“him with the mark on his face, I don’t see him. Where is he now?”
Then the boy with the mulberry birthmark disappears. This starts to make Ralph think that this island isn’t a paradise anymore but is slowly turning into hell.
At the start Ralph and Jack form a strong bond as they both struggle for leadership. They both want different things as Ralph wants to make a fire and build shelters but Jack and the others want to hunt and enjoy their freedom on the island, but also Jack becomes more and more obsessed by hunting. Ralph changes and starts to become aggravated by Jack’s actions.
“No one else. They’re off bathing, eating or playing.”
Ralph changes a lot when Jack becomes the leader of the savages but Ralph wants the two groups to be united.
At first Ralph doesn’t seem to like Piggy, which is why he gives him the nickname. He also seems to pick out Piggys deficiencies and keeps reminding him of them.
“Piggy! Piggy!”
But as we get further into the novel Ralph starts to realise Piggy’s strengths and discovers he is a good and strong friend.
Whilst Ralph’s relationship with Jack causes him to change so does the disappointment he suffers on the island. As he spends more time on the island he realises that he has become dirty, his hair has grown and he cannot do anything about it.
“You’re chief. You tell ‘em off.”
Also he realises that he has had to work to build the shelters and make a routine. He also finds that he has limitations as a leader as the boys on the island start to ignore him and he becomes disheartened.
Ralph’s disappointsments slowly progress into life threatening problems in the beast, a lot of the littluns belive it is some kind of snake but others think it is the body on top of the mountain. Jack thinks they should hunt it and kill it, but Ralph just wants to leave it alone and hope it doesn’t come down from the mountain.
Ralph plays the same role in Simon’s death as most of the other boys, but I think both Ralph and Piggy were truly sorry for what they had done to Simon.
The reason the boys went to castle rock was to try and talk to Jack about becoming one group again, but while Ralph was talking to Jack Rodger pushed a bolder off of a cliff which knocked Piggy into the sea.
“the conch exploded into a thousand white fragements and ceased to exist.”
I think the destruction of the conch was very symbolic as it had been a sign of togetherness and control amongst the boys but after it was destroyed, the savages’ tribe became the only tribe. This affects Ralph, as he is no longer in control, the fact that he tries to get the twins back into his group shows that he enjoyed having something to be in control of.
The reason the hunt to the death began was because Ralph tried to hide after the rest of the boys had joined the tribe but Jack found him and set up a line of savages to find him. Ralph’s view of the island has completely changed from the view of a paradise island to a hellish island.
When the naval officer arrives Ralph remembers the start of the island and declares himself the leader again. The naval officer asks if a war had taken place not knowing just how right he was.
Golding is showing in his novel that evil lies in the heart of every human being even young innocent boys, it just takes more to bring it out in some people.