Lord Of The Flies

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Lord of the Flies

        “Lord of the Flies” is a novel written in the early 1950s just after World War II, by William Golding.

        It is set around the time of war, after a group of young boys are sent on a plane to live where there is no violence, unfortunately their plane crashes and they are left deserted on an island. They have to take care of themselves, and choose a leader, Ralph, to take control of the group and ensure they get back to safety. Things don’t really turn out to plan though and they find themselves battling with good and evil, civilisation and savagery.

        Throughout my essay I intend to discuss the two main characters that contrast, Ralph and Jack.

        At first Ralph shows complete goodness within him, whereas Jack is shown to be evil, and struggles to control his temper.

        When Ralph is first introduced he is described as a boxer.


“You could see now that he might make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went.”

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        This shows Ralph has power because he was big but he would not use this to be evil. Golding emphasises Ralph’s goodness, this hints to what may happen at the end of the book.

        Golding also describes Ralph’s inner being.


“but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil”

        This again shows how good Ralph is, and his purity. Golding shows the contrast of Ralph and Jack by specifically describing their eyes, as it is almost an insight to their inner being. When describing Jack he writes:

“Out of this face stared two blue ...

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