ralph

• 'Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy'


  With the weeping image of Ralph evoking pathos, this point Ralph is the Everyman archetype, with Golding stressing the message that the experience of war reduces us all to weeping children: powerless and lost in the face of such violence and brutality. The asyndeton creates a hyperbolic tone, magnifying Ralph’s losses and emphasising their symbolic nature, inviting the reader to mourn the fundamental corruptibility of man.
• context to 'end of innocence'

  The parallelism with events like the Holocaust, which was referred to as the 'loss of innocence' enriches the allegorical interpretation of the novel. It can be seen not only as a story about a group of boys stranded on an island but also as a broader allegory for the human condition and the inherent struggle between civilization and savagery. This juxtaposition heightens the emotional and moral weight of the narrative, underscoring the profound consequences of unchecked human nature.
• 'the darkness of man's heart'

  The metaphor It echoes the title of Conrad’s seminal novella; Heart of Darkness which challenges the idea that there is any distinction between “civilised” man and “savage” behaviour.
• duality of ralph


  the dichotomous nature of Ralph's character from the novel's very outset is utilised in Golding's exploration of if seemingly good (or rather "golden) people can commit evil, questioning whether human morality is perhaps not as polarsied as we may suspect, and instead, within all, is the capacity for both good and evil- ralph embodies the every man.
• "The desire to squeeze and hurt was over- mastering"


  the verbs 'squeeze' and 'hurt' demonstrate Ralph's capability of violence, which paired with the modifier 'too' carries a note of emphasis or surprise. The use of the verb 'desire', with its connotation of love echoes the strangely erotically charged violence from the episode where the sow is killed.
• ralph by the end of the novel

  ralph’s descent into savagery is complete. The climax to Golding’s novel is nuclear Armageddon. With the island burning behind him, Ralph jettisons all belief the possibility of of rescue and redemption and is reduced to the status of prey in the boys’ murderous version of manhunt. This juxtaposition of childhood games with dark, murderous intent has become a dystopian paradigm emblematic of the ultimate corruptibility of innocents.
• “there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil.”



  The noun 'mildness' demonstrates Ralph's capability for compassion, but also weakness. The aphorism “proclaimed no devil” also has two meanings. It suggests that he has a good soul but might also suggests that he’s boring or no fun.
• “there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil.”


  Both “mildness” and “no devil” have religious connotations. The child Christ is often described as “mild” and the fact that is “eyes proclaimed no devil” could suggest innocence and innate goodness.
• “there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil.”


  This polysemous description foreshadows both Ralph’s rise and fall from grace. It is ironic that the very qualities which mark him out as a natural leader at the beginning of the novel are also the weaknesses which will bring about his downfall. Golding identifies a paradox within civilisation by suggesting that all of the best qualities of civilisation are also what makes it vulnerable to attack.
• “Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering.”


  The verbs “squeeze” and “hurt” show that Ralph is capable of violence. Note the modifier “too” which carries a note of emphasis or surprise that even “the boy with fair hair” is “fighting” to play the game of ‘hunting’ his friend.
• “Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering.” chp1


  The noun phrase “a handful of that vulnerable, brown flesh” again recalls the killing of the sow. The physicality of Robert is emphasised and the idea of Ralph grabbing flesh in handfuls is positively lustful! Again, this peculiar combination of violence, childhood, murder and lust taps into our darkest taboos and serves to exaggerate the horror that Golding wants to portray at Ralph’s turn to savagery
• 'his hair was plastered to his forehead. All around him the long scar smashed into the jungle'chp1


  The semantic field of christianity 'forehead', 'scar' is reminiscent of the mark of Cain, as Cain was scarred by God to warn everyone of the sin of killing his brother Abel, which echoes the murder of Simon later in the novel
• the 'witch-like cry' of the birdschp1


  hints to how the island will be suffused by evil. Reflects Golding's question of is this an evil presence on the island or one that is present in all of the boys
• 'but then the delight of a realised ambition overcame him. In the middle of the scar he stood on his head and grinned'chp1


  Ralph is so thrilled at the fact that the children are without adult supervision, that he forgets the real reason for this is because they have all been killed in a nuclear explosion. Golding deliberately places Ralph 'in the middle of the scar' symbolically, Ralph is at the centre of man's capacity for evil. Golding could be asking through Ralph whether good people are capable of great evil
• ralph 'tripped over a branch and came down with a crash' chp1 


  symbolically, this is like the fall in the Garden of Eden where temptation causes Adam and Eve to be banished
• ralph 'stood there among the skull-like coconuts'


  the 'skull like coconuts' are not only a symbol of death, they are a memento mori, which are used by Christians in order to remind themselves to lead a good life, because when they die, they will be judged by God. Golding is asking here, whether God is sitting on the island judging the boys and whether we can choose to be good in the face of our evil instincts
• 'we need an assembly. Not for fun, Not for laughing and falling off the log...not for making jokes...Not for these things. But to put things straight'


  the anaphoric structure of his diction mimics the rhetorical cadence that of politicians and suggests his desire to exude authoritativeness.
• the boys respond to ralph's 'we need an assembly' with 'giggling', 'murmuring', 'sniggering', 'shouting' etc 


  Unfortunately, the boys are shown to respond with flippant impatience and burgeoning discontent, which is revealed by the string of gerund verbs that Golding uses to describe their reactions. These nascent signs of disobedience foreshadow the mass dissent and social disintegration which will soon manifest on the island.
• 'the boy with the fair hair lowered himself'

  Golding deliberately withholds information about Ralph's name at the beginning of the novel. This forces us to develop an organic impression of Ralph, based on his appearances and his actions. The use of kinaesthetic imagery places a saturated emphasis on movement, which mirrors the boys' struggle to make sense of their surroundings and to re-establish an awareness of existence after almost losing their lives
• 'we'll have to have 'Hands up' like at school'


  the semantic field of childhood 'hands up', 'school' to perhaps display the naivety the idea. His style of leadership, demonstrated through the contraction of 'we'll' makes ralph more approachable and inclusive to the other boys, creating a dichotomy of leadership styles between democratic ralph and totalitarian jack
• 'we out to have a chief to decide things' chp1 


  this democratic vote is arguably be satirical as they vote for leaders that the other boys do not even know. Potentially this serves as a mockery of the political system of Golding's time, with the message that we vote for people when we don't know what we're voting for
• 'the fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don't keep a fire going' - chapter 2


  -
• 'they blew the summons of the conch, partly because ralph blew it, and he was big enough to be a link with the adult world of authority'

  -