The Coral Island VS Lord of The Flies

    

Left: The Coral Island by R.M. Ballatyne

Right: Lord of The Flies by William Golding

The Coral Island vs. Lord of the Flies

The Coral Island is a novel written in 1858 which depicts three British boys who get shipwrecked on an island with no one to rescue them. The boys adapt to the island, forming governmental structure and appointing certain jobs for each boy on the island. They come into contact with Polynesians and pirates. Despite all these obstacles, the boys still remain as British Gentlemen, not savages.

Golding's Lord of the Flies seems like a parody of The Coral Island. Golding mocks Ballatyne's use of British Gentlemen as the main characters. Using Ballatyne's charater as a basis, he creates characters which are complete opposites from the boys in The Coral Island. In Lord of the Flies, the boys do not act proper and attempt to recreate a government system. The boys become savages and kill each other. Golding's purpose of this parody is to show the darkness of human nature.

Jack Lord of the Flies VS Jack The Coral Island

Both novels have a main character that is named Jack. In The Coral Island,  Jack is described as a tall and fair boy with high intellect. Jack represents himself in a friendly manner. He plays an important role in ensuring that Ralph and Peterkin are alive. In Lord of the Flies, Jack Merridew has a huge contrast as compared to Jack Martin from The Coral Island. Even though he is one of the oldest on the island, Jack does not have the basic qualities to be a leader. Jack believes that he should be chief as he is the head chorister in the choir, which is based on his singing ability and not his ability to lead. He uses violence to get his way which leads to his savage behaviour. 

Ralph The Coral Island vs. Ralph Lord of The Flies

Both novels also have a main character named Ralph. In The Coral Island, Ralph Rover is described as a quiet, handsome, and young British boy who was raised with etiquette and good morals, Ralph acts politely towards  Peterkin and Jack. Despite being few years younger than Jack, Ralph handles situations in a mature manner. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is an athletic and hard working boy. Ralph starts off being childish in the beginning of the novel. He calls Piggy "Piggy" and makes fun of him despite Piggy not telling him to. He sees Piggy as an outsider and tries his best to avoid Piggy. But as the novel progresses, he governs the boys on the island with seriousness. He begins to treat Piggy as part of their group. He provides great leadership and civilization to the island and the boys that now live there, making sure that their needs (such as shelters) are met. Unlike Jack Merridew, Ralph does not resort to violence to get things done and still remains civilized throughout the novel. 

Golding and His Idea of Democracy

 After World War II, America became a major superpower in the world. At that time, elections were held to decide on the leader. So how does this relate to Lord of The Flies?

After the boys have gathered upon hearing the sound of Ralph blowing the conch, the boys hold an election to decide on who should be chief and manage the boys. The boys were to vote for either Jack or Ralph. In the end, majority votes for Ralph. Despite Jack's loss in the election, Ralph still lets him lead the choir boys as hunters. In this scene, the boys are still trying to uphold moral diplomacy.
Moral Diplomacy is a form of diplomacy proposed by Woodrow Wilson in his 14 points. It is the system in which support is given only to countries whose moral beliefs are analogous to that of the nation. 

As the novel progresses, Jack and Ralph's priorities become different; Jack's priority is meat while Ralph's priority is to get rescued and survive. The boys start to drift apart. Eventually, most of the boys succumb to Jack's pressure. Majority voted for Ralph as chief, yet only Piggy, Simon, Sam and Eric stayed with Ralph. Wouldn't one find this rather odd?

From this incident, We can see that moral diplomacy is not natural in human nature. How does Golding prove this?  Firstly, he used children for main characters. Children are innocent are at Nature's truest form. After each chapter, we start to see the boys walk down the path of chaos and destruction. Jack in particular hungers for more power and authority, showing that humans are naturally power hungry.  In the end, majority of the boys followed Jack as they are afraid of what he would do to them.

Secondly, Golding created a scene where the boys were left on an island with neither adults nor social institutions. With every immoral act that the boys carry out, their morality disappears little by little until the point where Roger kills piggy by releasing a rock boulder.  Things become more and more disorderly and eventually fall into chaos. Thus, they would rather follow Jack than Ralph who appears to have more power.

In a nutshell, It is evident that Golding does not have a bright perception of human nature, much less democracy. We can see how he shows that humans are power hungry and would succumb to fear. Is moral diplomacy really democratic? Who knows?

Ralph's attitude: Before and after

Just as what the title has mentioned, this post would be about the difference in Ralph's attitude as the novel progresses.

In the beginning of the novel, Ralph is more concerned with having fun on the island. Whenever Piggy talks to Ralph about finding the other survivors of the plane crash, Ralph tries to ignore Piggy and "increased his speed" to get away from Piggy. Like a young child who only wants to have fun, He is constantly standing on his hands when Piggy mentions serious things and how there are no adults on the island. Ralph is still innocent and thinks that the world is perfect. When Piggy told Ralph not to call him "Piggy", Ralph still shouts out his name several times and stood on his hands. When Jack calls Piggy "Fatty", He tells Jack to call him "Piggy" and they laugh about it, neglecting Piggy's feelings. Ralph is elected as chief in the assembly. When Ralph, Jack and Simon stood at the top of the island, there was optimism and hope.

