Lord of the Flies by William Golding in 1954

In The novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding in 1954 a group of British boys is on a plane that crashes onto an island. As the boys attempt to fend for themselves, distinct personalities emerge. Piggy, who is bullied and teased, is a symbol of maturity. Meanwhile, Ralph is elected chief when they first arrive on the island, but he loses his leader ship to Jack. He is a symbol of optimism. Jack is evil and is a symbol of savagery. Piggy is the biggest outcast to of all the boys on the island.

Everything from his maturity to his looks places him on a pedestal for bullying. This is proven in chapter four when he says “Having sense makes you an outcast” (71). He constantly refers to his aunt and tries to preserve sophistication; piggy is the most logical character. But this connects to the real world. People with respectable looks would be considering a leader, then someone who resembles piggy-fat, slow, pinkish skin. Piggy presence in the novel shows that no matter the quality of ideas not all people are listened to.

Piggy remains confident to the savagery going on around him, until he is killed by giant rock. “How can you expect to rescue if we don’t put first thing first and act proper? ” (45) Piggy says this at a meeting with the boys. That statement couldn’t be any truer, but not when it’s coming from piggy. Ralph never seems to lose hope he is elected chief at the first meeting by his ability to call a meeting that seemed to win over the boys. As any civilization dissolves on the island and jack steals chief position, Ralph keeps s optimism. One reason he has hope is because of his father.

Ralph tells piggy that his father has a map that has every island in the world on it, including the one they are stranded on. This belief helps him to cope with the change in society on the island. But in chapter 11Ralph is pushed to his breaking point. “Don’t you understand, you painted fools? Sam, Eric, piggy, and me, we aren’t enough… look at that! Call that a signal fire? That’s a cooking fire. Now you’ll eat and there will be no smoke. Don’t you understand? There could be a ship out there” (178). Ralph is extremely frustrated because of no hope on the island. Jack ignored him; Ralph lifted his spear and began to shout. Listen, all of you. My hunters and I are living along the beach by a flat rock. We hunt and feast and have fun. If you want to join my tribes come and see us. Perhaps I’ll let you join. Perhaps not” (140). This was said by Jack, from that point he took over as a leader. His evilness and savagery got in the way of a society on an island. He is compared to Hitler because they both made a promise. In this case jacks promise was for food, Hitler’s was for a better life for the Germans.

They also took over as being a leader. Through out the book the themes hope, what’s left of maturity, evolving into savagery established them. Piggy remains mature, when he is killed in chapter 11 all wisdom and remnants die. Ralph embodies a less significant theme to the plot of hope. Hope in hid father, the fire and hope to be rescued. Jack careless behavior of others and joy in seeing others hurt makes the theme substantial. Over all themes have a strong impact on not only the moral of the story, but what’s left of the characters. Denika Williams Mrs. Thav 1st Hour