The boys try to bring civilisation into their society by creating laws and rules but this only works for a short period of time. We are introduced in the book to the character Ralph, a character that processes strong moral values and stand by what he believes is correct. He is the one that finds the conch, tries to create a bring civilisation into the island and calls for a voting for chief. “Let’s have a vote.” Ralph is then chosen to be the leader not only because of the conch but also because of his appearance and his procession of leadership qualities. Despite Piggy’s high intelligence, he is unable to be the leader because of his physical weakness (his glasses, asthma and his plump appearance.) This shows that in society, we do not want a leader who has the intelligence but also someone who we can trust. “None of the boys could have found good reason for this, what intelligence had been shown was traceable to Piggy while the most obvious leader was Jack. But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance.” Throughout the novel, Ralph is the character which gives commands and is respected by almost everyone on the island. He is also the one who believes that the boys cannot survive in an environment like this and the value of order in society. He does not believe in anarchy. “Sitting, Ralph was aware of the heat for the first time that day. He pulled distastefully at his grey shirt and wondered whether he might undertake the adventure of washing it. He would like to have a pair of scissors and cut this hair. He would like to have a bath, a proper wallow with soap. He passed his tongue experimentally over his teeth and decided that a toothbrush would come in handy too.”
In Lord of the Flies, Golding presents Ralph as a fair leader by allowing votes and caring for the other boys as he wants to run the group in a democratic way. He is constantly making rules for the boys to follow and has strong moral instincts. In a democratic society, laws are made so that a community can endeavour to live peacefully together. Ralph is presented as a rational character but he does not realize that not everyone in society follows rules, which causes him in the end to be haunted by Jack. He has a loyal group of supporters initially, but gradually his support decreases until he is alone being hunted by the others at the end. “Wait a minute! I mean, who built all three? We all built the first one, four of us the second one, and me n’Simon built the last one over there. That’s why it’s so tottery. No. Don’t laugh. ” As he goes on talking, there would always be some arguments. “That’s dirty!” Laughter rose again. “I said that’s dirty!” A mistake in Ralph’s way of governing is that he does not realize that in order for people to work, there has to be something in return. In a democratic society, in order to survive, it is necessary to work hard and contribute something in society for return. It is similar on the island. In order to have shelter, water and food, everyone has to contribute. The problem is that as time goes by, the littluns realises that fun is much more important than work. Ralph does not realize that they are still children and still have quite a childish thinking thus creating a problem in the respect they hold for him.
Jack is the character who turns the society into anarchy but also a dictatorship form of government. He rebels against the rules that Ralph makes and is often found on the opposing side. “I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you. I’m not going to be part of Ralph’s lot’s” From this, we are able to see the selfish attitude of Jack because he is looking after himself and only care about his wants and not everyone else’s needs. In order to increase his group of supporters, he uses bribery by promising meat to those who join him. “But now I’m going to get more of the biguns away from the conch and all that. We’ll kill a pig and give a feast.” Throughout the novel, Jack is the main character that does not always agree with Ralph and is shown even from the beginning. “This toy of voting was almost as pleasing as the conch. Jack started to protest but the clamour changed from the general wish for a chief to an election by acclaim of Ralph himself.” He thinks that he should be the one in control of all this. “I ought to be chief,” said Jack with simple arrogance, “because I can sing C sharp.” Jack is a representation of a dictator because he commands fear from other characters and he also has a choir as an ‘army’ to support him. He also strongly believes that hunting is the most important thing and disregards law and order in society. "Who cares about the rules?" "Who are you to tell us what to do?" “we don’t need the conch any more. We know who ought to say things.” “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in.” Despite Ralph’s persistence in having the fire and smoke signal set up, Jack is always disagreeing with him. “We’re strong – we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down!” From this, we are able to notice how quickly Jack’s tribe then reverts to savagery when there aren’t any rules as they put on paint on their faces and chant war cries.
Symbols in the novel play an important part in the novel in conveying messages to the readers. Symbols in Lord of the Flies, especially the conch can show the breakdown of the democratic government to a dictatorship. The conch is often mentioned at the beginning of each chapter and is used to call meetings. The conch symbolizes authority as a person is only allowed to talk at a meeting if they have it. “I haven’t finished yet.” But you‘ve talked and talked!” I’ve got the conch.” Jack sat down, grumbling.” The colour change of the conch represents innocence change in the boys. “Exposure to the air had bleached the yellow and pink to near-white, and transparency.” As the conch becomes a lighter colour, Simon dies. When the conch has reached a white colour, and is unable to change its colour, its breaks and Piggy dies at the same time. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, travelled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went.” The symbolic meaning of Piggy dying and the conch breaking at the same time is because Piggy represents the knowledge and morality on the island. Without both the conch and Piggy, Ralph is very vulnerable which results in him being chased by everyone in the ending.
The society created by the characters in Lord of the Flies is very similar to the real world. Since Golding wrote this in 1954, 9 years after World War II, there is quite a resemblance to what happened before then. Jack’s way of controlling the other characters on the island is similar to Hitler’s, by making promises and giving some forms of benefits to their people. The way Lord of the Flies ended is also similar to the way World War II ended. World War II ended when the US stepped it and the battle in Lord of the Flies ended when an officer came on the island to rescue them.