Lord of the Flies

In the novel ‘Lord Of The Flies’ by author William Golding, two of the characters Ralph and Simon are portrayed as being good characters. However, they do have their similarities and differences. This essay will compare and contrast Ralph and Simon with respect to their character as well as the difference in their goodness.

Ralph is a young boy nearing the age of twelve years with fair hair and a well built structure. The fullness of his shoulders at only the age of twelve suggests that he could be a boxer in the future. He has lost most, if not all of his baby weight thus giving him a flat tummy. Ralph’s flattering appearance is a key factor in him becoming leader of the group along with him having the conch in his hand, which gives him even more authority.

Simon is a boy with dark hair and is younger then Ralph but older then the littluns. Compared to Ralph he is considered to be a skinny boy and his frame doesn’t look too promising for a leader if he had wanted to become one.

Being chief of the group, Ralph is looked at as a social person whereas Simon would be considered to be somewhat anti-social. Ralph has no problem gathering with groups of people, sharing ideas, stating rules and just talking in general.

Simon on another note does have some trouble speaking out to the group of boys, sharing his concerns and would rather be alone. Evidence that supports this statement would be the fact that Simon wondered off into the jungle where he found a beautiful spot that he called his own. Throughout the novel he returned to the spot on several occasions when he wanted to be alone.

Ralph and Simon are both helpful characters. Ralph would be known as helpful due to the incident that occurred after he had realized how the littluns were feeling. When Ralph knew that the younger boys were very terrified at night he wanted to build shelters to give them a temporary home. This would help all the boys but most importantly it would give the littluns a sense of security thus helping them cope with their fear.

Simon would be considered helpful because he too helped build the shelters but mostly because he picked fruit that was beyond the reach of the littluns so they wouldn’t have to eat the bad fruit. Also, if Simon had been successful in telling the boys the truth about the beast it too would be considered an act of helpfulness.

The boys have different symbols in the novel. Simon is a symbol of Christ and Ralph is a symbol of leadership and authority. Simon would be a Christ symbol due to the closeness of the way they both died. Although Simon had not literally sacrificed his life like Christ had, he was trying to tell the boys the truth about the beast and warn them of the savage that lurked in all of them, which would be considered a sacrificial death. Also, Simon was the ultimate good as was Christ.

Ralph