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 the arrival of Jack Merridew. It is clear from the moment the choir arrive that the two main candidates for leader are Ralph and Jack. Such as, when the choir come marching in, it is Ralph that answers Jack’s question with “There’s no man with a trumpet. Only me.” When the election for chief is announced, Ralph’s appearance makes him a clear choice “But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch.”
When the prospect of pigs being on the island is brought into discussion, Ralph is the first to suggest hunters to get pig meat (“we need hunters to get us meat”). Although, as time goes on, and the shortage of boys because of hunting becomes a problem(such as the quality of the huts or the fire going out), Ralph quickly becomes opposed to the hunter tribe “you could have had everyone when the shelters were finished. But you had to hunt”. This starts to show the frailties of Ralph’s personality, as well as the anger and dismay he shows at the leaving ship “Come back! Come back! / They let the bloody fire out.”
Piggy
Piggy is quickly established as the most intelligent of the four. Although, as he would have made a wise and diligent leader, his perhaps even comical physical appearance hindered him the whole group first met “you talk to much / shut up, fatty”. This has hindered him severely respect wise and has never fully recovered this. Piggy is first called “the fat
boy”, and the first main description of him makes him seem extremely plump and obese ”knees were plump / shorter than the fair boy and very fat” . This may be to convince the reader that he is not an aggressive or violent person at all, emphasizing his intellectuality. He is also never mean or spiteful to any character up to chapter four, except for when Jack breaks his prized possession - his glasses “Now I only got one eye. Jus’ you wait-“.
Piggy is portrayed as the friendly, intelligent one who, despite this excellent personality trait, is overlooked and taken for granted sometimes. His cruel nickname, “Piggy” is quite harsh but at the same time realistic. Also the fact of his asthma and near cockney grammar mistakes helps the reader to warm to this extravagant young boy.
Piggy’s glasses are a very important to him, the rest of the group and a bold symbol of his intelligence to the reader. He cleans them regularly, especially when mocked, and is extremely annoyed when Jack breaks one lens “Jus you wait-”. I think this is partly because of the fact he can’t see without them, but also because it is his only possession on the island.
Piggy is keen to see order and democracy retained on the island, and tries to keep everyone to the rule of speaking with the conch. However, he frequently takes heckling and abuse from Jack "We don't want you, / You shut up!".
Piggy is the only of the four’s characters that does not seem to change. As Ralph starts to long for civilized life, Jack becomes more and more unruly in this life of no punishment. Even Simon, a minor character in the book seems to relax and toughen up, as he entered as such a weedy boy. Even the three’s appearance seems to adapt to the tropical lifestyle, but there is no mention of Piggy’s hair growing or skin tanning.
Jack
Jack Merridew begins as the arrogant and self-righteous leader of a choir. The freedom of the island allows him to further develop the darker side of his personality as the Chief of a savage tribe. Jack is first described with an ugly sense of cruelty that makes him naturally unlikeable.
As leader of the choir and one of the tallest boys on the island, Jack's physical height and authority matches his arrogant personality. His desire to be Chief is clearly evident in his first appearance. When the idea of having a Chief is mentioned Jack spoke out immediately. "I ought to be chief," said Jack with simple arrogance, "because I'm chapter chorister and head boy." He leads his choir by administering much discipline resulting in forced obedience from the cloaked boys. His ill-nature is well expressed through his impoliteness of saying, "Shut up, Fatty." at Piggy. However, despite his unpleasant personality, his lack of courage and his conscience prevents him from killing the first pig they encounter. "They knew very well why he hadn't: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood." Even at the meetings, Jack is able to contain himself under the leadership of Ralph. He had even suggested the implementation of rules to regulate themselves!
The freedom offered to him by the island allows Jack to express the darker sides of his personality that he hid from the ideals of his past environment. Without adults as a superior and responsible authority, he begins to lose his fear of being punished for improper actions and behaviors. This freedom coupled with his malicious and arrogant personality makes it possible for him to quickly degenerate into a savage.
It is very clear from the start that Jack wants to be the chief. As time goes on and Ralph figures out Jack’s aggressive and violent personality, he backs out slightly by letting keep control of the choir, later to be called the Hunters. When Jack lashes out and hits Piggy, he may be using this as a way to get at Ralph, as at this point Ralph has become quite friendly to Piggy.
Simon
Simon is not as heavily featured in this book than the other three, but nonetheless he is one of the main four types of personality. He entered the book as the weakest boy in the choir, but as time continues he becomes stronger and more talkative.
At first he is described as “a skinny, vivid little boy / a hut of straight hair / black and coarse”. He has a pointed chin and “eyes so bright”.
He is not an evil boy like Jack, and does such virtuous deeds such as “found for them the fruit they could not reach” for the littluns and is the only one to help Ralph in the construction of the shelters.