Lord Of The Flies: Characteristics Of Children

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

in pleasure and play than in the stresses of work. The boys
show enmity towards building the shelters, even though this work is
important, to engage in trivial activities. Af ter one of the shelters
collapses while only Simon and Ralph are building it, Ralph clamours, "All
day I've been working with Simon. No one else. They're off bathing or
eating, or playing." (55). Ralph and Simon, though only children, are more
mature a nd adult like and stray to work on the shelters, while the other
children aimlessly run off and play. The other boys avidly choose to play,
eat, etc. than to continue to work with Ralph which is very boring and
uninteresting. The boys act typically of m ost children their age by being
more interested in having fun than working. Secondly, all the boys leave
Ralph's hard-working group to join Jack's group who just want to have fun.
The day after the death of Simon when Piggy ! and Ralph are bathing, Piggy
points beyond the platform and says, ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

has
caused the boys to be attracted to Ralph as a leader. The physical
characteristics of Ralph remind the boys of their parents or other adult
authority figures they may have had in their old lives back home. There is
also the conch that Ralph holds which may remind the boys of a school bell
or a teacher's whistle. Finally, at the end of the novel, the boys turn to
Jack to satisfy their need for some much-needed leadership. When the boys
are feasting on the meat of a freshly killed sow, the narrator says:

Jack spoke 'Give me a drink.' Henry brought him a shell and he drank.
Power lay in the blown swell of his forearms; authority sat on his
shoulder and chattered in his ear ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: