Lord of the Flies- Simon, Jack and Ralph

In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding presents characters whose personalities represent abstract ideas. The three, arguably, most important characters are Ralph, Jack and Simon. Each one represents a symbol; Ralph standing for order and civilized behavior, Jack standing for savagery, and Simon standing for purity.

Ralph is the elected leader of the boys and symbolizes human beings' civilized instinct and leadership, which is the opposite of Jack and his representation of savagery. Ralph represents this idea throughout the whole novel, starting with his refusal to accept violence. His leadership tactics avoid brutality, and his main goal is to get himself, and the other boys, rescued. He constantly talks of the fire and how it will be the thing to save them. When Jack has taken most of the boys away from him Ralph is bitter, and asks "Don't we love meetings?" while feeling defeated. At this point, even though Ralph has lost his power, he has not succumbed to Jack and his violent and brutal ways. At the end of the novel, Ralph is the character who possesses the least amount of savagery.

Jack, the antagonist in the novel, is the symbol for savagery. The only thing Jack desires is power; he is constantly trying to obtain it over the boys by using their fears against them and promising them meat. Jack is the catalyst for the initial conflict on the island, attempting to become leader and dominate the group, rather than join forces with Ralph. He becomes a tyrant and diminishes all rules set by Ralph. He tells the boys that: "We don't need the conch any more. We know who ought to say things", which they accept because of the fear Jack has instilled in them. He instills this fear by using the boy's fears against them, telling them that he will protect them from the beastie if they join his tribe. Furthermore, as the character that represents evil and violence, he is completely obsessed with hunting and