Lord of the Flies Character Essay

The Lord of the Flies

Character essay

Lord of the flies, a thoughtfully pieced together novel that is rich with symbolism, deeply thought out characters and is disturbingly satirical was written by William Golding in the early 1950’s. This book that is now a modern classic is widely introduced to high schools as a meaningful read because of it’s infamous character roles that signify important ideas or themes. The reason why the characters are so compelling to the reader is because they get to witnesses the transformation in the group of young boys who are facing an unstructured situation. Readers can sense the group beginning to question their moral values and battle face to face with the beast within themselves. The main characters in the book are Ralph, Simon and Jack and are all around the age of eleven or thirteen, the eldest of the boys on the island. Ralph, the novel’s main protagonist takes charge when they first arrive on the island by introducing rules and structure to create a productive atmosphere. Simon, a fairly skinny quiet boy, appears to be a very spiritual boy who has a high sense for perception and naturally has good human nature. Whereas Jack the antagonist, one of the eldest boys on the island who was originally an orderly choir boy, faces a reality lacking discipline and will stop at nothing to have complete control. 

Ralph, this novels main protagonist, represents structure and leadership. The first formal introduction of Ralph's true character is when he first blows the conch, a large shell that he uses  to call all the other boys together again after the crash separates them. By doing this the conch shell becomes a very powerful symbol for order and structure as it efficiently governs their meetings; the boy who holds the shell gets to speak. As the civilization’s structure begins to  disintegrate as the novel progresses, so does the conch shells power and influence. Ralph also takes the leadership to introduce the concept of the signal fire, their only hope of being rescued. This is done by assigning the boys fire watching shifts as to keep the fire aglow and opening the window of possibility that a passing ship may notice and come to their rescue. The maintaining of the signal fire basically measures the strength of the civilization on the island. As the boys begin to fall apart and the fire dies down, this symbolizes the efforts of being rescued dying down and the desire to accept savagery life on the island increasing. You may also notice that while Ralph’s concepts of order are slowly eroding away, so is Ralph. The well-being of Ralph symbolizes the wellness of civilization and order on the island, and as Ralph is slowly being outcasted and overruled by Jack, so is the civilization.

Simon, a boy who is described to be a skinny quiet boy with black hair, portrays a very spiritual boy who represents the good nature that lives in a part of all of us. He turns out to have a certain perception that allows him to see things for what they truly are, unlike the rest of the boys. He demonstrates this when he is, for example, fasting in the forest and talks with the dead sows head that is smashed onto a pike. He feels the sows honesty and accepts it exactly as it is, a symbol. When the savages had brutally slaughtered the pig and stuck its dead head onto a pike, they saw it as a gift for the beast to guarantee their safety from it’s wrath, although they are actually making the beast stronger. Simon sees is exactly how it is, staring into the eyes of the dead cow he sees the eyes of the beast, the beast that is inside of all the savages. For this cow does not symbolize their effort to please the “beast”, it symbolizes the beast inside of all the boys that grows stronger as they have accepted savagery into their society. Simon's morality rate is also measured when he is confronted with the dead pilot strangled in a parachute. Once he comes across this so called “beast” all the boys had heard and feared to realize that it was the pilot from the plane, strangled by the ropes of his own parachute, dangling in the wind. He responds to this humanely by freeing the tortured soul from it’s parachute and letting the body properly disintegrate and rest in peace.

In conclusion, Lord of the Flies was an utterly satirical and carefully symbolic novel that should be recommended to anyone who is looking for an intense yet meaningful classic. It is considered a classic because of it’s deeply thought out main characters who portray qualities in all human nature. Ralph, the one who represents structure, leadership and productive societies. Simon, the boy who represents good human nature and being spiritually connected with life. And Jack, one of the most meaningful characters in the novel according to William Golding, the boy who represents the lust for power and savagery. William Golding spotlights Jack and what he represents because of the main theme of the book; Jack’s experience on the island, is what can eventually happen with any or most average people. He has depicted that society has the capability to crumble and devolve without structure. In respects to William Goldings thoughts, I have more faith in humanity that society wouldn’t allow the Jacks of this world, become a dictator. I believe that humanity has more good natured beings that would not be lead by fear and uncertainty, but would trust and follow their morals and values.