Lord of the flies - Descriptions of Ralph, Jack, Piggy and Simon Up to Chapter Four.

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Descriptions of Ralph, Jack, Piggy and Simon

Up to Chapter Four

Ralph

Ralph is one of the main characters in this book and is the first boy we meet in chapter one. His physical appearance is conveyed to us quite early on, with the author letting us know that he has fair hair in the first sentence. This aspect of his looks gives us an alias of “the fair boy” so we can identify him before we learn his name.

  Almost immediately after we start the first chapter, Ralph meets Piggy. His attitude towards him at first is indifferent, ignoring him and seeming uninterested when Piggy speaks. Also he mocks Piggy about things such as his asthma “Sucks to your ass-mar”, his cruel nickname “Piggy! Piggy!”, and his aunt (sucks to your auntie). This seems to be an early show of dominance, as if Ralph has judged Piggy and wants to make sure there is an understanding of who is the stronger of two. He also tends to order Piggy about a bit, telling him to “Get my clothes”, without asking or saying please. He also goes and tells all the others of Piggy’s cruel nickname, despite knowing that he doesn’t want him to. Later on he warms to Piggy, and seems to respond and take more interest in Piggy’s point of view.

  Ralph’s appearance is made to seem quite in the first chapter, emphasizing he is more stockily built than the other children, with Golding stating “that he might make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went”. We are also pulled from thinking that he might be aggressive evil by the description “but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil”    

  As Ralph begins to explore the island, he becomes exited and uses slang expressions such as “whizzoh” that tell us this book was written quite a while ago, as these sayings are no longer in use. Later on Ralph’s grammar shows that he is probably from a middle class background, as he seems quite arrogant (“I could swim when I was five”), does not call his father “dad” like most boys of that age (“daddy taught me”), and he never seems to make a mistake in his grammar.

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When Ralph and Piggy find the conch it is Ralph who takes control of the situation and decides to try and get it out of the water. It is also him who has a go at blowing on the conch, as piggy makes his excuses “on account of my asthma” This shows again that Ralph is natural leader of the two. Ralph also becomes very engrossed in blowing the conch, and finds it more interesting than greeting the first child that appears from the forest.

  As the choir of boys arrive, the natural order of leadership is halted by ...

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