Summary
Ralph is the fair haired leader of the group and the main character.
In the beginning of the book, Jack is simply the leader of the Choir and Hunters, but as time goes on, Jack overthrows Ralph and become the leader of the Savages.
Piggy is the fat, intellectual boy of the group. he strives for order, and he closely follows the leadership of Ralph. Piggy is constantly bullied by Jack, which does not turn out so well for him in the end.
Simon was introduced as the weak member of Jack's choir. He fainted from the heat within his first five minutes of knowing Ralph. Simon late becomes known as the even tempered boy that tries to reason with the others.
A group of British schoolboys get stranded on an unfamiliar island when their plane gets shot down by an enemy bomber. Without adults or any supervision, the boys select the good looking Ralph as their leader. Ralph suggests making a fire on top of the mountain, but the fire soon gets out of hand and half of the island is alight.
The boys try to be civilized after the fire, but when the little ones talk about a "beastie," they begin to turn into savages. One night a dead parachute falls from the sky onto the mountain and frightens Sam and Eric. They panic, but Simon realizes what it is. The other boys hold a "dance," and in their excitement, Simon is murdered.
Jack and the other boys turn against Ralph, Piggy, and Sam 'n Eric. They form a tribe of savages, and they rely on Jack's strange obsession with hunting pigs to survive. The four "civilized" boys go to speak to Jack, but piggy is murdered when Robert drops a boulder upon him. Piggy splits his head open on a flat rock near the water.
They capture Sam 'n Eric, and set out to find Ralph. In doing so, the entire island is started on fire again. The smoke from the fire captures a ship's attention, and the boys--that were left--were saved.
Civilization vs. Savagery
Throughout Lord of the Flies, we see the boys, particularly Ralph, trying to keep social order. They try to hold on to what they had before they became stranded, but without adults. In the beginning, Ralph tries to get the boys to make huts, collect water, and even use the bathroom in a certain place. He tries to keep the social order. Towards the end, when going to face the savages, Ralph tells his three followers that they must look civilized.
Man's Inner Evil
Right from the beginning, we see how man destroyed the beautiful oasis of the island. The plane created a large scar in the center when it came crashing down. The boys start the island on fire twice, but the true inner evil of the boys shows through when they have a "dance." They were so excited that they did not even stop to realize that they were tearing Simon apart. After on the the pig hunts, the group of hunters nearly beat Robert to a pulp while pretending he was a pig. They even murdered Piggy, but did not realize the consequences of their actions until they were rescued.
The Conch
Piggy's Glasses
Piggy's glasses represent man and technology, and they further set us apart from animals. They use the glasses to reshape the island to fit the boys' needs.
the Beast
The beast represents the devil and the evil that's found in all of us. The thought of the beast scares the boys enough to make them turn on one another.
Credits:
Created with images by 50 Watts - "Louis Wood, The Lord of the Flies (entry for the 50 Watts' Polish Book Cover Contest)" • Jeff Pang - "Napali Coast Sunset" • skeeze - "wildfire forest fire" • Pok_Rie - "wave water ocean" • Pok_Rie - "wave water ocean" • jurvetson - "Lost. A rare B-18 Bomber that crashed in Kona in 1941. And found: everyone survived." • bohemiannie - "conch" https://viequesinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Lord-of-the-Flies-Vieques-750x400.jpg https://www.denvercenter.org/images/default-source/Series-images/lordoftheflies/lord-of-the-flies.png?sfvrsn=0 ttps://assets.mubi.com/images/film/563/image-w856.jpg?1481540175