Lord of the Flies development

A detailed Summary of Lord of the Flies development

How Do the Main Characters in Lord of the Flies Develop in the First Six Chapters?

In Lord of the Flies, William Golding experiments with what could happen to a group of young of boys left in new surroundings with no adults present. The main characters of this novel are quickly established and are the oldest or tallest of the boys. All the characters change and develop enormously over the period of time when they have to adjust to living on the island.

The reader is introduced to Ralph first, as the 'boy with fair hair'. Ralph enjoys standing on his head and shows how impulsive he is when he dives straight into the water. This suggests that he has little common sense and so may be irresponsible. He also appears to be a daydreamer and is convinced that his father will rescue him so does not face the reality of what has actually happened.

'how does he know were here?'...because, thought Ralph because because.'

Ralphs' father being in the navy could mean that Ralph has had a privileged upbringing which might be why he feels superior to Piggy and doesn't think much of him. This is shown when Ralph orders Piggy to 'get my clothes', and when he broke his promise by telling the boys his nickname was Piggy

The reader can see that Simon relates to nature when he sees certain bushes on the island as 'candle buds', whereas Jack slashes them and Ralph says 'they're like candles, but you can't light them.' Simon is helpful and friendly He shows this when he helps Ralph build the shelters and when he picks the fruit for the littleuns. Simon does not appear to be frightened of the island-instead he wonders around the island, even at night especially to his 'secret place'. As Simon connects more to nature he develops more spiritually and seems to have psychic ability which he shows when he tells Ralph 'you'll get back where you came from'. However as Simon begins to understand, he struggles more to communicate his feelings and can only manage to imply what he actually means

'If only they can send us something grown up...a sign or something'

The decline in order, Jack beginning to gain more power, no-one following the rules or helping with the shelters and fire, the continual rivalry of Jack and the savagery in Jack himself are factors which contribute to Ralph changing. He begins to appreciate Piggy more and appraises what he says according to how practical it is. He also wishes for help from the adults as this quotation shows.

As the story progresses Simon seems to gain more knowledge and recluses more in to nature, because he can relate more to nature than the boys. Simon becomes more spiritual which he shows when he meditates, which makes him resemble Jesus Christ who also meditated, helped people, new 'mankind's essential illness' and was unafraid.

Similar to most other boys, Ralph enjoyed the absence of adults on the island and the island itself. Everyone wanted to have fun, but Ralph also wanted to be rescued so understood the importance of the fire. By the third chapter Ralph feels depressed because he cannot convince the boys of the necessity of the shelters.

In chapter one it is obvious that Piggy cannot do anything by himself because he depends on his aunt who has spoilt him. This becomes apparent when Piggy frequently says 'my aunt says....'. He is very intelligent but no-one, except perhaps Ralph later on in the story, realises this. Instead, the first thing they see is his fatness, glasses and asthma which make him appear weak and an easy target for mocking. As a result of this mo

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Approximate Word count = 1560
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English