EAE3U
Unit 2 – Novel Ideas

Activity 3 – Sharing Information
Essay-Style Questions for Lord of the Flies
Section A – Novel
a) Compare and contrast two characters from the novel.
Lord of the flies is a novel centered more upon the actions of Jack and Ralph. In the novel, by William Golding, Jack and Ralph are two of the older boys, and they quickly become the two leaders of the island; One by election and one by force. Both of them come from the same civilization, and know how to follow rules, though, only one of them sticks to their civilized roots during the novel.
Though Jack seems to have more experience being a leader, Ralph is the one who the boys choose to be their leader. He is the one who found the conch and blew which becomes a big symbol throughout the novel, so the little boys see him as leader. Though Ralph is named leader, he voluntarily gives Jack charge of the hunters. Throughout the novel, while Ralph is trying to maintain order and civilized behaviour, Jack is consumed by hunting. While Ralph is working on shelters for all the littluns, Jack hunts on is own because he is obsessed with killing. When things begin to fall apart, Ralph grows wiser but Jack grows stronger. Ralph wants to talk threw his problems but Jack only wants to use violence to maintain his power as chief over a tribe of savages.
Threw the novel, both Jack and Ralph interpret a different relationship with Piggy. Neither of them cared for Piggy in the beginning, though Ralph was always more tolerant with him than Jack. Jack’s hatred towards Piggy increases during the novel and ends in Piggy’s murder. Ralph on the other hand grows to appreciate Piggy’s wisdom. There are moments in the novel where Jack and Ralph are united, such as when they are exploring the island but they are usually not able to communicate. In the end, Ralph is consistent to do the right things, even when things get rough around him. While Ralph was a weak leader in the beginning he grew into a effective leader which is why Jack hates him so much. On the other hand, Jack was a terrible leader from the beginning and only got worse.
The difference between these two boys, in the novel Lord of the Flies, in the end is that Ralph weeps for what has been lost, while Jack doesn’t even appear to know something has