Ralph

"Ralph sat on a fallen trunk, his left side to the sun. On his right were most of the choir; on his left the larger boys who had not known each other before the evacuation; before him small children squatted in the grass."

- Chapter 2

Ralph is the main protagonist in William Golding's Lord of the Flies. He was among the survivors of a plane crash that landed onto an unknown island somewhere in the Pacific.

He was chosen as leader of the group of boys and he comes up with different rules and guidelines, and most importantly, trying to create his own civilized society. But it all goes wrong as Ralph fails to do so and is about to be consumed by savagery.

Description
Aside from being the main character, Ralph is an important protagonist, mainly because he represents civilized and socialized leadership. When voted as chief, he is very open with the group and is well-spoken during their meetings and balancing civilization. Even during his time on the island, he strives to make the place feel a lot like home, like his familiar life before the airplane collision. He longed it to be a more comfortable, happy place, and hopes it can be civilized just like before.

Ralph is the son of an officer in the Navy, and hopes he will come for him and the others; although it's obvious that his father's fate is either unknown or deceased, due to the mysterious nuclear war. As such, it is the only known background detail about Ralph, since he is now on his own without any adults to counsel or guide him, and he must do it all for himself.

Ralph, like the other boys, are innocent in the beginning and he believes that living on the island without adults would be a paradise. But his paradise would soon be lost as Ralph's power as chief goes downhill when all of his allies became empowered by savagery and The Lord of the Flies. He goes from being an socialized leader to a unfortunate victim who is the last boy not being among the savages, and all those who he once saw as his friends and troops all turn on him and plotting to either make him one of their own or kill him for the power of their evil.

Arrival on the Island
Ralph was a schoolboy living in Great Britain either during the 1950's (at the time of the novel's publication), or in an unpredictable apocalyptic future. Not too long afterwards, a nuclear war breaks out and an atomic bomb explodes in England.

Ralph, alongside all the other male students in his school are evacuated on an airplane. But sometime during the flight, the plane got shot down and plummeted down onto the island in the Pacific Ocean. Ralph got out of the wreckage and made his way through the jungle and out towards the lagoon.

A fat, asthmatic boy catches up with him, who asks him where the man with the megaphone is. Ralph thinks they are on an island and aren’t any adults around. The fat boy talks about the pilot on their plane and what happened to the other boys as Ralph walks towards the water, seemingly not interested in the conversation. He realizes there are no adults on the island, which makes him excited, and the fat boy says they were attacked and saw flames coming out of the plane. Ralph asks what happened to the plane, and the fat boy explains it was dragged out to sea from the storm.

He introduces himself to the fat boy, but didn't bother to ask his name and walks away. The boy asks him if he has seen the others and tries to catch up with him as Ralph runs to the lagoon. He trips over a branch and the fat boy tells him he can’t run since he suffers from asthma and wears glasses.

Ralph jumps down from the jungle terrace and arrives at the beach. He took off his shoes and then his shirt and pants, happy at the fact of a reality without adults.

Piggy tells Ralph they should have a meeting to see who is still alive. Upon finding out that the fat boy's nickname is Piggy, Ralph makes fun of him by laughing, jumping around and saying his name repeatedly, while Piggy begs him to keep his nickname a secret.

Ralph inspects the shiny ocean water before he plunges into the beach pool with delight. Piggy comes out on the beach and tests the water to be too hot. Ralph mocks his aunt and dives under the surface. Piggy explains he can't swim due to his asthma and Ralph mocks his asthma. He squirts out some water and says his father taught him how to swim. He mentions that he is in the Navy and would soon come to rescue him and the others. He asks Piggy of his father and replies he is dead.

While he relaxes in the lagoon, Ralph is asked by Piggy if his father knows where they are, and he replies that he will find out at the airport. Piggy says that everyone else there may be all dead from an atomic bomb. Nobody knows where they are and everyone would be on the island until they die. The island's heat increases and Ralph asks Piggy to bring him his clothes. After Piggy comes back, he says they need to find the others and asks him how many classmates are with them. Ralph replies that he doesn't know as the breeze blows on the platform and the sunlight gets brighter, and smiles as he wonders if it really is an island. He spots something creamy and pink in the lagoon and points it out to Piggy, thinking it's a stone but is a shell.

Piggy gets excited and recalls he knew someone who would use the conch as a megaphone. Ralph picks up a sapling from the lagoon and pokes at the shell with it, and snaps back at Piggy when he reminds him not to break the shell. He pushes the shell towards the weeds with the sapling and lifts it up until Piggy could grab it. He babbles about the conch before Ralph takes it from him. Piggy suggests he blow into the conch to call the others since he discovered the conch. After being instructed how to blow into it by Piggy, Ralph attempts to blow the conch twice, but lets out no sound. The conch blew a farting sound when he tries again, to which both boys laughed when making more attempts.

