Sunday, December 16, 2007

Ralph's Character Development

After finishing the first 4 chapters, the character that stood out the most for me was Ralph since he was well developed.

In the first chapter, Ralph was introduced as a fair, courageous boy whose self-assure made him feel secure on being alone on the island with any adults. Ralph is also seen as an innocent boy and this is implied when he says that his father- a commander in the Navy- will come and rescue them. This shows how he does not have the ability to view serious matters like his situation.

He shows simplistic thinking and acts as though he is t at a school’s playground or in the park teasing Piggy. This is seen when he calls Piggy a fat bore with “ass-mar” and “matter-of-fact ideas”; this once again shows his scale of maturation. He is very charismatic, which might be the main reason for him gaining the position of a chief who lays down rules and tries to organize a society. This is clearly proven at the first meeting held where he shows that he can make order; his maturity increases.

By chapter 3, Ralph begins to change as he starts appreciating Piggy more and appraises what he says according to how practical he is. The boy that enjoyed the absence of adults on the island changes because he realizes that they must be rescued before the boys turn savage! He starts wishing for help: ‘If only they can send us something grown up…a sign or something’.

In chapter 4, Ralph continues to act responsibly. Is it possible that Piggy is starting to influence him? When he finds out that there was a ship that could have saved them if the fire was lit, he is not pleased with Jack since he was the one in charge of maintaining the fire. He wants a society and repeatedly tells the group how the rules need to be followed and not just said!

Chapter 1

(Pg.23-24""Listen everybody. I've got to have time to think things out. I can't decide what to do straight off. If this isn't an island, we might be rescued straight away. So we've got to decide if this is an island or not. Everybody must stay around here and wait and not go away. Three of us-if we take more, we'd get all mixed, and lose each other-three \...." Ralph changes drastically in this speech; he wastes no time and shows self-control by not jumping into conclusions and by wanting "time to think things out." Therefore, this is when Ralph is first introduced as a cautious boy to the reader.

Chapter 2

(Pg.37) "There's another thing. We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So, we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire." Ralph is not the perfect leader, however this reference shows that he can easily be a responsible one. Here, he clearly demonstrates the need for civilization by the tasks that he orders to be done. He suggests that a fire can be made so that it could help a passing ship locate them . . One can see through this and know that unlike the other boys who care to hunt, swim, play on the beach, Ralph is now intent on getting rescued. He wants them to survive by building shelters, holding meetings and getting them rescued! Everything he wants done is for them to either live on the island safely, as shown by the shelters, and or get rescued.

Chapter 3

(P.51)“Meetings. Don’t we love meetings?...I bet if I blew the conch this minute, they'd come running. Then we'd be, you know, very solemn, and someone would say we ought to build a jet, or a submarine,or a TV set. When the metting was over they'd go working for five minutes than wandr off or go hunting. ” Ralph is confused by the assemblies’ lack of efficacy. He had been counting on the meetings to provide unity and hope but has found that, of a crowd, only a few actually follow through. Ralph's vision of hope is evident here; he does not enjoy building huts any better than the others, but controls his actions to do what is necessary to survive!

Chapter 4

(P.74)" There was a ship..You said you'd keep the fire going and you let it out! ... Thye might have seen us. We might have gone home-" After Ralph discovers that a ship passed while the fire was out, he takes out his confronts Jack. Here Ralph is becoming less gregarious and a bit more serious. He acts more maturally and more like the leader he was elected to be. Ralph finally realizes the importance of getting saved and turns his anger on Jack who did not act civilized and responsible!

One thing I am still unsure about is Ralph’s feelings toward Piggy. At first he seems to pick on Piggy but later seems to start listening to him. When the group of boys leave to start the fire and leave Piggy baby-sitting is this because they know and respect his intelligence or is it because they do not want to be involved with him?

I can’t wait to continue reading… Ralph is an amazing character!...Do you think that his personality and his way of thinking might result in him losing his leadership?

-Amira M

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree, that Ralph stood out the most because he was the first person to be chosen as the leader of the boys. But I still that Jack with his curiosity of exploring and devilish ideas stood the most. You are right about the point that you have proven about ralph with his simple knowledge about the island and other stuff.

Anonymous said...

I think charasmatic is a good way to describe Ralph. In the first chapter it would have seemed more likely that Jack would be elected as leader since he already leads the choir boys. Obviously their personalities played more of a role in the electing which is why Ralph won.

And I agree that it's Piggy's influence that makes Ralph become more mature. If Piggy hadn't been there I wonder how long Ralph would have believed that they could all just have fun the entire time? It's a good thing someone made him realize they couldn't have fun all the time and be rescued too.