essay

describe at least one important character in the written text. explain how this character is revealed through out the text?

Introduction. Lord of the flies by William Golding is an interesting piece of text because of its strong character theme and the way that Golding shows those changes. every major characters develops in a strong way thought the novel, but of theses characters the strongest change is between Ralph at the beginning of the book and Ralph in end of the book.

Ralph is considered the protagonist of the book but Golding does not show this at the start of the book. In the beginning Golding writes about how Ralph is resistant of power, and how all he wants to do is play on the beach and eat the abundant fruit from the forest. The power is shoved on him unwillingly when he discovers the conch. Main theme of the story comes out in the form of the competition and violence between the unwilling Ralph and jack who desires to lead and considers himself a better leader because of his considered super ego. Golding illustrated how unprepared Ralph is for leadership by showing how indecisive he is and how he doesn’t have power over Jack. When they are coming up with rules for the island Golding shows that all though jack is behind Ralph’s ideas and he is backing his ideas about rules for the island, he is only doing this for his own reasons. The violence that is the main theme of jack and Ralph’s relationship is for foreshadowed in the beginning of the book, as the reader can tell that there is strong tension between both boys and with the right circumstances either side could be pushed into violence very easily. In a way both Ralph and Jack are influenced and controlled by other characters from behind the scenes, Ralph is being pushed by Piggy to be more controlling and Piggy’s power comes from his influence of Ralph, but at the same time Jack is influenced by Roger and his more violent implications.

One of the most important things to know about Lord of the Flies is the problems of the world at the time how this has effected the novel. Lord of the Flies was written in 1953 but Golding says the ideology for the book came about from his time in WWI and WWII and the brutality that he observed from being a soldier. Many people from the time had had similar experiences and this was part of the reason the book struck an accord with the readers of the time because as Golding mentioned in interviews, he believed that any person put into a particular situation will become evil and violent, and this was considerably proved in WWI and WWII as seemingly nice normal people had the worst extracted from them. Golding saw this and realised that for his characters to turn savage he would need strong conflict that eventually lead to violence, this is why Jack and Ralph are such competing characters as without there whole rivalry the book would be seemingly ruder less and meaningless.

As Ralph goes through the book he starts to gain confidence in his actions, and some of his plans start to pay off which helps gain him more control. The huts despite the fact that little people helped make them, work and the platform is a great addition to the village. But as Ralph’s character has been developing so has Jacks. Jack starts to become more violent and demanding, pushed by roger and other members of the choir Jack’s power starts to grow until his eventual breaking point and splitting from Ralph. Although Ralph starts to gain power his enemies are threatening him, as Jack starts to speak out saying things like “he’s like Piggy, he says things like Piggy, he isn’t a proper chief” (pg 126) this is showing how Jack is becoming more resistant to Ralph and being willing to speak up. But Ralph doesn’t respond in a strong way to Jacks challenge of his power this is still showing his resistance to power, even though he’s is settling into his position and becoming he still isn’t as strong and determined as Jack.

The payoff of the character development comes after Piggy’s death, Jack gives into his role as a villain and really shows off Golding’s point, he no longer has any care for those who oppose him and openly wishes to kill Ralph. This is really proving what Golding says about humans, for when the book starts jack controls his dark urges and is relatively civilised but in the end his situation has turned his evil and he is ready to fight and kill. Ralph on the other hand has his character arc cut short because of Piggy’s death and the fall of his power and plans. Ralph was becoming more determined, but during the last chapter of the novel he has one goal which is to survive and escape. This puts a halt on any of the ideas that golding was developing inside Ralph but it also shows the inevitable conclusion of the story. in which Ralph and jacks rivalry becomes violent and both characters are reverted to considerable savages.

Golding’s writing and themes are what makes Lord of the Flies a powerful book that has stayed relevant to this day. These themes are portrayed throughout the characters story arcs and how the horribleness of there situation eventually forces them to release the beast and becomes uncivilised savages who will do anything for power or to survive. Lord of the Flies is ever more relevant with its themes being represented in waring areas around the world. It is a brutal, powerful and interesting book that deserved all the praise it got.