Ralph blows into the conch and immediately lets out a loud, blasting sound that sweeps across the island, with some birds flying out from treetops and animals scurrying away. Ralph is astounded as he takes the conch away from his lips that his voice was like a whisper. He blows another loud blast into the conch until he was out of breath, with the air filled with birds chirping and echoes. Ralph even claims anyone can hear it from miles.

After a couple more blows, Piggy spots a little boy aged around 6 years old with torn clothes and messy face come out of the jungle. His pants fell off as he walked towards the platform as Ralph kept blowing into the conch until voices can be heard from the jungle. He ignores Piggy calling out the boy's name to him as he continues trumpeting, shaking with his face dark from the pressure. More boys came out towards the platform, some of them naked while others still wore part of their school uniforms. They sat down on the tree trunks and waited for more to show up.

A pair of twin boys, who both laughed and smiled together, arrive next at the platform. Between the blows from the conch, they introduce themselves as Sam and Eric. They point to each other and the crowd laughs until the trumpeting stops and Ralph sits down in silence. Shortly afterwards, the choir boys, all dressed in black robes and caps, approach the platform in parallel lines. Their leader was also wearing black but with a golden cap badge, and orders them to stop as they get close to the platform.

When the choir boy leader asks where is the adult leader with a trumpet, Ralph replies there is no one and it's only himself. The choir boy leader looks down at Ralph before asking if there is a ship or an adult. Ralph says they are having a meeting and invites him to join. The choir boys move and their leader demands them to be still, with one of the choir boys fainting and placed onto the platform. Everyone looks at Ralph with interest. Piggy doesn’t take any named and sits down next to Ralph to clean his glasses.

Rise to Power
The choir leader, Jack Merridew, asks Ralph again if there are adults, and Ralph replies there are none. Jack sits on the trunk as Ralph decides they will have to look after themselves. Piggy explains this is why Ralph calls for a meeting to figure out what they should do now. He goes over the names, such as recognizing one boy is called Johnny and tries to figure out the names of the twins. They introduce themselves as Sam and Eric. Ralph introduces his name to everyone and Piggy is sure they got everyone’s name. Jack insists he be called by his surname “Merridew”. As Piggy tries to figure out someone else’s name, Jack tells him to shut up and calls him “Fatty”. The boys start laughing, and when Ralph reveals he is called Piggy, everyone joins in the laughter. Piggy lowers his head and cleans his glasses again.

After the boys calm down, more names are taken. One was called Maurice, and another who was sly, quiet and who nobody knew before was called Roger. More names came up including Bill, Robert, Harold and Henry. The choir boy who fainted smiles Ralph and he is named Simon.

Jack decides they need to come up with a plan on how they should be rescued. There is some murmuring in the crowd as one of the smaller boys Henry wants to go home. Ralph silences them and holds up the conch shell, deciding they need a chief to handle things. The boys get excited at this idea, and Jack wants to be chief as he is a leader himself. The crowd murmurs again, and as Jack hesitates, Roger suggests they make a vote. The boys agree and while Jack starts to protest, Ralph receives the most votes. The boys admire him as attractive, tall and was the one who called them with the conch.

After raising his hand for silence, Ralph asks the crowd who wants Jack for chief. Jack wants to know, too, but only the choir boys and Piggy raised their hands. Ralph counts the hands and confirms he has won the election as chief. Everyone applauds while Jack sits down humiliated. Ralph sees him and consoles him by saying he still has his choir to form a kind of army. Ralph waves for silence and announces Jack is in charge of the choir boys, and when he asks him what they should be, Jack suggests they be hunters.

After Ralph and Jack glanced at each other and the others chattered, Jack gets up and tells his choir boys to take off their black robes. The boys took off their clothes and placed them on the grass, and Jack laid his on the trunk. Ralph glances at Jack in his grey shorts, and Jack says he tried to go over the hill to find water until he hears the conch blows.

Ralph holds up the conch and announces he needs to have time to think through everything. They could be rescued right away if it is not an island, and decides that he and two others will go on an expedition to figure out where they really are. He chooses Jack and after a brief look around the crowd, he picks Simon. Some boys around Simon giggled, and laughing a little, he nods at Ralph and agrees to go with him. Jack also agrees, too, as he takes out a small sheath knife and stabs it into a trunk. Piggy wants to come as well, but Ralph says he isn’t fit for this task and Jack replies that three is enough.

