Preview

Personality In Lord Of The Flies

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
526 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Personality In Lord Of The Flies
In the novel, Lord of the flies by William Golding characters have clashing personalities. To deal with this clash and to fit in with their fellow tribe members the assume a persona. Ralph puts on this mask to seem more violent and uncivilized, like all the other boys on the island except Piggy. It is proven at the end of the novel that this is just a persona and not a complete change in character when Ralph begins to weep at the thought of being rescued by a naval officer and going home at last. After Ralph assumes his persona as an angry savage he begins to perform act unlike his true personality as it is hidden by this mask. An example of this is when Ralph goes out with the choir to hunt a pig. The group comes across a pig and he get

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In Lord of the Flies, William Golding depicts morals and the boundaries of society in the form of characters. This essay will compare and contrast the differences between four pivotal characters: Ralph, Jack, Simon and Roger. The goodness and order in society is portrayed by Ralph and SImon. The darkness in human nature is explained through Roger and Jack.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies by William Golding tells the story about a group of English boys who are stranded on an island after a plane that they were on was shot down. On this island the boys have the freedom of living without adults. They must find a way to set up a society that is livable in and that maintains order. However as time passes the characters see that those tasks are easier said than done. In Lord of the Flies, there are many different characters that show development and growth. Characters like Piggy, Ralph, and Jack all show signs of maturing and growth near the end of the book. Some of the characters were humane and try to maintain order, but other characters fall into the savagery that is within everyone. This statement is best depicted…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When a group of British school boys land on a deserted island someone has to step up and lead. A leader should have many noble traits. In the book Ralph is elected leader, in the beginning he was not much of a standout but later in the book we found Ralph has great leadership skills: he tries to keep the peace, was stern when he needed to be, and held everyone accountable for their work.…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies', a group of schoolboys find themselves on a deserted island alone after a plane crash. They attempt to form a society and elect a 'chief', however this fades and the boys begin to destroy the island and each other. Ralph, the main character and 'chief' of the society the boys initially form, is a character who drastically changes throughout the narrative.…

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The second character trait Simon possesses is that he is devotedly faithful. He is an enormous believer of God and loves sharing his faith with other people. This is proven during various conversations with Reverend Russell and his best friend, Joe Wenteworth. When Simon is talking to the reverend, he suggests that God made him the way he is for a reason and says, “I think I'm God's instrument - that he's gonna use me to carry out his plan.” The last occurrence when Simon is faithful happens when is continually encouraging Joe to be joyful. Simon claims, “Your problem is that you have no faith.” Joe responds, “I got faith. I just need proof to back it up.” Joe is more of a pessimist and practical person therefore Simon is there hence he can cause Joe be further positive.…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the start he is looked up to by the other boys due to his leadership-oriented qualities of being sensible and confident. However, with the deaths of Piggy and Simon comes Ralph’s overwhelming loss of self-control. The loss of Piggy essentially represents the loss of civilization and this is what causes Ralph to gradually lose his focus of trying to escape the island and changes that determination into feelings of anger as he begins to become more aggressive. His personality begins to change, which is described in the scene where he overhears the hunters talking about capturing him: “[Ralph] felt the point of his spear with his thumb and grinned without amusement. Whoever tried that would be stuck, squealing like a pig” (237). This shows how he begins to find comfort in violent behaviour and this also describes his conversion from civilization to savagery. He lets his emotions start to take control and lets out his inner beast, quickly resorting to aggressive confrontation in a difficult situation: “Ralph launched himself like a cat, stabbed, gnarling, with the spear, and the savage doubled up” (240). This describes how he begins to become more animalistic, being brutally violent when his life is threatened, and is even compared to a cat. This shows the corruption of his personality and behaviour without the external forces to help him contain…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ralph, one of the most sensible characters in “Lord of The Flies”, shows an uncharacteristic dark side as a result of the hunters’ chants and actions when the text states, “‘The circle moved in and round. Robert squealed in mock terror, then in real pain...They got his arms and legs. Ralph, carried away by a sudden thick excitement, grabbed Eric’s spear and jabbed at Robert with it. ‘Kill him! Kill him!’ All at once, Robert was screaming and struggling with the strength of frenzy. Jack had him by the hair and was brandishing his knife. Behind him was Roger, fighting to get close. The chant rose ritually, as at the last moment of a dance or a hunt. ‘Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!’ Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering” (Golding 114-115). The mob of hunters inflict pain onto Robert; Ralph adopts this wild and dangerous mentality. The actions of the hunters directly correlate to the actions Ralph displays. Ralph is not only shown being subject to mob mentality, but he is also shown growing accustom to the lifestyle created by a mob when the text states, “Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. They were glad to touch the…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Freudian psychology is present with three kids named Jack, Ralph and Piggy. Jack represents the id, Ralph represents the ego, and Piggy represents the superego. All of these kids have specific actions that help qualify them as a specific element of Freudian Psychology. There is a lot of tension between the three of them, all of them want to be on top. This novel is ultimately about three young kids that each represent a different element Freudians Psychology, fighting to be the most powerful on the island.…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the first two chapter of Lord of the Flies, the author William Golding illustrates the character Ralph in great detail. Physical attributes of Ralph include blonde hair, mild eyes, tall stature, and an athletic build (1,10, 22). Due to his athletic build and tall stature, Ralph appears to be physically superior to the other boys. Appearance is power, the physical superiority Ralph has over others grants him automatic power; however, because of his mild eyes and fair, blonde hair the other boys are not afraid of him. Ralph’s behavior in the first two chapters displays the powerful and the young, boyish side of his personality. In Chapter One Ralph does headstands, makes fart noises with the conch, and wrestles with other boys (10,27,17). These actions reflect those of a young child without a lot of responsibility, or the actions of a child with a high level of…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jack is arrogance and demanding. Ralph and jack are having the others vote on who is going to be chief. “I ought to be chief said jack with simple arrogance because I'm chapter chorister and head boy”(22). This show that he thinks he should be leader because he leads the choirs and is head boy in the choirs. Furthermore “jack pointed suddenly his specs use them as burning glasses”(40). Jack tell the kids want to do even though ralph is right there and was voted chief. Theis show that they are trying to hold on to law and order but it is falling apart because of jack.…

