Ralph Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a movie about a group of young, preteen boys who get stranded on an island. It tells the story of the boys’ time on the island, and how their attempt at civilization was ultimately a disaster. It is wrong to say that the boys’ actions were the result of the human survival instinct. This is because they did many horrible things that they did not have to do to survive. For instance, the wild hunting chant and dance that Jack’s tribe did, that resulted in Simon’s death. That dance was completely unnecessary, and they did it for some other reason than to stay alive. Another example would be when a boy from Jack’s tribe dropped a large rock on Piggy’s head. Piggy was not harming them in any way, or threatening their survival, therefore making it impossible for their actions to be a consequence of primal instinct.

Ralph represents civilization and order, while Jack symbolizes the opposite, savagery and anarchy. This is shown throughout the movie where Ralph always wanted to have fixed rules and jobs for everyone, while on the other hand Jack ruled by force and had only one unspoken rule: that whatever he said was law. They were both appealing as leaders for a variety of reasons, such as their confidence, authoritative disposition, and their seniority. Ralph was appealing because he solved problems, like starting a fire, and when they first reached the island, he was the one who brought them all together with the conch. Jack was appealing because as time went on, Ralph slowly had more difficulty keeping order, causing the boys to lose faith in him as a