Ralph changes throughout the novel in five ways; his concern with personal hygiene, his confidence in his leadership, the point where the boys kill Simon, his lust for during the hunt, and his improving friendship for Piggy. All of these evolving qualities aid the main theme of the novel, which is that people are innately evil and will diminish to savagery without the rules of society. 1) One defining moment of Ralph's character is when Ralph goes on his first hunt with Jack and wounds a pig exclaiming "I hit him, the spear stuck in-" (100). Golding shows that everyone can be capable of evil and savagery; even the most calm-headed, even Ralph, who was so enthralled by the hunt. This did not change the character itself, but rather, it changed the reader's opinion of Ralph and humanity itself. 2) Another significant point is when Ralph and the other boys participate in the killing of Simon, whom they believed to be the notorious beast on the island. Again, everyone on the island is swept up with the fervor of Jack's savagery: even "Piggy and Ralph... found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society" (135). The perception of the boys' strength is fundamentally altered when the reader learns that mere boys are capable of murder under the pretense of superstition and fear. 3) Ralph became increasingly worried about his personal hygiene; the cleanliness of the island decays over time and Ralph attempts to at least slow the decomposition when "he flung the mass back - cut this filthy hair right back to a half inch" (96). The decay of hygiene for the boys correlates to the decay of societal standards of the boys. Modern civilization is often defined by cleanliness in its most ambiguous sense; when you begin to revert to the savagery of simply taking a dump anywhere you want, you know its going downhill. Ralph eventually becomes more upset with the loss of rational thinking than hygiene as it becomes utterly useless, signifying the former's appearance in the boys, so it was quite a major change. 4) At the beginning of the story, the boys had just crashed on the island and the first ones to find each other were Ralph and Piggy. Ralph introduced himself at first and was not interested in what Piggy's name was, the story just refers to him as the fat boy. Finally he told Ralph that he didn't want to be called what he was called in school, then he says that his nickname was Piggy. Ralph can't stop laughing and decides to call him that from now on. At first the reader can form an opinion that Ralph does not care all that much for Piggy's feelings. Ralph's particular interest in Piggy was because "Piggy could think" (67). Knowing that Piggy and Ralph were among the few that could remain rational and that a mutual commonality developed between them, it would be considered to be a major event. 5) A minor case of Ralph starting to lose some of his leadership over the other boys is when their all hunting the beast and they come to a part off the mountain that they must climb while it's getting dark. Ralph makes the decision to climb the next morning and most of the boys agree with him, however Jack thinks that Ralph is scared when he said "If you're frightened of course-" (105). Showing that Ralph is losing some of his control, Jack argues with Ralph about going up the mountain. Jack decides to climb up the mountain while the rest of the boys wait below. Ralph decides to go with him but goes back to saying they shouldn't because there's only two of them "We're silly. Why should only two go? If we find anything, two won't be enough." (106) But Jack keeps arguing and gets Roger to come with them.
_Alec Muklewicz, Connor Thomas_
Nice, met all the criteria 9/9 Chase Guthrie, Dmitry Smith and James Thomas
1) One defining moment of Ralph's character is when Ralph goes on his first hunt with Jack and wounds a pig exclaiming "I hit him, the spear stuck in-" (100). Golding shows that everyone can be capable of evil and savagery; even the most calm-headed, even Ralph, who was so enthralled by the hunt. This did not change the character itself, but rather, it changed the reader's opinion of Ralph and humanity itself.
2) Another significant point is when Ralph and the other boys participate in the killing of Simon, whom they believed to be the notorious beast on the island. Again, everyone on the island is swept up with the fervor of Jack's savagery: even "Piggy and Ralph... found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society" (135). The perception of the boys' strength is fundamentally altered when the reader learns that mere boys are capable of murder under the pretense of superstition and fear.
3) Ralph became increasingly worried about his personal hygiene; the cleanliness of the island decays over time and Ralph attempts to at least slow the decomposition when "he flung the mass back - cut this filthy hair right back to a half inch" (96). The decay of hygiene for the boys correlates to the decay of societal standards of the boys. Modern civilization is often defined by cleanliness in its most ambiguous sense; when you begin to revert to the savagery of simply taking a dump anywhere you want, you know its going downhill. Ralph eventually becomes more upset with the loss of rational thinking than hygiene as it becomes utterly useless, signifying the former's appearance in the boys, so it was quite a major change.
4) At the beginning of the story, the boys had just crashed on the island and the first ones to find each other were Ralph and Piggy. Ralph introduced himself at first and was not interested in what Piggy's name was, the story just refers to him as the fat boy. Finally he told Ralph that he didn't want to be called what he was called in school, then he says that his nickname was Piggy. Ralph can't stop laughing and decides to call him that from now on. At first the reader can form an opinion that Ralph does not care all that much for Piggy's feelings. Ralph's particular interest in Piggy was because "Piggy could think" (67). Knowing that Piggy and Ralph were among the few that could remain rational and that a mutual commonality developed between them, it would be considered to be a major event.
5) A minor case of Ralph starting to lose some of his leadership over the other boys is when their all hunting the beast and they come to a part off the mountain that they must climb while it's getting dark. Ralph makes the decision to climb the next morning and most of the boys agree with him, however Jack thinks that Ralph is scared when he said "If you're frightened of course-" (105). Showing that Ralph is losing some of his control, Jack argues with Ralph about going up the mountain. Jack decides to climb up the mountain while the rest of the boys wait below. Ralph decides to go with him but goes back to saying they shouldn't because there's only two of them "We're silly. Why should only two go? If we find anything, two won't be enough." (106) But Jack keeps arguing and gets Roger to come with them.
_Alec Muklewicz, Connor Thomas_
Nice, met all the criteria 9/9
Chase Guthrie, Dmitry Smith and James Thomas