Who Is Ralph In Lord Of The Flies

Lord of the Flies Character Analysis

William Golding's book, Lord of the flies, begins with the central character stuck in a jungle of which he knows little about. Ralph as we later find out his name, is the athletic, level-headed, leader of the boys on the island. He is the emotional leader of the group, and he has a major influence on all of the other characters. Ralph is used as a sort of reminder of the old world. He reminds the boys that there are laws and rules and everyone must abide for survival. When the boys realize that they are not at home anymore and they being to rely on their natural instincts they lose the society that man-kind has created. Ralph is trying hard to keep the boys together because he knows if they are not the chances of being rescued become lesser.
Ralph's main motivation is to go home.
Everything that the boys do on the island is somehow directed at finally going home. They set up a system so that the fire is always burning in case a ship goes by. When the boys let the fire go out and a ship actually does go by Ralph is deeply affected. He vows to keep the fire going through the night from this point on to make sure that next time they will be rescued. When this happens a certain decline happens as well in the book. Jacks rise begins at this point. Jack is beginning to think that they will not be rescued. When Jack begins to break away from the group that Ralph leads. Ralph always optimistic that they will be rescued and Jack sees this as a sign of weakness hence Jack leaves the group. Ralph has many key attributes but optimism and courage are the things that stand out
most. They way that Ralph talks about his father throughout the novel shows what respect he has for him. It also shows what kind of person he would seem to be outside of this island. His father being a naval officer obviously had a great impact on Ralph's life and it shows through the way he speaks of him. (pg.13) "He's a commander in the Navy. When he gets leave he'll come and rescue us." This is one of the many examples of how much respect he has for his father. Passages before this about Ralph learning to swim and in the end when Ralph is rescued for death by the naval officer show that Ralph has this vision of his father. The way any child would of his father, almost a superhero and would go to the end of the earth for his son. Throughout the book Ralph seems to take a militaristic approach to survival. He organizes everyone and creates rules and laws that each person must abide by. Ralph takes this leadership role and it seems as though he bases it on his father. He does what he thinks is necessary to survive and hope for rescue. People conform and do their part but as the decline of society increases in the novel so does the conformity. People work less do less for the greater good. This eventually leads to a type of anarchy against Ralph and it turns out as everyone is against him.