Characters In the Lord of the Flies

Ralph

12 years old, fair haired, and attractive

Quickly elected chief (has the conch)

Not the brightest boy on the island, but has a firm sense morality (right and wrong)

His position and decisiveness give the other boys hope of rescue and a level of civilization

Believes in rules and order to have everything on the island go smoothly

At times he falls in the ‘savage’ (pig hunts, fire ceremony) – temptation

At the beginning of the novel, Ralph is like the other boys, naive, optimistic and carefree; as the novel progresses and tragedy after tragedy occurs, Ralph begins to understand the dark nature of humanity.

Jack

Red hair, an unpleasant face

Demands control over the choir boys (held the position at school)

Immediately shows his power, almost never backs down from a confrontation.

Becomes obsessed with the hunt and killing (as a show of power)

He is the largest rule breaker and splits the group in two, forcing others to join him, and becomes more and more evil (he shows how easily evil can gain power)

Piggy

Short, overweight, has asthma, cannot swim, and the only boy to wear glasses

Most intelligent boy on the island, but is also very sensitive, becomes an outsider

Through he is very smart he tends to misjudge the evil of others and believes that logic will prevail

He stands for the power of intelligence, strong enough to overcome many flaws but not strong enough to overcome evil and an understanding of human nature.

Piggy and his glasses

Piggy’s glasses: he is constantly polishing them and this shows his desire for clear- slightness. The glasses are related to the idea of vision (both literally, and figuratively)

When jack breaks them after the first hunt, piggy loses some of his sight and society on the island changes

When Jack and the other boys steal his glasses, piggy is left blind, and the group is symbolically sightless, this is when some of the worst violence on the island occurs, including Piggy’s death.

Simon

Member of the choir, he is sensitive, quiet and prone to fainting

He wants to be accepted by the group but most think he is ‘batty’

Needs time to be alone

Brave, giving and understands humanity

First to claim that the beast might just be a creation of their own fears

Simon as Christ

Mystical communication with evil

Messenger for the boys

Becomes a martyr (someone killed because of their beliefs)

Kindness towards other boys – Helps Ralph with the huts, gets the fruit for the litt’uns and gives Piggy part of his share of meat

Likes to go off alone and has a revelation, the Lord of the Flies, and it reveals to Simon that he is the cause of all the boys’ troubles on the island, that it is the evil within all of them. Simon goes to the mountain and sees the beast for what it really is and then runs down to tell the others, only to be mistaken as the beast and killed. Like Christ he offers salvation and is slaughtered