ralph quotes

Question 1

“but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no evil”

Answer 1

• suggests his excitement sweet, attractive.
• he’s innocent and naive about the challenged that await him, liberating from the rules of adult - newfound freedom
• he has no hidden traits and can be trusted
• ‘mildness’ suggests kindness but also weakness, foreshadowing how as a leader Ralph ends up being weak because he fails to take charge of the boys
• aphorism: ‘proclaimed no devil’ has a double meaning 1) has a good soul 2) is boring and no fun
• polysemous descriptions of ralph foreshadow his rise and fall as a leader because the qualities which make him a natural leader at first are those that bring his downfall
• religious connotations which could further suggest innocence and innate goodness

Question 2

“we want to have fun and be rescued”

Question 3

“we need shelter”

Question 4

“they let the bloody fire out”

Question 5

“boy with fair hair”

Answer 5

• establishes ralph as a being angelic, a perfect creature because of the word ‘fair’ - innocence, purity
• darkness/light imagery + the rhyming of fair and hair make him different and superior and gives him immediate positive associations

Question 6

‘something deep spoke for him’ ‘i’m chief’

Answer 6

• natural born leader
• ‘deep’ - inner monologue, revealing his inner evil
• ‘spoke’ has something in his id (part of mind which responds to immediately to basic urges, needs, and desires)
• declarative sentence - asserts authority

Question 7

‘he undid the snake-clasp of his belt’

Answer 7

• reference to garden of eden and the devil as the person who is most representative of the force of good being associated with snakes - message is everyone, given the right circumstances has the potential for evil
• evil just needs to be provoked. sibilance of mimics snake sounds - there’s always temptation

Question 8

[ralph playfully] ‘machine gunned’ [piggy]

Answer 8

• , reveals that the boys have been corrupted by the outside world, especially the occurrence of war
• the adults they rely upon and admire are also incapable of leadership
• links to the ‘sub machine-gun’ carried by the trim cruiser that arrives in chapter 12

Question 9

“he accepted a piece of half-raw meat and gnawed it like a wolf”

Answer 9

• simile and zoomorphism suggests how animal-like ralph has become, implying how all humans are capable of descending into savagery
• freud’s idea of innate evil

Question 10

“he accepted a piece of half-raw meat and gnawed it like a wolf”

Answer 10

• simile and zoomorphism suggests how animal-like ralph has become, implying how all humans are capable of descending into savagery
• freud’s idea of innate evil

Question 11

“ralph felt a kind of affectionate reverence for the conch”

Answer 11

• ralph values the conch therefore he still values order, rules and civilisation
• the reason for his “affectionate reverence” could be because the conch gave him the authority and power of being a leader

Question 12

‘better piggy than fatty’ he said with the directness of genuine leadership’

Answer 12

• reminds the reader that Ralph is still a child
• lacks emotional intelligence at times,
• reminds the reader that Ralph is not an ideal leader and still has flaws due to his immaturity and lack of knowledge, hence his excitement at the start.

Question 13

’they were on different sides of a high barrier’

Answer 13

• symbolic barrier
• ‘high’ as they both want aunthority as much as each other
• division, broken friendship
• the power struggle between the two could mirror that of rising powerful dictators and the experiences of fighting against them in ww2 as golding was a navy officer

Question 14

“this is our island it’s a good island”

Answer 14

• certain that they will be rescued and believes that they will have a wonderful time on the island - suggesting his utter naivety
• they boys are still somewhat immature and don’t understand the gravity of the situation
• reference to the typical adventure genre eg. coral island
• ‘our island’ may be a reference to colonization’

Question 15

‘he would like to have a bath’

Answer 15

• ralph craves a more civilised existence
• perhaps an allegory of baptism- spiritual cleansing- he wants to maintain innocence and purity
• he may be subconsciously aware that being on the island may provoke animalistic and evil actions if he says any longer with his uncleanliness and anthropomorphic way of living
• contrast to his excitement in chapter 1

Question 16

‘everything was all right; everything was good-humoured and friendly’ // ‘I hit him!’ ‘I hit him’ ‘I hit him alright’

Answer 16

• juxtaposition of ralph at the start of the novel and the savagery when he gets involved with the hunting
• distant memory of his civilised past
• repetition shows excitement, thrill
• exclamatory. the personal pronoun ‘I’ - proud, taking account for his own actions. he ‘felt hunting was good after all’ - losing civilisation
• golding hints that all humans are essentially flawed and have the capacity of evil within us, innate evil. ‘mankind essential illness’
• public school boys > savages indicates have the capacity of evil within us, innate evil. ‘mankind essential illness’

Question 17

‘limping, dirty’ ‘puffy cheek’ ‘great scab’

Answer 17

• shows he took part in violence, losing civilisation, he is now inhabiting animalistic features that he didn’t have earlier
• contrasts to him wanting a ‘bath’ and being clean and pure once again

Question 18

‘im frightened. of us I want to go home’

Answer 18

• simple sentences - panic he’s unable to comprehend the fact that everyone tuned into savages
• afraid of the evil within the boys - fundamentally scares ralph. mankind essential illness
• ’home’ - connotes world of grownups , he wants to go back to civilisation

Question 19

‘ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart’

Answer 19

• abstract noun innocence - children’s innocence removed in this environment
• metaphor - symbolised the id, evil side, animalistic side in humans
• agrees with simon’s view
• he’s learnt about the burden of responsibility and the struggle to survive in the evil of humanity.

Question 19

‘ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart’

Answer 19

• abstract noun innocence - children’s innocence removed in this environment
• metaphor - symbolised the id, evil side, animalistic side in humans
• agrees with simon’s view
• he’s learnt about the burden of responsibility and the struggle to survive in the evil of humanity.

Question 20

‘true wise friend called piggy’ // ‘i can’t think, not like piggy’

Answer 20

• finally appreciates piggy after his death after completely neglecting him in the beginning
• he realised that true friendship should be based on more substantial qualities like being wise and honest
• trusted piggy and his advice

Question 21

“we’re all drifting and things are going rotten. at home there was always a grown up”

Question 22

“that was a good game. just a game”

Question 23

“i’d like to put on a war paint and pretend to be a savage but we must keep the fire burning” // “we won’t be painted because we aren’t savages”

Question 24

“piggy… that was murder”

Question 25

“he hit with more passionate hysteria as the face became slippery”

Question 26

“there was no piggy to talk sense. there was no solemn assembly for debate nor dignity of the conch”

Question 27

“who’s boss here?” “i am” [in reply to the naval officer]

Question 28

‘ralph, cradling the conch, rocked himself to and fro’