Lord of the Flies Essay/ Character Comparison Ralph Vs Jack

The novel " Lord of the Flies" focuses on the conflict that exists between two competing impulses that Golding, suggests exist within all humans; these being the instinct to follow the rules, act in a peaceful manner and comply to moral commands compared to the instinct to act violently in order to gain control over others and to satisfy our own greed and personal desires. The conflict exists within the novel in several forms; law and order vs. anarchy, civilization vs. savagery and the basic term of good vs. evil. Golding uses these themes consistently throughout the novel, clearly associating instinctive savagery with evil and the instinct of civilisation with good. The representation of this lies in Ralph and Jack, the two central characters in the novel; Ralph is the protagonist representing order and civilisation while Jack is the antagonist, who represents savagery and a desire for power. Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel with Golding conveying his ideas symbolically through these characters.

The novel follows the behaviour of the two evacuee English schoolboys along with several others during a fictitious war, after a plane journey relocating them went badly wrong and they found themselves abandoned on an uninhabited