxed his shoulders and put his hand above his eyes. His voice choked up. “Thank you so much” Ralph saw tears falling out of Jack’s eyes and let out a few silent tears himself. He dabbed his eyes with his sleeves but he still kept weeping. Jack was the first to break the silent tension. “You know Roger just got out of juvenile detention.” Ralph widened his eyes. “Roger was sent to juvenile detention?” Jack nodded. “As soon as we stepped off the ship he confessed to murdering Piggy. So they took him to juvenile detention. I visited him a few times and he seems to be doing fine. He really reflected on what had happened and learned from it.” “How’s he doing now?” “He’s actually doing great. He just got into a community college and is working for a degree towards communication.” Ralph nodded and sipped his hot chocolate. “How about you? How have you adjusted once you got off the island?” “It was actually really difficult for me to go back to school. They wouldn’t let me enter the choir again. No one wanted to talk to me so I always sat by myself during lunch. But right after I got out of high school I immediately went to get a degree in law and now I’m a lawyer.” Ralph nodded again. Lawyer seemed to fit Jack. They were demanding and ruthless and always believed they were right. “How about you? Did you still keep in touch with Samn’eric?” “I was isolated in school as well. It was hard for me to even talk to someone, including the teacher. I never felt at peace. Everything sounded so loud because I never got to talk to someone. Which is why I started a bookstore. I loved the old bookshelf I had when I was young. It gave me a sense of peace and serenity. Samn’eric have been doing fine. Once we parted we wrote letters to each other. Samn’eric weren’t isolated like we were. They had each other. Despite them being outsiders in school, they never felt alone or lonely, because they experienced everything together. Recently, I met up with them in the bookstore I own. They told me they’re both teachers in a nearby high school.:” “Hey, do they still that thing where-” “-where they finish each other's’ sentences? Yes, they still do.” Jack and ralph gave out a laugh. One that sounded sincere and lively. Jack scooted out his seat and stood up. “Well I got to get going. I still have to fill out some paperwork. It was really nice too see you again. I’m really glad I got to say my apology.” Ralph smiled. “It was nice to see you too. Thank you for your apology.” Ralph watched as Jack walked out the cafe. The image of Jack’s back leaving reminded Ralph of when he stormed off to make his own tribe and left ralph feeling troubled. But this time, it left Ralph feeling content.
He was faced with difficulties. Ralph forgot to renew his visa, the only proof of his identity and had to live without a legal identity for months. Although he stayed in America with Theresa and Helen, he began to show “typical american” qualities such as lying and cheating his way through life. Ralph once said, “Money. In this country, you have money, you can do anything. You have no money, you are nobody. You are Chinaman. Is that simple” (Jen 199), this quote is only the beginning of Ralph’s detrimental
The main character is Ralph, a boy of "twelve years and a few months," is the first character the reader meets in the novel (Golding 10). The narrator is direct when describing Ralph's physical characteristics: "You could see now that he might make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went, but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil," (Golding 10). The narrator's first description of Ralph is his fair hair. Within direct characterization and straightforward statements, the narrator includes indirect comments on Ralph's nature. For example, the narrator implies that Ralph has a kind nature by saying his eyes and mouth bear no evil when talking about Ralph's build. Ralph is implied to be the largest and oldest boy on the island when the narrator notes, "The decrease in size, from Ralph down, was gradual," (Golding 59).
1. After Simon is killed, the next paragraph begins, "The clouds open and let the rain down like a waterfall…" When the boys kill Simon they not only kill him and spirituality, but what they perceive to be the beast. Because the beast was created by them and embodied all of their evils, one of its interpretations can be as mankind's sin. Simon is very similar to Jesus in this book.
do that if we want to, anyone can be a hunter. It’s so pointless, he
First off, Ralph has changed from a logical thinker on the island to a confused and dazed young man, unable to understand the why factor in his actions over the last 25 years.
When Ralph is confronted with adversity his character develops. He loses his sense of civilization and the savagery within him grows after killing his friend Simon. Ralph faces the inevitable loss of innocence on the island when discovering what was humanity is capable of. This novel will forever remain popular as it shows human nature in its truest form.
His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy (Golding, 290).
In literature, as in life, people struggle with the principles and beliefs they hold. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, Ralph represents order, civilization, and leadership. On the island, Ralph is conflicted with his principles and beliefs that he has acquired over the years of living in a civilized and humane world and is caught between holding on to them or submitting to the barbarism that seems to have taken over the other boys.
Much of history’s most renown literature have real-world connections hidden in them, although they may be taxing uncover. William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies, is no exception. In this work of art, Golding uses the three main characters, Piggy, Jack, and Ralph, to symbolize various aspects of human nature through their behaviors, actions, and responses.
As Ralph is trying to hide from them overnight, he wonders, “Might it not be possible to walk boldly into the fort… pretend they were still boys, schoolboys who had said, ‘Sir, yes, sir’- and worn caps? Daylight might have answered yes; but darkness and the horrors of death said no” (186). No matter how hard Ralph tries, he cannot discard his new knowledge of Jack and his tribe’s potential for evil and corruption. For a long time Ralph seems to be in denial; like many others, he seems to want to stay true to his belief in the overall goodness of the human heart. Ralph’s expectations for human kindness are finally challenged to the point of irreversibility when Jack attacks him and tries to pursue him on a vicious manhunt. When Ralph collapses on the beach and a naval officer arrives, “With filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, [and] the darkness of man’s heart...” (202). One might think it strange that rather than rejoicing over rescue, Ralph and the rest of the boys cry out in grief. The young schoolboys come to understand the enormity of human greed and evil, and unfortunately it is a lesson that they will not be able to ignore or forget. They witness and play a role in their own loss of innocence, and the time they spend on the island teaches them what
“With a convulsion of the mind, Ralph discovered dirt and decay. (p.82)” At home, the boys were raised with and became habituated to proper European mannerisms and dress passed down to them from parent and other adult mentors. To act upon these mannerisms and proper dress became second nature when around adults, though on the island, they had lost that adult influence. Suddenly, “Ralph was struck with this new mood of comprehension (p.82)” that he had lost that visible image of being proper that he had been raised with for so long.
In the novel, Lord of the Flies By William Golding on pg 119-120 Ralph misses feeling like he did at home. Being on the island Ralph has restarted unhealthy habits like biting his nails to cope with the lack tools like scissors. Ralph describes his nails as “ Bitten Down to the quick through” (Goulding 119) biting nails is not only unhealthy but also symbolizes nerves. Ralph is nervous about not being rescued and therefore becoming increasingly savage like. Naturally, the boys are now very filthy but this has become the new normal. In the beginning of chapter seven Ralph, “Pulled distastefully at his grey shirt” by using words such as “distastefully” the author appeals to the sense of touch by implying the shirt is so far past a point of filth
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.
Before Ralph ended up on this island, he thought everyone was good, and bad was just a foreign concept. But now he sees that there is evil even within himself. While him and the re...