Lord of the Flies character sketch. One of the first characters to be introduced in the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding is Ralph.

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LORD OF THE FLIES CHARACTER SKETCH - RALPH - BY TIM KWOK

One of the first characters to be introduced in the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding is Ralph.  He can be described as a boy with "fair hair", around twelve years old, wide shoulders, and with "a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil".  Back home before Ralph got stuck on the island, he was living at home with his mom and his dad who was a "Navy commander".  When he falls asleep he dreams about his life back at home where he is "feeding the ponies with sugar over the garden wall".    

Ralph along with Piggy are the first characters introduced in chapter one of the novel.  He is the one who finds the conch and follows Piggy's suggestion to blow the conch to call all the other boys.  When he suggest for a leader to manage the group he is elected over Jack because of his humble and friendly actions towards the other kids.  As a leader, Ralph is direct toward the other boys in what needs to be done and who needs to do what, and he is also very concerned for the well being of the other boys.  Though Ralph has some qualities of a good leader, he does not have all of them because he is far too lenient and is not strict enough.  He is unable to get all the other boys to help out around the island as indicated when he says, "People don't help much".  Ralph is also a character who understand what the priority is, as shown through out the novel when he is constantly stressing the importance of keeping the "fire" going.

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As the novel progresses, Ralph and Jack begin to quarrel and Ralph is left by Jack and a bunch of other boys.  This is due to his lack in discipline towards the other boys.  At this point in the novel he also starts to acknowledge Piggy as a good friend.  The further the novel progresses the more people leave Ralph and the less confident he becomes in himself and his ability to stay civilized.  At the very end of the novel he has changed from a person who is innocent to a person who understands true human nature and ...

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