Characterisation Ralph and Jack vs Cain and Abel The well-known biblical story of brothers Cain and Abel presents the theme of jealousy and rivalry. These themes are also presented in the novel Lord of the Flies through the characters Ralph and Jack. In the novel, the main characters are Ralph, the protagonist, and Jack, his nemesis. Ralph is elected as the leader of the boys while Jack and his boy scouts get the responsibility to become the hunters and the guardians of the fire up in the mountain. Jack and Ralph form a deep relationship from the beginning, almost like brothers. They rely on each other to take responsibility over different tasks. As the two boys establish and develop their roles, Jack begins to feel an unwanted jealousy towards Ralph. Ralph is somehow more liked and respected by the other boys. …show more content…
Simon and Jesus are therefore both killed for the truth. In the New Testament, it is written; “[Jesus]You will seek me and as I said to the Jews, where I am going you cannot come, so now I say to you. (John 13:33)” Jesus refers to his death on the cross where he later paid for the sins of mankind; He is telling his followers that no one can follow him where he is going. Similarly, when Simon dies and his last breath comes out of his body, the sea creatures drag his corpse towards the sea. He goes to a place where no one can follow him; “Softly, surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations, Simon’s dead body moves out towards the open sea. (Page:170)” Although both Jesus and Simon are killed in the pursuit of truth, Jesus dies while spreading his moral philosophy. In comparison, Simon is not able to tell the other boys the truth. Furthermore, while Jesus’s death brings the good in humanity and the domination of evil, Simon’s death only plunges the boys deeper into
These boys, Jack and Ralph, both fight for dominance during this novel, whilst grappling with their egos and desires. Ralph is the superior leader in, “Lord of the Flies,” due to his prioritizing the group’s welfare and emphasizing reason over primal instinct. Ralph's leadership prioritizes the group's welfare, he says “We've got to have special people for looking after the fire. Any day there may be a ship out there... ”(Golding 33)
1."And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can't hunt, you can't sing—" "I'm chief. I was chosen."
At this meeting they are going to pick a leader. Jack and Ralph want to be leader, so the boys vote. The most votes go to Ralph, so Ralph is there leader. But Ralph gives Jack some responsibility, Jack can hunt and keep the fire
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a novel that revolves around the concept of civilization versus savagery. The boys argue about points that eventually split the boys amongst themselves. These disputes come up multiple times over the course of the novel. One of which being the fight over the leader of the boys. Some believed the leader should be Jack while others believed it should be Ralph.
Ralph is one of the oldest boys on the islands, he was elected as leader at the beginning of the book. Ralph treats all the boys with respect throughout the book even when he begins to lose sanity himself. Ralph organizes all the boys in hope to keep them alive until they get saved, he makes them build shelters, keep the fire burning, and keep them all fed. Constantly throughout the book Ralph tries to keep the boys civilized whereas Jack does the opposite.
His personality traits show that he is devoted spiritually, non-violent, in harmony with the world, and empathetic. Simon is characterized as an outsider because he has seizures, but the boys think he is pretending because it occurs very often. Later on, Simon has a conversation with The Lord of the Flies, which is a dead pig’s head. Their conversation resembles Christ’s conversation with the devil during his forty days in the wilderness. The Lord of the Flies was trying to convince Simon that evil was inside the boys and that Simon was good but everyone was going to have fun except for Simon.
At first, ralph makes a fire, hoping to stop a passing ship. Soon, after, all the boys group together, one of the boys, Jack tries to challenge ralph for his leadership, Jack tribe release a boulder on piggy, killing him. Jack then takes the other two boys hostage, leaving Ralph alone. During the process of jacks tribe trying to kill him. In the midst of trying to kill him, jack starts a forest fire.
Although Jack expresses strong desire to become chief, the boys elect Ralph as a leader, suggesting an air of charisma that made him worthy of his position. He believes a leader has to “think, be wise… grab at a decision”, someone who can look after others and keep the group in
Although Jack was the most natural leader and Piggy was probably the smartest of the group, the boys voted Ralph as their chief. Jack’s jealousy is evident after Ralph is chosen as chief when he “disappeared under a blush of mortification” (Golding 23). In the first days and weeks on the
Jesus had been crucified because the Church and Romans in power felt threatened by the truth he spoke of. Simon was always more aware of what was actually happening on the island than any other boy. He stumbled upon what was thought to be the “beast”. With his knowledge that there was no actual threat on this perfect island, he heads down the hill to tell the boys so they can stop living in fear mirroring frantic cornered animals. When he emerged from the trees the boys jumped on him and killed him, not able to handle the idea of no beast.
When the bus crashed and went into the lake, Simon knew that this was his time, and all along it was God’s plan. He saved all the kids and sacrificed himself for a another child to be removed from the bus. Sadly he floated to the top of the lake and died later in the movie, in the hospital. Simon died in good spirits knowing this was God calling him up to the
Finally, Simon 's hallucination represents the realization he had of the evil within the
Golding wrote his death in this way purposely, so that Simon would look as if he was being resurrected, but in reality he is just drifting out to sea, and his body will decompose and fish will eat him, along with the Angelic looking creatures on him pulling him to sea. His message did not endure, as the boys just killed him and ran away, none of them hearing that he freed the island from the corruption of the dead man. Simon’s role as a failed Christ figure was shown by his crucifixion, “resurrection”, and his failure to get the boys to listen to his message of freeing them from corruption. His violent death did not make him a martyr as Christ was, he would only to be thought of as a batty boy who died on the island.
Everyone has this underlying darkness within them that is hidden away deep inside the nooks and crannies of their hearts. Golding demonstrates this through the use of his major characters, Ralph and Jack. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, the author William Golding utilizes character development to suggest the idea that when individuals are separated from civilization, dark forces will arise and threaten unity and harmony. Golding presents the protagonist, Ralph, who is decently intelligent and completely civilized, to demonstrate how once individuals are pulled away from civilization, the dark forces within them will arise and change how they are for the time being.
Throughout the book we witness the power struggle between Jack and Ralph, we watch as Jack undermines Ralph's authority and gains control of the boys on the island. Jack's leadership is powerful, he understands how to coerce others into following him and is exceptional at controlling his crowd. Take for example him leading the crowd of hunters, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (Golding 56).