Ralph Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis

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Characters are often personified with traits that are vital to a fictitious story for the benefit of the plot or the pleasure of the audience. These attributes allow for distinction and give them a unique purpose in their story. In the allegorical novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the protagonist Ralph, who takes the role of the leader of a stranded group of boys, possesses several qualities which makes him important to the storyline of the book. Throughout Golding’s novel, Ralph is characterized as a frightened coward as well as a logical leader. Golding distinctly portrays the character Ralph as a coward through his various actions and inactions. When attempting to coerce the tribe to rebel against Ralph, Jack insinuates that Ralph is cowardly and taunts him by claiming …show more content…
Piggy is usually perceived as an inferior child who is unable to enforce his authority. Like Piggy, Ralph stays in power when he has support, but he does not take action to reinforce his leadership if there is any disagreement. Furthermore, Ralph is frightened by the dire consequences of his failures to reinforce his own rules, allowing many boys to escape punishment for their rebellious actions. Although Ralph tries to uphold his ethics, like Piggy, he easily becomes intimidated when faced with overwhelming circumstances. Similarly to Piggy, Ralph lacks several attributes that a natural leader would possess, such as authority and assertion. When Jack continues to rally the tribe against Ralph, he claims that Ralph “isn’t a proper chief” due to his failures (Source C). As his time on the island continues, Ralph slowly loses his control over the group of boys that he was elected to lead. Ralph is hesitant to punish those who disregard his rules, so the boys begin to disobey and ignore