Ralph is a weird character because he changes from liking Piggy and hating Jack, to liking Jack and hating Piggy. It's weird. At the beginning of the novel, Piggy seems to be intimidated by Ralph because he seems more big and tough, but near the end, he knows who Ralph is and he knows what kind of person he is. Jack was appointed the leader of the group at the beginning, but do you think that would change near the end? Would more people vote for some one else like Jack? Ralph begins to change when he becomes leader because he tells everyone what to do. Maybe that changed peoples thoughts on him. The change begins to happen when Jack comes along. Jack and Ralph both dislike Piggy, but Ralph becomes nicer to Piggy because he finally realizes his intelligence, but Jack still does not agree. I don't see what is wrong with Piggy, who cares if he's fat, he is smart and that's all you need. Ralph gets smarter because he realizes how Piggy can help the group. He also brags a lot too. HE brags about his parents and how athletic he is. The author describes him as a fair boy.
"Now the shell was no longer a thing seen but not to be touched, Ralph became too excited." Chapter 1-page 11. This shows the beginning of Ralph's power. The conch was the beginning of how he ruled and made rules for the group. He makes the rule that no one can speak without the conch. How would this change if Jack was elected leader?
Page 40- "Fire on the Mountain." Even though he knows it is wrong and he would hate this if someone did it to him, Ralph uses Piggy's glasses to make a fire. This shows how Ralph doesn't care about Piggy's essentials.
Page 55- "Huts on the Beach."- This might be when Ralph starts to disagree with Jack's descions. When the ship flies away, Ralph gets really angry at Jack because he left the fire out. Maybe this is when Ralph starts to dislike Jack.
Page 68- "Painted Faces and Long Hair."- "Ralph turned and smiled involuntary." Could this mean that Ralph is starte to agree with Piggy and his ideas? It looks like this is where Ralph starts to lighten up on Piggy.
Page 89- "Beast from Water." -"Ralph-they ought to shut up, oughn't they? You shut up you littleuns!"-Piggy. Piggy turns to Ralph for help! Maybe Ralph has been so nice to him that he can turn to help. Or maybe even turn to a friend?
Page 110- "Beast from Air."- "Piggy'll look after them."- Ralph. Now Ralph is giving Piggy duties and jobs to do. Is this because Piggy has proved his reposibility to Ralph? Possibly. What will happen next?
Malick
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4 comments:
Hmmm... do you like Ralph or not? It's hard to tell from your posting.
I would agree that in the beginning Ralph wasn't really that nice of a guy. He matures so much so quickly though. Even in chapter three, he works on the huts even though everyone else has left and he would rather leave with them. In chapter four, he defends Piggy even though Jack is the 'cooler' character. In chapter five we are given a glimpse into Ralph's brain and it's amazing how much growing up he does in such a short amount of time. He realizes that Piggy is very intelligent and begins to befriend him and even rely on him for help.
Ralph grows up a lot in this book, possibly sooner than he should have had to. However, I like Ralph a lot.
Ralph is one of those characters who doesn't have a strong backbone or much self-confidence. It appears he's easily influenced by peer pressure, and depending on who that peer is, it may be a good or bad thing.
Ralph does have power, but needs to learn how to use it, not abuse it. He needs to focus on getting them all to work together (which he's trying to do) and continue to strive for order.
When the lot of the group ran off to start the fire, and he was left with Piggy, he was torn. He knew things should be ordered, but he was influenced by his peers rushing off in excitement. In the end, he buckled and raced off, wanting to join in the fun. This is just one example of how he has little backbone.
I believe he is changing as the story progresses, and hopefully he will gain even more confidence to stand up to Jack.
Cheers.
It's true that at the beginning he ran up the hill to help with the fire, showing little backbone and lots of immaturity. Later on, when he starts maturing, however, he shows much more backbone and maturity. For example, when everyone leaves him to build the huts by himself, he builds them. Even though he doesn't want to, he builds them. Ralph's characteristics show through his actions, but you have to be careful when you judge him because he changes so much over the course of the book.
I'm not sure if I like Ralph or not. Although, I do like him better than Jack. The movie really shows what kind of a British snob he truly is.
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