Ralphs Allegorical Portrayal

Ralph is one of the main characters in the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding.
Ralph has many personality traits that show who he is as a person. He is a smart and intelligent
boy who is presumed to be very attractive. Ralph becomes the leader of the island at the
beginning of the novel. Ralph wanted to keep order and civilization on the island. He knew what
was best for everyone and found ways to help them get rescued.
The dominant colour on Ralphs mask is dark red because dark red represents vigor,
willpower, rage, anger, leadership and courage. In chapter one Ralph was the one who decided
that they needed a chief, to keep everything in order, Seems to me we ought to have a chief to
decide things -Ralph (23). The colour red also represents fire which is a very crucial and
important symbol throughout the entire story and is very symbolic.
The first symbol I used on my mask was fire. The fire is very important because it is what
Ralph wants to use the help the boys get rescued. It was purely Ralphs idea to create the fire so
it could help them get rescued. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we
must make smoke on top of the mountain (41). The fire represents Ralphs persistence and
struggle to help the boys stay civilized and help them get off the island. He has to remind the
boys constantly that the fire is more important than hunting and having fun So long as you and
your hunters remember the fire (58), You said youd keep the fire going and you let it out!
(76), The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we be rescued except by luck,
if we dont keep a fire going? (88), Look at us! How many are we? And yet we cant keep a
fire going to make smoke (88), But I tell you the smoke is more important than the pig
Ralph says all of these quotes (88). All these quotes are a good portrayal of how passionate and
persistent Ralph is about the fire and the struggle that he has to get the other boys to share the
same vision with him about the fire.
The second symbol on my mask is the conch. The conch represents a variety of things. It
represents power, unity, leadership, law and order, rights and civilization. It a very significant
symbol because the conch was what kept order and structure between the boys. They even
created a rule that whoever is holding the conch can be the only one speaking, Ill give the
conch to the next person to speak., And he wont be interrupted Ralph (36). The boys treated
the conch as a force greater than them all, and it helped bring all the boys together. The conch
helped Ralph come into power. Ralph blew the conch to call all the boys together when they first
came to the island and were scattered all over the place, We (Ralph and Piggy) can use this to
call the others. Have a meeting. Theyll come when they hear us Piggy (17). When everyone
finally got together, they were amazed by Ralph and the conch, which ultimately helped Ralph
get elected as chief, Him with the shell Other Boys (24). If Ralph werent there to blow the
conch, the boys would not have gotten together, and they would have had a harder time trying to
get together. Also the conch helped Ralph keep order when things were getting out of hand, like
when he called a meeting to remind the boys that fire was the most important thing on the island

when Jack and his hunters let the fire go out Im calling a meeting even if we have to go into
the dark. When I blow it(conch). Now Ralph (82). This shows the power and authority Ralph
has over the boys with the conch at his side.
The third symbol I chose was a crown. A crown represents leadership and success. Ralph
is a good leader because he knew what was important for their survival. He decided that they
needed to build huts for their shelter so they would have protection from the rain and the beast,
If it rains like when we dropped in well need shelters all right. And then another thing. We need
shelters because of the Ralph (56). Ralph also decides to have a rescue fire in the mountain
so that any ships passing by will come save them. 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
(41). Ralph also likes to keep a peaceful state on the island. When Piggy and Jack were fighting
for the conch, Ralph tried to stop the fight, Ralph pushed between them and got a thump on the
chest (98). Another reason why Ralph is a great leader is because when the littluns started
talking about the beasty in chapter 6, Ralph took the initiative of taking the older boys on a hunt
to go confront the beast with their spears.
The last symbol I utilized on my mask is a heart that is half black and half red. This heart
is both black and red because in the beginning when Ralph met Piggy, he just ignored him and
tried to run away from him, Ralph disentangled himself cautiously and stole away the branches
(10). Also, Ralph and Jack use Piggys glasses to start the fire without asking him. When Jack
took the glasses off of Piggys face, Ralph let him do it and didnt say anything. His specsuse
them as burning glasses! Jack (44). Also, when the boys gathered on the mountain and the fire
was dead because of Jack and his hunters, Jack in anger slammed Piggys head into a rock,
which caused the hunters to laugh and Ralph to smirk, proving that Ralph didnt care about
Piggy. The other half of the heart is red because this shows that somewhere deep inside, Ralph
really cared about Piggy. When Jack left the group and made his own new tribe, Piggy is one of
the few boys that remained on Ralphs side. This made Ralph understand that the way he treated
Piggy was wrong and Piggy helped confront Ralph in saying that they never took part in killing
Simon, We (Ralph and Piggy) was on the outside. We never done nothing, we never seen
nothing Piggy (174).
There are a lot of allegorical representations that can be used to portray Ralph, but
these four symbols stand out the most when trying to display Ralphs characteristics. Overall
Ralph was a dynamic character because he showed change during the novel. At the beginning he
was voted leader and symbolizes civility, but during the end of the novel he learned about
humans capacity for evil.
Works Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1958. Print