The Lost Boys: Alone and Stranded. “Human nature is like water, it takes shape of its container” (Wallace Stevens). The book, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding takes place during World War II, and illustrates the struggles a group of young boys go through, as they try to survive on a deserted island. The island setting immensely effects the characters’ behaviours and contributes to the main conflicts in the book as being stranded provokes fear within the boys, creates rivalries, which leads to segregation, and turns the boys into savages. Thus, the chosen setting influences the characters and events. To begin with, Golding’s island setting affects the characters as the idea of being marooned elicits fear and panic within the group of boys. …show more content…
Throughout the book, readers can identify the clear rivalry between Ralph and Jack. Ralph, a protagonist, acts as a leader to those boys who are still optimistic, whereas Jack, an antagonist, leads the rest of the boys who are hopeless. In the beginning of the book, Ralph lifts the conch and states, “Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide these things”, followed by the boys chanting “A chief! A chief!” and Jack responding, “I ought to be chief” (pg. 22, Golding). This is the first event where Golding demonstrates the shift of power among the boys. This is important to consider as children should not hold such power in the first place, but due to the plot revolving around the island, readers forget that the characters are still children; making the idea of children fighting over power seem ordinary. It also marks the first time readers see Jack’s dominant side coming forward because he is isolated from adults. As Ralph, being more mature then most of the other boys, tries to offer a civilized way to surviving, Jack’s arrogance acts as a barrier to this idea. Hence, the island setting ignites a conflict between Ralph and Jack. Another way, the stranded-on-an-island setting provokes competition between characters, is the time the boys choose Ralph to be chief over Jack. As Jack becomes more power-hungry, he states, “‘Who thinks Ralph oughtn’t to be chief?’ [Jack] looks expectantly at the boys ranged around, who had frozen. ‘Hands up… whoever wants Ralph not to be chief?’” (pg. 127, Golding). This symbolizes Jack’s breaking point, as he reveals his wishes to become the leader. Being alone and with no adult to guide the boys, Jack’s alter ego comes forward, a part of his personality that he would most likely hide when in front of adults. The boys choosing Ralph over him, triggers him; which ultimately leads him to start a rival group on the island whose lifestyle is barbarian-like.
With such rigid and different identities, Jack and Ralph have very different priorities, making it challenging for them to work together. Ralph’s identity is threatened when Jack lets the fire burn out to go hunting, so he lashes out at him, accusing him, “I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts-then you go off hunting and let out the fire-”(70, 71). By ignoring what Ralph told him to do, Jack threatens numerous aspects of Ralph’s identity. Ralph identifies with being elected Chief based on his plan to get rescued, so Jack’s insubordination threatens Ralph. Meanwhile,
Ralph is one of the few boys who realize that the only way to survive is through peace and order. Because he summons the boys at the beginning of the novel with the conch he and Piggy find, they look upon him as the most responsible of the boys and elect him as a chief over the humiliated Jack. Ralph creates a stable and peaceful society for the children to live; this significantly bothers Jack because he wants to have fun and do things that he never did back in the civilized society. Jack is eventually successful of pulling nearly all of the children out of Ralph’s control to form savages. Ralph represents the civilization, and Jack represents the primitive society.
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.
When it comes to Jack’s fear of not being chief, it brings out the worst in him and it has an effect on others. For instance, when the boys are deciding on who should be the chief, Ralph wins by a landslide. “Even the choir applauded; and the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification” (Golding 19). That is the first physical evidence of Jack being humiliated by Ralph and judging by Jack’s personality, he is not used to failure so it has a big impact on him. This motivates him to destroy Ralph and the rivalry between the two begins. Another point is that Jack uses fear and threats to control the boys. For example, when Robert tells Roger “’He’s going to beat Wilfred.’ ‘What for?’ Robert shook his head doubtfully” (Golding 176) it shows that Jack is violent and is using his...
Ralph shows that he has a better understanding of the boys than Jack. He knows that the boys need some sort of order on the island in order for them to survive. He starts a simple form of government and sets a few rules for them. Even though they don’t last very long, the fact that he tried to help the group is what makes him a better leader. Ralph’s wisdom and ability to look toward the future also has an advantage over Jack. He has a sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. When the fire goes out, Ralph gets upset because the chance to be rescued was gone as well. Ralph enforces his role of leadership as he gives the boys a sense of stability of an authority figure. He keeps the boys in pretty good order at the meeting by making a rule that they can only speak if they have the conch. Ralph knows that the littleuns are afraid and they need shelter to feel more secure. They work together for a while, but as the time goes on the smaller boys want to go play. They slowly lose all their help until Simon and Ralph are the only ones left to work on them. Ralph knows that this is a necessity and keeps bringing it up at the meetings. Jack, on the other hand, is doing nothing but causing chaos.
