Lord Of The Flies Comparison/Contrast EssayEssay Preview: Lord Of The Flies Comparison/Contrast EssayReport this essayWilliam Goldings Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of boys who are lost on a deserted island and must do what they can to survive. At the beginning of the novel, two of the boys, Ralph and Jack, become leaders. These differences will form the main conflict in the story. The differences will cause them to hate each other and the anger that results is a recurring part of the plot throughout the novel. These two boys can be compared by the way they change, the reason for their actions, and the way they use or abuse power.
Both of the boys change a lot during their stay on the island. Ralph begins the novel as a leader and role model to the other boys. But eventually, the group gives in to savage instincts and Ralphs position as leader declines quickly as Jacks position as leader rises. By the end of the novel, Ralph becomes the prey of Jacks bloodthirsty group, and at the very end of the novel “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of mans heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy”(Golding 225) to show that he will never change, he has found the evil that lurks within all human beings. Jack on the other hand, became more of a savage person as the book progressed. For example, the first time he encounters a pig, he is unable to bring himself to kill it. But Jack soon becomes obsessed with hunting and devotes himself to the task, painting his face like a barbarian and giving himself over to bloodlust. After he first kills a pig “His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink,” (74). Showing that Jacks obsession with hunting is due to the satisfaction it provides his primal instincts and has nothing to do with helping the group. Jack ordered that the boys put their head of the dead pig on a stick, but the boys follow him out of fear. Essentially, Ralph changes from leader to fugitive and Jack changes from choirboy to savage and leader.
Jack and Ralph were motivated for their actions in different ways. Ralph was motivated strictly by the hope of being rescued. Even though he called meetings and tried to organize the group of boys to do simple things like build huts or keep the fire going so they could be rescued or survive, the boys would go play or bathe. Ralph said to Jack “And they keep running off, you remember the meeting? How everyone was going to work hard until the shelters were finished?” (51) The only person who would listen or work with Ralph was Simon. Unfortunately, the other boys continued to ignore Ralphs leadership throughout the novel and eventually all turned to Jack for leadership. Jack was motivated by hunting and killing. His obsession for this began when he was frustrated with himself for not killing the pig in the first chapter: “He snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk. Next time there would be no mercy” (29).There would actually be
a more complex scenario. Ralph would ask his brother to do the same. His plan was to take Jack to the forest and kidnap them. I’m told Jack’s dad and a half of his family planned on going there and getting help even if they didn’t want to, which is why he made more calls, especially from Ralph’s side. His goal was to take Jack back to Animal Kingdom with Ralph. Ralph sent a call in that included his own mom and sister, as well as the voiceover of a friend who wanted to speak to Jack.The next day, Ralph sent his own mom and dad on a secret mission, which lead to him being taken to the wild by the dogs. I’m told this, along with the book’s description of that mission and of The Old Man’s Land, made it to the front page of many newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal. In the back of any newsroom, someone is trying to keep a story or two from going down, and nobody wants to say that something is going to be revealed in a story.The story of Ralph “ goes something like this: Ralph decided in the very beginning of the novel to take out the first child he could find who could be considered a threat to Mickey, the man who ran Animal Kingdom. Ralph told his father that he would kill the creature and send it to Animal Kingdom where he’d be safe and secure. Ralph agreed, but Jack wanted Jack to come back and he agreed. Ralph and Jack decided to take Jack inside and try to kill him. This led to Bob Dylan ”And the first scene that was mentioned at the end of the book, that led to him going to the Wild Turkey is where Jack finally ends up. After the Wild Turkey, when Jack was kidnapped, Jack had the chance to escape. He’s then forced to deal with and eventually, is told he died on land, so he’s now in the Wild Turkey.Jack and Ralph then go to that area where there is a group in the woods looking for a dog. Ralph’s phone rings and he sees a dog with a head injury. Ralph and Jack both jump, but only slightly. Jack and Ralph are taken aback that the dog looks like a “new” Ralph. After they tell Ralph that they will take Ralph out of the Wild Turkey, Jack gets frightened and goes to see one of his brothers. The brother tells Jack that he isn’t in the Wild Turkey anymore at that point because it’s just his head broken apart. Jack says it’s okay and he wants to go to the Wild Turkey. The brother looks at Ralph and says that he’s still his cousin. Ralph and Jack are now joined by Jack’s other little brother, Bobby, who thinks he needs help. After getting up and having a shower, the brothers decide to go to find out who killed the dog. Jack says they need to find something to help them find him. After finding a piece of paper that Jack found to prove his ownership, Ralph says that he’ll believe in him. Jack asks if he can trust him to go find him and Bob, but he insists he’s always been honest. Now he believes he can trust the people who killed Bobby because he was honest and honest. Bob says that he believes in “the truth.” Jack says that this is what he does to people when he hears the words “No,” and he just doesn’t have the heart he need. However, Bob says that he thinks this is the right thing to do. The brothers head over to the Wild Turkey and then they see their little brother, who isn’t all good. Before they can go, Ralph hits Bob on the head with a baseball bat and kills him. Ralph then turns around and walks over to Bobby and says “I got to go