Lord of the Flies: Ralph

William Golding supplied his story with a lot of literary color, making it alive and vivid to the reader. The character that stood out the most was Ralph, who was the novels protagonist. The twelve year old English boy, who was elected leader of the boys in the beginning of the novel, is the primary representative of order, civilization, and productive leadership in the novel. Ralph attempts to organize the boys’ efforts to build a miniature civilization on the island until they can be rescued. Ralph represents human beings' civilizing instinct, as opposed to the savage instinct that Jack represents.
The very first time Ralph is introduced to the reader, one can see his sense of observation even in the first sentence that he says, “This is an island, at least I think it's an island. That's a reef out in the sea. “Perhaps there aren't any grownups anywhere.” As everyone knows, a good sense of observation is essential for a leader. Chosen as a leader shows the naturally set in civilized instinct within humans. Ralph represents order and discipline in this chaotic world without grownups, which is displayed by his character and composure during the first meeting. His speech shows his maturity level, which outdo all but perhaps Piggy's. He almost defines himself with his first speech:
“Listen everybody. I've got to have time to think things out. I can't decide what to do straight off. If this isn't an island, we might be rescued straight away. So we've got to decide if this is an island or not. Everybody must stay around here and wait and not go away. Three of us-if we take more, we'd get all mixed, and lose each other-three of us will go on an expedition and find out. I'll go, and Jack, and, and....” (23-24).
Ralph wastes no time in bringing order to the group. He demonstrates intelligence and self-control by not jumping into conclusions and by wanting “Time to think things out.” That displays to the reader his cautiousness in making decisions. Surely the other