'Lord Of The Flies' By William Golding: Character Analysis

In William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies', a group of schoolboys find themselves on a deserted island alone after a plane crash. They attempt to form a society and elect a 'chief', however this fades and the boys begin to destroy the island and each other. Ralph, the main character and 'chief' of the society the boys initially form, is a character who drastically changes throughout the narrative.
Golding creates the initial impression that Ralph is an overall good character: "there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil". This is the first description of Ralph and it tells the reader that this character should not be associated with the evil connotations of the devil. Ralph is also shown to be naïve by not seeing the
These two characters are the two who are most associated with democracy and morals, and yet they "found themselves eager to take a place in this demented yet partly secure society". They realise the negative side of this "demented" group, and are willing to abandon the democracy they value so highly and join it regardless. They may do this to illustrate the idea that humans feel a need to belong to a group, and would rather to abandon their values than not be part of some form of society. This is another example of Ralph embracing the evil within him, and his behaviour going against the first impression that Golding created of him.
However, Ralph is the only character to acknowledge the true savage nature of Simon's death: "that was murder". This highlights the fact that he is more mature in comparison to the other boys, as a result of his additional responsibilities on the island. Ralph is willing to admit to his mistakes, unlike at the start of the novel when he tried to justify his cruelty towards Piggy. This shows that Ralph's position as 'chief' and the responsibility it brings has had a profound impact on him, making him more mature than he would have been without this position of