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Lord of The Flies

Ralph represents both good and evil in Lord of the Flies. Initially, he shows good by creating rules to maintain order and civilization. However, he later is influenced by Jack and participates in killing Simon, showing his capacity for evil. The conch shell symbolizes Ralph's attempt to use rules and leadership to maintain good, but also comes to represent his failure as savagery increases. In the end, Ralph recognizes he has committed horrific acts, demonstrating that all humans have an innate potential for both good and evil.

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151 views3 pages

Lord of The Flies

Ralph represents both good and evil in Lord of the Flies. Initially, he shows good by creating rules to maintain order and civilization. However, he later is influenced by Jack and participates in killing Simon, showing his capacity for evil. The conch shell symbolizes Ralph's attempt to use rules and leadership to maintain good, but also comes to represent his failure as savagery increases. In the end, Ralph recognizes he has committed horrific acts, demonstrating that all humans have an innate potential for both good and evil.

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api-604849134
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Emily M Benmlih Benmlih 1

Steiner

English 10

4 November 2019

Good and Evil

In the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Golding uses the character Ralph and the

Conch to represent both good and evil aspects of the theme that the capacity for human nature is

to be good and evil.

Ralph represents both good and evil by all his actions he has done throughout the book.

Ralph shows good by being civilized and creating rules in the beginning of the book in chapter

1, when they had first landed on the beach. “ Meanwhile Ralph continued to blow till voices

shouted in the forest. The small boy squatted in front of Ralph, looking up brightly and

vertically.” (18) Him creating rules sets the tone to be safe and to create an environment where

his peers know they have to keep their humanity individually. The boys and children that are

there want to listen to him because of the way he spoke up and became a leader. The words

“quatted” and “Looking up brightly and vertically” shows that he is setting rules making his

peers want to listen to him when they squat down to show respect for someone who is civilized

in having humanity for them while they stay there. Every human being is savage at heart, no

matter how hard they try to oppress it. Evil is an instinct, a part of humankind. After a while of

ralph making rules they were not working for others especially Jack who was the biggest

problem, Jack and the other boys other than piggys tribe did not believe in good they were all

about the evil. Ralphs rules were not working because others lost their humanity in themselves.
Civilization wasn't something they had in mind it was all focussed on hunting and killing each

other to feel powerful. In that case Ralph was brainwashed and felt like he needed to hunt

making it hard for him not to. Once he hunt for something he needed something to make him

satisfied so him and all the boys killed simon. In chapter 10, he shows that he is murdering simon

and being in denial by the way he is acting. “He had reckoned, during the terrible night, on

finding at least some of the tribe holding out against the tribe holding out against the horrors of

the island in the safest place.” Chapter 10 the boys realize what they had done wrong, especially

Ralph. Ralph felt horrible after that incident where he had realized they killed simon making him

go in denial to protect the way he was feeling. The words “reckoned” and’’ horror’’ is a big

impact on the part where they had killed. They counted the amount of times they believe

something was horrific towards the murderous actions that took place in the story that reveals

humans are in fact inherently evil. Simon and Piggy’s death are both pivotal points in the novel.

The symbol that associates with ralph is the conch because it symbolizes the way ralph is

trying to make the rules work. Symbols in the lord of the flies are important to many people

because it is a representation of their individuality. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William

Golding, the conch shell is a representation of the leadership in society. The conch shell is used

to speak during the meeting on the island. He who holds the conch is the leader. Throughout the

novel, a few people get a hold of the conch and either use it speaks or take over. Power can

always be he most unexpected thing. "Let him be chief with the trumpet thing" (p19). Piggy says

this because he believes that Ralph should be the leader. There is a reason for this. It is because

Ralph has the conch. They found it before they called the other boys. This is taken at the beach
where the meeting was being held. The words chief and trumpet are both important because they

have a big impact on how the kids see ralph as a chief and want him to be a leader.

In conclusion, everyone has good and evil inside them it always can and may affect

others in many ways. There are always people who prove to have better leadership skills then

others. The strongest of these people can often influence the weaker people into following them.

However, the strongest person is not necessarily the best leader as it is proven in William

Golding's book, The Lord of the Flies. Although Ralph is the weaker person, he is still able to

show a better understanding of people than Jack who is stronger. Ralph demonstrates his

excellent leadership skills throughout the book by keeping the group in line, treating everyone

with respect, and staying focused on getting rescued but at the same time making life mistakes

that will forever traumatize him.

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