Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
Table of Contents
Cast of Characters
Ralph—The original leader of the boys, Ralph tries to reconcile having fun with maintaining decency and order on the island. He gradually perceives that being rescued is more important than anything else and that maintaining the signal fire is, therefore, the most important job. Because he does not insist upon the point from the beginning, but yields a portion of his authority to the reckless Jack, he undermines his main objective, which he only comes to realize too late.
Jack—Like Ralph, Jack is a natural leader. He is, however, unwilling to accept his inferior role on the island. He sees his job of hunting as more important than anything else on the island. He challenges Ralph’s authority and leads an open rebellion which results in the death of two boys and the turning of the island over to the spirit of the Lord of the Flies.
Piggy—Piggy represents a kind of practical science/committee mentality. He is weak both physically and socially. His condition and his penchant for whining cause him to be detested by the majority of the boys. Only a few, like Simon and later Ralph, regard him with a degree of sympathy. His weakness ultimately leads to his death, as he is unable to see the boulder that crashes down upon him and hurls him from the cliff.
Simon—Simon is a kind of mystic. More contemplative than anyone else on the island, he often retreats to the interior of the jungle away from the others to meditate on the reality of the situation in which they find themselves. He is more unified with nature than the others and sees into the spiritual element at play among the boys. He both discerns the identity of the evil spirit arising in Jack’s camp and uncovers the truth about the “beast.” He attempts to bring the others to the truth but is killed in a frenzy of excitement that serves to propel the boys to even greater savagery.
Roger—Roger shows a tendency toward bullying and cruelty at an early stage in the...
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