Lord of the Flies 8
Ralph - Ralph is one of the older kids stranded on the island, one with a natural leadership quality about him. He is one of the stronger, if not the strongest of the boys; 12 year old with common sense to help him get along on his own; unfortunately, common sense doesn't fly too well with small children. Ralph is stuck between what is considered fun, and what needs to get done in order to have peace on the island. Not a position many would like to be in, but as he was chosen leader, he has the respect of most of the kids on the island. Piggy - Piggy is an eager, chubby kid, who likes to poke his nose where it doesn't belong. Piggy is the only one on the island that wears glasses to aid his vision, and seems to be a character easily disliked because of his babyish personality. Although he is one of the most rational and logical thinkers, his ideas are seldom heeded, mainly because of his persistent whining. Piggy has asthma, and this makes it difficult for him to work. Ralph, being the first to meet Piggy, became his guardian, and protector from the other children's cruelty on the island. Jack - Jack Merridew is a singer, head of the choir,
and has an intimidating appearance and way of talk. Jack is jealous, and when Ralph is elected Chief, Jack forms a bit of hatred in his heart, not revealing it even unto himself until time passes. He is head hunter, and likes fun more than work, and eventually wins the favor of the children, claiming Ralph as a coward, and a person who just dreams about being rescued. The main conflict in Lord of the Flies is that a fairly large group of boys have been stranded on an island in the Pacific with no adults around to lead and guide them. They do set up a leadership consisting of a chief, and then workers who carry out the chiefs orders. This works great for about a week, but soon the children tire of the work, and do not realize the long term consequences involved with not having necessities like shelter and a signal fire, and before long, fun rebels against common sense, turning the island into chaos. Eventually there is a war, the hunters against the worker/dreamers. As I was reading this book, I was able to relate to Ralph, his feelings, his confusion, as the 8th grade president at my middle school, I often had to tell the kids the rules, and though we wanted to have fun, there were certain guidelines we needed, but after a while, those guidelines became lax, and soon I felt as if I was holding up the entire Student Body by myself, much like the way Ralph was as he and Simon tried to construct the last shelter without outside help. I
Some common words found in the essay are:
Lord Flies, Objects Importance, Ralph Simon, Piggy Piggy, Ralph Ralph, Jack Ralph, Chief Jack, Jack Merridew, William Golding, II Conflict, lord flies, common sense, reading book, stranded island,
Approximate Word count = 981
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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