Thursday, October 31, 2013

Where in the novel does Golding show inner conflict in the character of Ralph in Lord of the Flies?Lord of the Flies by William Golding

As the boys remain on the island, losing their hold upon
the civilization from which they have been separated, the leaders among them begin to
divide as their designs differ from one another. For instance, Jack simply desires
power; somewhat sadistically, he wishes to control the others.  On the other hand, Piggy
fears such tyranny and wishes that everyone remain rational.  Similarly, Ralph desires
to maintain order through civilized means so that the boys's lives will be structured
and safe with the goal of rescue at the forefront of all
activities.


So, at the end of Chapter Four of
Lord of the Flies, Ralph watches the boys engaged in the mock
killing of the pig at which they have been successful, and he is "envious and resentful"
of Jack.  For, Jack controls the boys while Ralph has been ineffective.  In Chapter
Five, Ralph knows that the assembly which he calls must demonstrate his competence, or
he will lose the position of leader:


readability="7">

He found himself understanding the wearisomeness
of this life, where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of waking
life was spent watching one's
feet.



When he reaches the
chief's seat at the triangle where the boys meet, Ralph perceives the place differently
because it is later in the day than is usual for meetings. This change in lighting
causes Ralph to wonder about the appearance and existence of
things: 



If
faces were different when lit from above or below--what was a face?  What was
anything?



Faced with such
existential ponderings, Ralph has "to adjust his values."  Considering himself "a
specialist in thought," Ralph realizes how much better in thought Piggy is than he.  He
knows that he needs to very serious in the assembly and make his argument to the boys a
strong and urgent one.  At this point, Ralph suffers internal conflict as wrestles with
how he will maintain his leadership.


Then, in Chapter
Eleven, as he hides from the hunters, Ralph wrestles inwardly as he faces the savagery
of the boys,


readability="9">

He had even glimpsed one of them...and ha judged
that it was Bill.  But really, thought Ralph, this was not Bill.  This was a savage who
image refused to blend with that ancient picture of a boy in shorts and
shirt.



Further, as he limps
through the trees, Ralph argues unconvincingly to himself until "the fatal unreasoning
knowledge came to him again."


readability="10">

The breaking of the conch and the deaths of
Piggy and Simon lay over the island like a vaopr.  These painted savages would go
further and further....A spasm of terror set him shaking and he cried
aloud,


"No.  They're not as bad as that.  It was an
accident."



Of course, Ralph's
external conflict ends when the naval officer appears and rescues him.  As he stands
before the officer, Ralph cries for "the loss of innocence" and "the darkness of man's
heart," the realization of his inner conflicts.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Can (sec x - cosec x) / (tan x - cot x) be simplified further?

Given the expression ( sec x - csec x ) / (tan x - cot x) We need to simplify. We will use trigonometric identities ...