This essay is a character study of Ralph, who is one of the main characters in William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies'. I have chosen to analyse Ralph's character, as it is the character with which I feel that I can relate most closely. Ralph is probably the novel's main character. This essay will include my identification of the major aspects of Ralph's character and how he symbolises different themes, which are portrayed in the novel. I will cover in this what Ralph contributes to the plot of the novel, a description of Ralph's appearance, his dreams, his attitude to being stranded on the island, how he relates to the other boys and how he organises the boys into becoming a self-dependent society.

Ralph's character plays a major part in the plot of 'Lord of the Flies'. Ralph is the first character we meet in the novel and at first he seems to be very relaxed about the situation of being in unknown territory. The plot begins opens when Ralph and another boy, Piggy, discover each other and eventually decide through Piggy's constant persistence to blow through a conch shell to see if there are any other people around. It turns out that there are many other boys stranded on the islan

"There was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerful, there was the conch." (p. 24)

Ralph is an attractive, fair-haired and athletic young boy, in contrast to Piggy who is short and fat, wears glasses and has asthma. Jack is red-haired, with freckles and blue-eyed. He is strong and athletic. Simon is a bit frail and weedy. Ralph shows his resourcefulness in building shelters and in finding a use for the conch shell which he also uses as an image of his authority. Eventually the conch shell loses its significance and is left unnoticed at the other side of the island.

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Approximate Word count = 1477
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)