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Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis

Decent Essays

No human, or animal, or other living being in this world is perfect. Flaws are existent. However, the severity of the flaws can differ, from mild to rather dangerous. Most importantly, flaws develop in a human being due to specific reasons. In Lord of The Flies, the author William Golding’s portrayal of selfishness and pride are significant because they are emotions that prevail when a civilization is absent, showing that humans have a tendency to go towards savagery that is contained by the presence of a civilization.

One of the flaws that develops as the society on the island deteriorates is selfishness, portrayed by the character of Jack. In the beginning of the story, Jack is team oriented, stating things such as “We’ll have rules …show more content…

Golding also portrays how poor leadership will lead to the downfall of civilization, and how it grows in a human being when society does not function properly, an example being the character Ralph. Ralph becomes leader through the vote of the boys on the island. At the beginning of the story he’s shown to be a fit leader, possessing positive qualities such as charisma, strength, and optimism. He appears to be someone who can solve problems that are soon to come. When the signal fire goes out, Ralph is not discouraged; he tells Jack and his choir boys “’You hunters! You can laugh! But I tell you smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one. Do all of you see?’ He spread his arms wide and turned to the whole triangle. ‘We’ve got to make smoke up there – or die.’” (Golding, 86-87). He appears to be stepping up to the problem instead of giving up. However, all he ends up doing is yelling at the boys, not taking action. He feels justified simply by addressing the issue at hand, but doesn’t chastise the boys for their mistake. He’s not a natural leader, because he cannot do perform his leadership duties when he’s supposed to. As the story progresses, and more chaos ensues, Ralph
Bharadwaj 3 is shown to be rather indecisive, riddled with uncertainty. Jack, along with Roger and the other misfits, successfully manipulate Ralph into going pig hunting with them, ironic to his quote before. Ralph does not act

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