Blows the conch that Piggy finds, people come
and votes him chief because of the power of
the conch
Calls assemblies to decide what to do - making shelters,
being rescued, keeping the fire going, getting food, etc.
Looks on the positive side of things - e.g "He's a commander
in the navy. When he get's leave he'll come and rescue us."
Represents the ego
Piggy
Timid and afraid, intelligent but gives Ralph the
credit for things as he wants to make friends
Voices the negative things that everyone avoids talking about - e.g "Not
them. Didn't you hear what the pilot said? About the atom bomb? They're
all dead."
"fatly naked", "specs"
Lots of physical weaknesses (fat, asthma,
glasses) so he isn't liked by the boys,
especially Jack.
Represents the superego.
Jack
Represents the id.
Jealous of Ralph being voted chief - thinks he
should be chief because he can sing and is head
of the choir boys.
Doesn't like Ralph at first and sees him
as below him - e.g "The boy came close
and peered down at Ralph"
Authoritative, natural leader
Plot
The boys
Aged 6-12
Only boys
All from different schools
Evacuated from school
WW2 - England destroyed by an atom
bomb so no one knows where they
are.
Crash landed on the island with no adults
" 'Where's the man with the trumpet?'. (...) 'There's no adults. Only me.' "
Started a settlement and voted Ralph for chief
Ralph, Jack and Simon go off and climb the
mountain to check whether they are on an island -
Piggy is hurt that he isn't allowed to come but
Ralph puts him in charge of getting names.
Setting
The beach
"The shore was fledged with palm trees."
"White surf flinked on a coral reef."
The Mountain
"pink cliffs"
"diminished piles of rocks"
The lagoon
"as still as a mountain lake"
The scar
"wide open space"
" 'That's what the tube made' "
Themes &
Symbols
The Conch
Symbolises democracy - the symbol of
Ralph the chief. The boys could only
speak while holding it. Shows how it
started of well.
The island
Golding uses the island has a microcosm for
society as a whole - humans, put in this
situation couldn't survive. Starting to hint at
the message of the book.
War and Violence
The boys crash land because they were being evacuated
from school, escaping the threat of an atom bomb in
England during WW2