Ralph’s Rise and Fall of Power in Lord of the Flies (Book Analysis)

Ralph is the protagonist, in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, where a bunch of young boys, none over 12, end up on a tropical island with no rules nor a person to tell what is right and wrong. Ralph is one of the older boys on the island, he’s a good-looking, intelligent, and fair young boy. Ralph goes through many difficulties while stranded on the island. He is chosen to be the leader of the other boys on the island, people don’t follow his plan of rescue, and he has to deal with Jack, the antagonist of the book.

At the beginning of the book, Ralph blew into a conch to gather all the boys on the island, showing others his inventiveness and decision-making skills. Others were impressed, and they chose Ralph to be their leader. The conch became an important symbol of civilization and a way to gather all the boys together for meetings. Ralph had qualities of a natural leader such as a sense of justice, bravery, and fairness, so it was not a huge surprise when he got elected to be the leader. Ralph represents a democratic leader who tries to take everyone’s opinions and needs into account. On the other hand, every great leader needs an advisor, Piggy was that for Ralph. He was the brains behind almost everything Ralph did, including the idea of gathering the boys by blowing into the conch. 

Throughout the book, Ralph had a clear goal on the island, he wanted to get rescued. He was realistic and knew that people would find out the plane crashed and come looking for them. His plan was a smoke signal that could be seen from far away, telling nearby ships that there was someone on the island, giving the boys a chance of rescue. However, the smoke signal was a lot of work, because a large fire had to be kept on all the time, it was hard to do alone. Jack and the other boys were not so interested in the smoke signal, but rather more in hunting and the beast. Ralph didn’t let the beast disturb him and kept his idea of the fire.

By the end of the book, Ralph's rule that he had gained over the boys, started to fall apart. He struggled to find purpose and reasonable things to say in meetings. The conch shell got shattered, the only object that kept the boys in order and quiet. In that, the symbol of a civilized society was now destroyed. There was constant conflict between Ralph and Jack. Ralph had more civilized ideals, while Jack and his tribe of savages did cruel rituals and practiced animal-like behavior. Fear of the beast spread among the boys creating chaos and fear. In the end, when all the other boys were on Jack's side either by choice or force, Ralph was left alone to be hunted down by Jack's tribe. That's the moment he had to choose survival over being civil. 

To summarize, Ralph rose to power fast, but also his downfall was even faster. He had a good way of leading, right morals, and goals, but this time Jack the antagonist of the book won. One of his main goals was to get out of the island alive and he succeeded in that, although through a much harder path than he maybe thought that he would.