Nicki
Alpern
9/1/03
Honors
English II
The character Ralph is realistic,
independent and civil in this novel. In the Lord of the Flies, by
William Golding. Ralph must do many things for his own survival and the
survival of the other boys on the island. I think the obstacles he has to
overcome make up his character throughout the book. A character’s personality
can be changed when he/she is put in certain positions, such as when Jack’s
group was hunting for him, Ralph had to choose between survival and being civil.
Even though Ralph joined Jack’s group at one point when they murdered Simon, I
feel he still remained the civilized, realistic and independent person he is.
Ralph’s character is very realistic
in this book. He’s always the one to bring reality to the island when it is
greatly needed for the boys. For example, he was the only boy who believed that
his father would find him and they would eventually be rescued. This is
realistic because he knew that people would find out the plane crashed and come
looking for them. Another important factor is that he didn’t believe in the
beast. Ralph knew there’s no such thing as a beast and that it didn’t exist. He
realized that there had to be a sensible reason for the boys to believe that
there was a beast living in the forest. Ralph also knew certain things must be
done for them to survive on the island without adults, like building shelters,
keeping clean, and having a set leadership and government. The other boys
didn’t think logically about what needed to get completed every day in order
for everyone to live a somewhat reasonable life.
Besides being realistic, Ralph is a very
independent person in this novel. He demonstrates his independence in many
parts of the Lord of the Flies which shows how self-sufficient Ralph
really is. One example that proves his independence is when he is the first boy
to step up to become leader. Even though Piggy was the boy to put him in that
position, Ralph already had his mind set on his leadership role and what he
wanted to get accomplished. This proves he is self-sufficient because he
immediately knew what rules to make up without other people telling him what to
do. Another example is how Ralph doesn’t choose to become barbaric and join in
with the hysteria of Jack’s tribe. For the most part he stayed on his own side
even when he was the only person left in his group. He doesn’t get involved
with the original bloodlust of the boys injuring Rodger because he knows it is
wrong and savage-like. He also doesn’t join Jack’s tribe when everyone else is
convinced to, Ralph sticks to his original plan without his friends and stays
by himself. This shows he doesn’t usually give in to peer pressure and can
survive on his own rules.
Most importantly, Ralph was a very
civil person. He knew what was right and what was wrong. As the first leader,
he set civil rules to live on the island. These rules were the basic rules for
living on their own and getting along. He decided that the person talking must
be holding the conch; this made everyone calm so only one person could talk at
a time and there was no chaos. Unlike many other characters, Ralph was nice and
helpful to the younger children and didn’t beat them or act savagely towards
them. This demonstrates his civilized character by proving he always tried to
do the right thing. He also attempted to make sure everything was completed,
like building the shelters and keeping a signal fire to increase the chance of
getting rescued. These rules kept the boys civilized until their animal instincts
took over and Ralph couldn’t do anything to stop them.
Ralph’s characteristics make up many
of the events in the story. His realistic, civilized, and independent nature
constructs the book’s plot. This keeps the war between savage and civilized
instincts going on and if it wasn’t for Ralph’s rules and original plan I don’t
think any of the boys would have survived the first week. All of his actions
directly prove that his character is independent, realistic, and civilized.
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