Lord of the Flies Ralph

Lord of the Flies

Ralph is elected leader of the alienated group of boys early in William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies. His immediate appointment of Jack illustrates that Ralph can delegate authority maturely and fairly. However, the overwhelming situation the boys find themselves in on the island transforms their relationships. Suspicion and paranoia, fueled by physical needs like hunger create a breakdown in communication. Ralph's leadership abilities are tested especially when Jack forms a splinter group to challenge his authority. Lord of the Flies illustrates the consequences of human alienation through the group of boys. The boys proceed through stages during their experience on the island: alienation, initiation, journey, suffering, and reconciliation.

Being stranded and abandoned on the island represents the first step in the theme of alienation that is explored in Golding's novel. The tragedy would be shocking enough if they were not physically isolated from the world of English boarding school. Being on a deserted island in a foreign ecosystem exacerbates the boys' fear and anxiety, compounding their problems. Their environment seems hostile, which is why they imagine monsters to be after them. The proposition of being rescued dwindles with every passing day, which also intensifies the looming sense of alienation that characterizes Lord of the Flies.

However, the novel's theme of alienation plays out in more ways than the sheer sense of physical abandonment. The characters are all school boys, indicating they are used to being under constant adult supervision. Being suddenly thrust into a situation demanding self-governance means the boys are alienated from every social and political reality they were familiar with before the accident. Ralph and the others are alienated physically from society but as the novel progresses, it becomes clear that social isolation is more intense than physical alienation. The social norms and codes of behaviors they learned from home and school fall apart and their animal instincts take over. When they are eventually rescued, the extent of their social alienation is profound. Face-to-face with the soldier, the boys realize the extent of their alienation.

The second stage in the theme of alienation explored in Lord of the Flies is initiation. Being school boys emphasizes the role of initiation in Golding's novel because of the importance of rites of passage in childhood. Their level of maturity suggest that the boys are around the age of puberty: the most significant rite of passage in the early life cycle. Initiation rites commonly coincide with puberty in cultures around the world, especially in traditional cultures. In Lord of the Flies, the boys create their own rites of initiation. Alienated from society, they are unable to derive their rites from established social codes and symbols. Killing the animal is one of the first significant initiation rites in Lord of the Flies. Jack's animal sacrifice is a primary example of how the boys create initiation rites to establish their sense of identity and to create arbitrary social codes. Initiation therefore helps the boys establish their identities and also creates social hierarchy.

The conflict between Jack and Ralph serves also as a type of initiation: a battle between two individuals. Initiations represent a transition from one state of mind or being to another. Simon's vision is one of the most powerful initiations in Lord of the Flies. The vision, which lends the novel its name, has a supernatural component that is common among most traditional initiation rites. Simon's vision becomes a collective initiation rite and means as much to the group as a whole than to Simon personally. The vision creates a sense of wisdom too: the knowledge that the beast is internal and not an external reality.

Third, journey is a key element of the theme of alienation. The entire island experience is essentially a journey for the boys, who are from England and suddenly find themselves in a foreign environment. Yet smaller journeys also take place during the course of the novel. For example, the boys organize frequent hunting expeditions. Their journey up the mountain isolates the boys further from one another, increasing their sense of alienation. Each time they embark on a hunting expedition, the boys hone their survival skills. Their survival skills ensure that they will live long enough to be rescued, which would entail an ultimate journey toward home.