Ralph’s loss of order results in the inability for him to be trusted by the littluns, eventually leading to his fall from authority as a leader. Jack’s aggressive presence creates a common fear among the boys, and fear is the primary reason for his gain of control over both them and the island. Using his selfishness and impulsiveness in order to take advantage of the boys’ innocence, Jack develops leadership qualities which emphasize Ralph’s insecurities regarding his ability to obtain power. This emphasis brings Ralph to disappointment in himself and in the island’s corruption. Unknowing of how to react to their loss of sophistication, Ralph is left with only “his fading knowledge of the world” (Golding 162). His failure to obtain the role as a leader leaves him unable to fix the savage mistakes in the boys whom are now ignorant to the idea of a properly civilized society. The ideas of power and earning superiority over Jack distract Ralph, demonstrating his distinct values as an individual. Although the principles by which he lives are conducted under circumstances revolved around escaping the island, his individualistic approach to survival opportunities being evident through the isolation of Piggy. It is only when his death is upon Ralph that Piggy’s existence is recognized, confirming his value of self-involvement over companionship. The older boys see immaturity in the littluns because of their age and, consequently, lack of independence. Their weakness causes them to follow Jack even though they are fearful of his intimidating appearance and his potential as a powerful, evil force. Therefore, because of the littluns’ vulnerability, Jack is able to develop power in evil, resulting in
At one point in the story Jack says “Conch! Conch! We don’t need the conch anymore, we know who ought to say things” This quote really tells us that Jack’s pride has overtaken him and the idea of the kids submitting to him and calling him “chief.” has gone to his head. Jack has become very popular by force and by the kids feeling peer pressured to join Jack’s tribe and be hunters, or else they might be killed by the rest of the tribe. Everyone on the tribe is scared to step up to Jack because the people on his tribe are beginning to get used to the violent acts savagery that have been committed on the island so far. The kids start to let the fear of man overtake them and give into the peer pressure of joining Jack’s tribe because there isn’t really another option. By the kids giving into the peer pressure to follow the “popular” leader, Jack, they are ultimately giving Jack more power so he can do whatever he wants with the support of others who agreed to be apart of the tribe. This theme reaches its climax at the end of the story when it is literally Jack’s whole tribe, which basically consists of all the kids on the island, against Ralph. In the end, Ralph was the only one who didn’t give into the peer pressure to join Jack’s tribe, and ultimately he was rewarded for it because he got what he wanted, to be rescued. Now just because he didn’t give into peer pressure doesn’t mean you automatically get rewarded. I feel that giving Ralph his desire was William Golding’s way of rewarding Ralph for not giving into being apart of Jack's
There is evidence throughout the book that there is a war going on but the most prevalent one is when the boys are sleeping and there is a plane explosion in the sky that brings down a man in a parachute. The story most likely takes place somewhere in the late 1940’s to the 1950’s. A person can guess the amount of time on the Island by the physical appearance of the boys because the author, William Golding, does not specify an exact amount of time. All the author gives us to indicate the time spent on the Island is that the boys’ hair has grown rather long and their clothes are almost completely destroyed. The young boys, or littluns, have the appearance of malnutrition which suggests that the young boys have not been eating the proper food that they should been for quite some time. With this information a person could conclude that they have perhaps been on the Island for a year or just a little over a
the island makes its presence known not only to the boys on the island, but to the reader as well.
The boys are drawn away from a civilized way of living. Comments made by Ralph and Jack show the boys that Jack is resorting to savagery. Ralph and Jack both agree in the beginning while they are reasoning in a civil manner. Throughout the novel the two leaders stray from one another because of differences in motivation. Jack told the boys "We've got to decide about being rescued" (Golding 20). This statement illustrates Jack's civilized concern for the whole group. Jack seems to put the group before him. This unselfish concern soon dissolves as the internal beast prevails over the civil Jack. "I ought to be chief because I'm chapter chorister and I can sing C sharp" (Golding, 21), displays Jacks own arrogance. However, the narrator has more insight into this power struggle, "This toy of voting was almost as pleasing as the conch" (Golding 21). The narrator sees this act of voting through the boy's eyes. The narrator implies the boy's failure to understand the importance of a leader.
Ralph inexorably works to better the status of the boys on the island and engages in a democratic form of leadership, while Jack prefers to pursue his own goals and dictates the activities of the boys based on his wants. Ralph uses a sensible and systematic approach to dealing with issues posed to the boys on the island, whereas Jack makes use of chaotic and impractical tactics. Without Jack on the island, the boys might have not even descended into savagery and possibly been rescued by the first ship they had spotted, shortly after they crashed landed on the island. Overall, Ralph makes a much better leader then Jack as he has better merits then Jack and is well aware of the ultimate objective of the boys on the island, getting back home.
The island itself suggests a place of wonder and relaxation. Providing the reader with the impression of an utopia society, an impression that will soon be contradicted as the novel progresses.
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.
When the children become stranded on the island, the rules of society no longer apply to them. Without the supervision of their parents or of the law, the primitive nature of the boys surfaces, and their lives begin to fall apart. The downfall starts with their refusal to gather things for survival. The initial reaction of the boys is to swim, run, jump, and play. They do not wish to build shelters, gather food, or keep a signal fire going. Consequently, the boys live without luxury that could have been obtained had they maintained a society on the island. Instead, these young boys take advantage of their freedom and life as they knew it deteriorates.
and he is the person who first tries to create an order on the island. In some ways Ralph's motivation for being a good, powerful leader is his longing for home. Ralph's relationship with another boy on the island, Jack is very important also. From the beginning of the book Ralph takes charge over his newly acquainted companion Piggy. When he calls the other boys together he takes control over the entire group and