Ralph is changed by his experiences on the island. How does Golding show this?

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Ralph is changed by his experiences on the island. How does Golding show this?

· Introduction

- What is the books about?

- Who is Ralph?

- What do I set out to investigate?

· Character at the beginning

- What is the character of Ralph like at the start of the play

- What do the others think of him?

- How do the other characters talk and think about him?

· Events that affect Ralph

- What events in the book directly affect Ralph as a character?

- How do these affect him?

- How do the others begin to see him?

· Character at the end

- What is Ralph's character like at the end of the book?

- How has he changed?

- Why has this happened and how does it affect other people's attitudes to him?

· Conclusion

- Sum up my answer the question

- Reasons

- Relate back

Ralph is changed by his experiences on the island. How does Golding show this?

The Lord of the Flies is a book written by William Golding published in 1954. It deals with the possibility of a group of evacuated boys crash landing on a desert island and observes how they struggle to not only stay alive but to get rescued and most centrally live together. One of the first characters we meet is that of Ralph, he is twelve years old and has fair hair. I hope to investigate this character in more detail; I hope to be able to understand more about him and specifically how he changes throughout the story and the ways in which Golding portrays him.

Early on Ralph is described as being a fair-haired boy and his physique makes it look as though "he might make a boxer". He makes friends with Piggy very early on and for much of the book these two appear to have a bond that is not shown between other characters. Ralph is portrayed as sporting, decent and honourable but not possessed of any great intelligence, imagination or conviction, skills that contribute to his downfall on the island. Although he has obvious strength he is said to have "a mildness about his face and eyes that proclaimed no devil". This could be seen as ironic because his main rival for leadership, Jack, has red hair, symbolic for blood, hell and the devil - these qualities do emerge from Jack as the story goes on. Ralph's dad is in the Royal Navy and has presumably travelled a great deal, a number of times Ralph wishes to return to the described image of his middle-class home. His dad's involvement in the forces may also give reason to his views on cleanliness, which are not normal for boys his age.
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Throughout the book events show Ralph's strengths and weaknesses and also give us a better insight into his character. Early on he and Piggy discover a conch, which is blown to attract the others; this is the first moment when we are able to appreciate the difference in character. Piggy sees it and realises it is "ever so valuable" and has a knowledge of such things from his childhood, however it takes Ralph a while to realise it's potential to "call the others...have a meeting". Piggy then asks, "That's why you got the conch out the water?" implying ...

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