Piggy protests he was with Ralph when he found the conch and met him first before anyone else. Ralph, Jack and Simon ignored him as they get off the platform and walk down the beach. Ralph turns back at Piggy while the other two walked on, and again tells him he cannot come. Piggy, now humiliated, tells him he’s ashamed that Ralph revealed his nickname to the group which left him hurt. Ralph says he is better called Piggy, feeling sympathetic for him. He makes Piggy go back to the boys and take more names.

Island Expedition
Ralph, Jack and Simon walk along the beach. The tide was low and the boys laughed and talked. Ralph attempts to stand on his head and falls over, and after they laughed, Ralph suggests they go to the end of the island and around the corner. By the late afternoon, they reached the end of the island and spot a block out on the lagoon surrounded by birds. Jack says they won't be able to go around the corner as the rocks are becoming too dangerous. Ralph looks at the outline where the crags lead up the mountain and the beach was closer to it.

Ralph suggests they climb up the mountain from where they are since it is an easier way. They make their way up the mountainous slope and noticed some tracks on the way. Ralph wonders if the tracks were made by men but Jack thinks they could be animals. Ralph peers through the trees and urges everyone to keep going. They struggled their way through tangled roots, creepers and stems as they made their way forward up. They were hot and exhausted by now and Ralph is badly scratched from walking through the tangles. Jack comments on nobody hasn't explored here before, and Ralph thinks about drawing a map despite not having paper. Simon suggests they make marks on a tree bark.

They walk on a path of a pink granite cliff that led them into a forest and got a glimpse of the ocean. They come across a rock and pause from going up the summit by pushing it off the cliff. After a couple of heaves, the rock falls off and crashes into the jungle below, The island shook a bit with echoes and birds fluttering below it all went still. The boys are astounded, even thinking it was "like a bomb". After a few minutes, they climbed their way to the top of the summit. They gaze around the island surrounded by the horizons of ocean water, and Ralph declares to the others, "This belongs to us."

The boys took some time surveying the island, from seeing the rocks, cliffs, and the jungle trees; and on one side is a rocky formation that is shaped like a fort. They look out at the ocean where they see the coral reef and Jack spots the "scar", a rip in the forest where their plane crashed. Ralph looks down a slope with a gorge that leads to the scar, and decides that is the quickest way back down. The boys are already starting to become friends.

Ralph says there aren't boats or any signs of a village's smoke, and believes the island is uninhabited. Jack decides they will provide food for themselves by hunting until they are rescued. Simon nods at them both. Ralph is excited at the fact of having the island all to themselves as the boys laughed and climbed their way down. Simon is hungry and Ralph says they'll figure out what can be used as food. After scrambling down the rocky slope, they landed on the ground full of flowers and walked through the jungle. They paused to observe the dark bushes and Simon comments they look like candles. Ralph says they could be lit but Jack says they can't be eaten. They were deeper in the forest when they hear squealing and stomping of hoofs. They found a piglet trapped in vines and frantically struggling. The boys approach it and Jack draws out his knife and pauses as he prepares to strike. The piglet eventually frees itself and escapes.

The boys looked at Jack stunned and ashamedly laughed before continuing their way. Jack said he was deciding where he was going to stab the pig, and Ralph says he should be hunting a pig. Jack makes an excuse by saying they cut's the pig throat to let the blood out, and the boys clearly understood why he had lost his nerve. Ahead of Ralph and Simon, Jack vows he will really do it next time without mercy and slams his knife into a tree trunk. They spend some time finding some food before they went back to the meeting at the beach.

Ralph's Plan of Rescue
After Ralph blows the conch, everyone is gathered on the platform. The afternoon sun slanted on the platform and most of the boys have put their clothes back on. The choir boys have taken off their cloaks.

Ralph sits on the fallen trunk, his left side to the sun. On the right were most of the choirs boys, the larger boys who don’t know each other before the crash, and the smaller boys sat in the grass. Ralph lifts the conch shell to his knees and a breeze blew across the platform, and can’t decide if he should stay seated or stand up. He looks toward the bathing pool, and Piggy is sitting nearby but doesn’t appear to help him. He clears his voice and after he briefly utters, he suddenly realizes that he can speak fluently and about to explain anything. After brushing his hand through his hair, Ralph announces that they are on an island. After going to the top of the mountain and looked at the ocean around them, Ralph declares that there were no other signs of life on the island such as people and houses, and they are alone on an uninhabited island.