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the beginning of the novel, Ralph is confident that he and the boys will be rescued by his dad, but Piggy tells him that no one knows they are there, which makes Ralph feel unsure. Ralph is just like the other boys on the island, but he begins to change as the story progresses. Throughout the novel, as the theme turns from civilized to savage, the events Ralph experiences slowly change him emotionally, physically, and psychologically.…

    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    How strong a community stands is determined by the qualities of the people within it. In William Shakespeare's Romeo&Juliet and William Golding's Lord of the Flies, it is debatable whether one's human qualities serve to break or build the society around them. Unquestionably human qualities destroy a community rather than serving to build it. By examining the outcomes of anger ,immaturity, and fear, it will clearly prove that human qualities tend to break community.…

    • 1384 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Lord of the flies

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The book, “Lord of the Flies”, by William Golding, contains many characters that each symbolize something, one of them being Ralph who symbolizes structure and government. In the beginning of the book, Ralph was leader and everything was organized. Once Ralph’s position declines and Jack’s’ position rises, the children begin to become savages. Ralph is the most important character because once structure and government is lost, humans become savages and beasts.…

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    When life throws scary and dire situations at you, some believe it is a test to see a person's true colors, and how that person reacts under extreme pressure and conflict. In situations like these, leaders are born. In The Lord of the Flies, Ralph becomes a frontrunner as the “chief”, or leader in the story. Ralph struggles to maintain a civil relationship between all the boys, but still remains the more appropriate leader, including his civility, his conflicts, and his purpose.…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Each individual is acknowledged as good or bad, but is there such a thing as good and bad? Golding, who has written the Lord of the Flies, expresses and shows how people react towards each other. The Lord of the Flies shows the image of civilization and influence. Golding articulates each and every individual in detail. Around the 1700’s, two men named Hobbes and Locke had an intriguing conversation, “What are humans?”, “Were we meant to be savages?”, “What would ourselves be without laws?” These questions are yet to be answered by your own opinion. ‘The Lord of the Flies’ has many situations relating to the nature of humanity. The nature of humanity describes the characteristics such as society, influence and individuality.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays