Without these conditions, our ideals, values, and the basics of right and wrong are lost. Without society's rigid rules, anarchy and savagery can come to light. Basing on these simple beliefs, William Golding reveals his views of the world and humankind in general and the conflict between humanity's innate barbarism and the civilizing influence of reason through his writings. In the Lord of the Flies, Golding's perspectives on how political systems cannot govern society effectively without first taking into consideration the defects of human nature are proved through two of his main characters, Ralph and Jack. He designs Ralph as a primary representative of the order of a civilization and Jack as the savagery, anarchy, and the darker side of human nature. While Ralph personifies law, cooperation and democratic choice, it turns out to be Jack's reliance on charisma, brute force and authoritarian rule that wins out on the island at the end.
Ralph is the main protagonist of the novel. Elected as the leader of the boys at the beginning of the novel, Ralph already established the belief that "we've got to have rules and obey them" because "we are not savages. We"re English, and the English are best at everything" (Golding 42). Ralph is the primary representative of order, civilization, and productive leadership in the novel. His commitment to civilization and morality is very strong, and his main wish is to be rescued and returned to the society of adults. For most of the novel, Ralph is simply unable to understand why the other boys would give in to base instincts of bloodlust and barbarism. Once he realizes at last how much "[t]he world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away," he simply loses faith in himself and the boys in his surroundings (Golding 91). With all the boys dispersing without warning, he is unable to react quickly to the crisis. Thus, anarchy and chaos have come to dominate the assembly and the democracy he had tried so hard to establish.