In Huts on the beach, Ralph begins to realize that all things are not easy going. He finds that it is difficult to manage everyone as chief as they do not take him seriously. He understands the severity of the situation and the need for shelter. He starts to be less playful and focus more on the Littlun's needs. 

In Painted Faces and Long Hair, Ralph realizes that Jack and his hunters let out the fire when a ship passed by. He is angered by this and confronts Jack about it. When Jack tries to distract everyone from the severity of the situation, Ralph tries not to laugh at Jack mimicking Piggy. Ralph even tells Jack "That's a dirty trick". Ralph then calls for an assembly, a proper one without fooling around. 

In Beast From Water, Ralph recognizes that not all time on the island is fun and games and that the situation was quite urgent. Ralph has "grown up" significantly from the beginning of the novel. The illusion of a perfect world is shattered. Golding portrays this with " He stopped, facing the strip; and remembering that the first enthusiastic exploration as though it were part of a brighter childhood, he smiled jeeringly. ". Thus showing that Ralph was having thoughts on what a fool he was.

In conclusion, Ralph's change in attitude is significant as he goes from having fun to making sure that their needs are all met. He prioritizes what is necessary and important in ensuring that they get rescued.

Symbols Related to The Themes and Key Events of The Novel

As we read  through the book, there are some images that pop up in our minds that symbolize key events in the novel. In this post, I will be sharing about how certain items, in my opinion, relate to the novel.

Artwork by Jonathan Wateridge

To me, an airplane is one of the symbols of the novel. The boys crash land on the island while evacuating via an air plane. It symbolizes man's instinct to destroy. The plane was built by man and it left a "long scar" on the island. It is also used to introduce the characters in the novel.

The conch is also a significant symbol in the novel. The conch symbolizes authority. In the novel, whoever that holds the conch has the right to speak. It is similar to the Emperor's seal in China. However in Chapter 11, the conch is shattered along with Piggy's skull. While the conch is shattered, that has not stopped people from speaking. Thus making us question the difference between apparent authority and true authority.

actual image is too gruesome and gory

In chapter 8, Jack and his hunters sharpen a stick at both ends to offer a pig head to the beast for protection. As the pig head starts to rot, it is swarmed by flies. Upon seeing this, Simon dubs the pig head as Lord of The Flies. The rotting pig head symbolizes the boy's rotting morality. Just like how the pig head is left alone in open air and left to rot, the boys are left on the island without any adults to watch over them and become more and more uncivilized. With every immoral thing that the boys do for power, the flies eat away a part of their morality. When the pig head is gone, what is left of their morality?

Initial Thoughts VS Current Thoughts

        

Lord of The Flies written by William Golding A plane crashes on a desert island and the only survivors, a group of schoolboys, assemble on the beach and wait to be rescued. By day they inhabit a land of bright fantastic birds and dark blue seas, but at night their dreams are haunted by the image of a terrifying beast. As the boys' delicate sense of order fades, so their childish dreams are transformed into something more primitive, and their behavior starts to take on a murderous, savage significance.

Initial Thoughts

At the beginning of the novel, the boys are still civilized. There was some tension between Jack and Ralph at first. However, the boys develop a "shy liking" towards each other. The boys get friendly with each other. There was hope that all things would go well and the boys would get rescued without any casualties. Despite Piggy acting like a doomsday prophet at the start, the suggestions that he give is the most sensible among all the boys. Ralph is described as a very likeable character with fair hair and "eyes that proclaimed no devil".  The boys would willingly vote for Ralph. Jack, on the other hand, is arrogant and cruel towards those who are weak like Piggy. Personally, I did not really like Jack at the start of the novel as I was greatly irritated by his arrogance. He did not care for Simon when he fainted and simply told the choir boys "All right then. Sit down. Let him alone.". Golding hints that all things would falling in the later part of novel.

Current Thoughts

Just as Golding hinted, all things started going downhill. Jack and Ralph begin to have different priorities. Jack's priority is meat while Ralph's priority is to get shelter and be rescued as soon as possible. The boys get into arguments.Initially, I completely demonized Jack. However, he now strikes me as a resourceful person. He uses clay to smear onto his face as camouflage while hunting. He also quickly adapts to the environment by being "dog like, uncomfortably on all fours yet un-heeding his discomfort". He goes through the trouble of ensuring that he can provide the boys with meat. Meanwhile, we can also see that Jack is unscrupulous by breaking away the tension from letting out the fire. He injures and imitates Piggy so that he would have no need to apologise. Ralph sees through his actions and comments "That was a dirty trick.". Ralph begins to grow as a leader and realises that everything is not fun and games on the island. Ralph's bond is severed with Jack and he begins to connect with Piggy. I foresee that things will continue to go downhill and there would be even more deaths.