How Does Golding Show Conflict Between Ralph, Jack & Piggy in Chapters 1&2 in Lord of the Flies?
In lord of the flies, Golding presents a strong sense of conflict, between the boys, the boys and nature and the boy’s personal lives. The theme of conflict is an important one within the novel, as it helps to represent the disagreement and fighting of World War II which was happening during the time that Lord of the flies was written and that Golding experienced first-hand. Golding’s main message in Lord of the flies was how cruel men could be to one another and conflict is an obvious link to this idea.
We begin to see conflict very early in the novel, even before the story begins, as Golding tries to introduce the key themes at the start of the novel. The boys are actually brought to the island itself by the conflicts of World War II. While conflict and violence is happening in the macrocosm that is the world, it starts to arise on the island, a microcosm of the world. We also see conflict and tension between Ralph and Piggy for a number of reasons. Ralph straightaway thinks of himself as superior to Piggy because he is physically more attractive and athletic then Piggy. While Jack is described as a ‘fair boy’ a stereotypical sign of goodness and pureness who ‘might make a boxer as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went’ and with ‘size and attractive appearance’ that ‘marked him out’. Piggy on the other hand is ‘plump,’ ‘shorter than the fair boy and very fat’. Ralph also mocks piggy by calling him by the nickname he dislikes. This is a deliberate act of cruelty as Piggy says confidently: ‘I don’t care what they call me..as long as they don’t call me what they used to call me at school…They used to call me “Piggy”.’ But Ralph ignores this and mocks Piggy, he ‘shrieked with laughter ...Jumped up..”Piggy!”’. He is also rude to him by disregarding his health problem, saying, ‘sucks to your ass-mar!’. This immediate superiority Ralph feels over Piggy and his cruelty towards him could be a representation of how people in society generally act and think, and
We begin to see conflict very early in the novel, even before the story begins, as Golding tries to introduce the key themes at the start of the novel. The boys are actually brought to the island itself by the conflicts of World War II. While conflict and violence is happening in the macrocosm that is the world, it starts to arise on the island, a microcosm of the world. We also see conflict and tension between Ralph and Piggy for a number of reasons. Ralph straightaway thinks of himself as superior to Piggy because he is physically more attractive and athletic then Piggy. While Jack is described as a ‘fair boy’ a stereotypical sign of goodness and pureness who ‘might make a boxer as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went’ and with ‘size and attractive appearance’ that ‘marked him out’. Piggy on the other hand is ‘plump,’ ‘shorter than the fair boy and very fat’. Ralph also mocks piggy by calling him by the nickname he dislikes. This is a deliberate act of cruelty as Piggy says confidently: ‘I don’t care what they call me..as long as they don’t call me what they used to call me at school…They used to call me “Piggy”.’ But Ralph ignores this and mocks Piggy, he ‘shrieked with laughter ...Jumped up..”Piggy!”’. He is also rude to him by disregarding his health problem, saying, ‘sucks to your ass-mar!’. This immediate superiority Ralph feels over Piggy and his cruelty towards him could be a representation of how people in society generally act and think, and