Jack interrupts him and says they will needs hunters to hunt pigs. Ralph cuts in and says there are pigs on the island. The boys picker and talk over each other, with Jack slamming his knife into a tree trunk. After the talking quiets down, Ralph explains that they need hunters to find meat for food and adds that without adults, they will need to look after themselves. The meeting hummed and went quiet.

Ralph announces that he cannot have everyone talking at once, and they will have to raise their hands like at school. He holds the conch before his face and says he will give anyone in the group the conch and they will have the right to speak without being interrupted. Jack shouts excitedly about making a lot of rules and punishing those who make them. The boys cry out and make noises. Piggy takes the conch from Ralph’s lap and holds it as the group calms down. Jack looks at Ralph before he sits down. Piggy wipes his glasses on his shirt and reminds Ralph he forgot to mention something important. He pauses and he and Ralph talk over on who knows their whereabouts, followed by a moment of silence. Ralph admits they may be on the island for a long time but says that it is a good island since he, Jack and Simon had climbed onto the mountaintop. Jack and Simon commented on Ralph's statement and Piggy points to the conch shell and the two other boys went silent.

Ralph says that they should have fun during their time on the island and gestures it is like in a book. The boys called out names of other island stories including "Treasure Island" and "Coral Island". Ralph waves the conch and says it is their island and they will have a good time until they are rescued. Jack holds his hand out for the conch and says there are pigs, food and a little stream with water for bathing, and asks if anyone else found anything. Nobody answers and gives the conch back.

A group of boys noticed a six-year old schoolboy with a mulberry-coloured birthmark and urge him to go forward, with him refusing. He stands up, muttering and about to cry. The other younger boys pushed him towards Ralph. Ralph persuades him to talk and the boy was panicked, and then the chief yells at him to speak. The little boy then held his hands out for the conch and the boys start laughing. The boy drew his hands back and cried, and Piggy shouts at Ralph to give him the conch. Ralph agrees and tries to give the conch to the boy, but is afraid to speak from the laughter. Piggy kneels down beside him and listens to him while he had his hand on the conch. Afterwards, Piggy says that the boy wants to know what would Ralph do about the "snake-thing". Ralph and the other boys laugh it off, with the boy trembling. Ralph tells the boy to describe the "snake-thing", and Piggy says it is a "beastie" that can be found in the forest.

There was either a breeze or disappearing sunlight that caused the group to stir restlessly. Ralph explains to the boy that he couldn't have possibly found a "beastie" on the island and they could only be found in other places like Africa or India. The boys nodded their heads and laughily make comments about the beast. Ralph sees that the older boys agree with the others and claimed the boy must have been having a nightmare. The boys believe that the beast they call the "snake-thing" comes out at night, and Ralph insists the beast doesn't exist.

Jack takes the conch and agrees that there isn't a "snake-thing" and he will find and kill it while hunting. Again, Ralph denies about the beast, and is getting annoyed when he continually repeating the beast is not real. The audience goes silent as Ralph takes the conch and calms down. He talks about that when he was on the mountain, he thought up of a plan that they will still have fun while at the same time, they want to be rescued. The audience brightened up and Ralph waves the conch to have them listen. He explains his father is in the Navy and that he had said there aren't no uninhabited islands left. He points out the Queen has maps that include all the islands in the world, and is convinced that the Queen has a map of the island they are stuck on.

The boys began to cheer as Ralph assures a ship would soon arrive, that he thinks could be his father's, and they will all be rescued. Everyone claps and applaudes, and Ralph flushes when he sees that Piggy and Jack applaude him as well. Ralph waves the conch again in triumph and explains that they will need to help the ships notice their presence, and that he suggests they build a fire on top of the mountain to make a smoke signal. The boys immediately got to their feet the moment they hear about making a fire. Ignoring the conch shell, Jack instructs the boys to follow him. Ralph yells the boys for silence, but nobody heard him. All the boys joined Jack as they left the beach, with Ralph left behind with Piggy.

Piggy berates the boys' behaviour, and Ralph looks at him doubtfully as he puts down the conch. Piggy wonders what the boys are doing up the mountain and calls out for Ralph as the chief climbs over the scar. Piggy goes along, too, with the conch. In a forest on the other side of the mountain, where Ralph instructs to get as much wood as they can get. The trees were rotten by the heat with barely any soil to function, while the creepers took over and saplings were slightly growing.

Jack turns to the choir and says they will build a pile. They find a path and began collecting pieces of dead wood. The task was difficult as the sticks broke easily when the boys pulled at it, but managed to get some trunks. Samneric found a piece of log but couldn't do anything until Ralph, Jack, Simon, Roger and Maurice find a spot on the mountain. They carried the wood up the hill and placed it on top. The boys work together and the pile grows.