Saturday, March 28, 2009

Honors Blog 2/27/09

Ralph
Ralph is about 110 lbs, 5 feet tall, athletic, and has relatively good posture. He has FAIR HAIR, which is brown, and hangs halfway down his forehead. He has brown eyes, as well. He wears a simple white T-shirt that was meant as an undershirt in his school uniform, and the pants to go
with it. Ralph tends to be a leader, but will always try his best to help people with his leadership. He tends to take the moral high road, and for the most part, will always follow his conscience (which is ever present with him). He used to be a student, but in this new society, he ends up playing the outcast - the person who was rejected because although his ideas were good (and frankly, right) - they were not popular amongst the people. He is a relatively good person, and although he has the potential to do bad things, he is aware of this, and tries to the best of his ability to avoid it (to the point where it almost gets him killed). Others in the book, at the beginning, like him, but in the end, their savage side takes over, and they see him as a beast that needs to be hunted. They strip him of his humanity and attempt to make him into a monster, so that they may have an excuse to kill him. Ralph represents the mistreated protagonist of history and modern day life. Every day, people are killed for doing the right thing, in a society of people who don't want to listen. This was far more dominant in history than it was today, but it is still an accurate representation of many situations. Ralph is a relatively simple name, which is probably meant to suggest that he is (or was) a simple person, thinking that we should all be decent and kind, and that society is simple. By the end of this book, he learned otherwise. After experiencing the savagery of everyone else on the island, he came to a realization that human nature is a terrible thing, and deep down, we are all monsters.

Jack

Jack is 5'1", about 105 lbs, sort of skinny and bony, with a little bit of muscle, and bad posture. He has blond hair and blue eyes, with lots of freckles. He wears his school undershirt and pants, but is eventually reduced to his underwear and savage markings on his body. Jack
is sort of twitchy, and kind of hyper. He is always moving around, and always trying to be the center of attention. This character used to play the student, but now plays the savage dictator. This character's philosophy is that he should take over as much land and as many people as he can, because above all else, giving in to your every whim, and having power, are the most important things. Others in the book respect and fear this character, although some loathe and fear him, depending on how they have been treated, They start off liking what he has to say and what he does, but everyone ends up being caught up in his lust for power, and they are all too helpless to do anything. This character represents many antagonists in the world throughout history and even today. There are many examples, but one of them would be Saddam Hussein. He had many loyal followers, many of which feared him, and he did a lot of damage. The name Jack could suggest that he has a strong personality, which he most certainly does. This character starts off being unappreciated, but being jealous of Ralph. He then proceeds to strip him of his power, and take it all for himself. He becomes the vicious savage dictator, mad with power.

Piggy

Piggy is fat. He is about 4'8", and in terrible physical shape for his age. Piggy has round glasses, which he uses to see. He has short blond hair, brown eyes, and nice teeth. He wears his school undershirt, and school pants. He is relatively shy, and avoids attracting attention when he can. He is also very socially awkward. This character plays the role of the hated hero. He never receives any merit for his good deeds or ideas, because everyone hates how different he his. He is unappreciated all the way to the grave. This character's philosophy is very similar to Ralph's - he believes in trying to find the best in people, and doing what is right. However, he is far more annoying about it than Ralph is. This is because he is absolutely steadfast in his belief, and nonnegotiable. Other people in the book (except for Ralph) make fun of Piggy, simply because they can't take him seriously. They have even gone so far as to dehumanize him, and call him by the name of an animal instead of his own. This character probably represents either the same person as Ralph in historical and modern society, or he represents the ugly person, who can never catch a break, even if they do everything right. Piggy's name suggests that he is not taken seriously, and is actually treated like a pig (which works perfectly, since they hunt pigs, and they ended up killing him as well). His name also suggests that he is fat, like a pig. This character doesn't really develop. He starts of thinking that everyone should think the way he does, and he dies that way. He turned out to be literally "dead" right.

It can be seen here that the cruelty of men often, if not always prevails. This is because Simon ended up on top, Ralph ended up being hunted like an animal, and Piggy, who was most steadfast in his righteousness, was killed. This also shows that adaptability is key. Simon played on the fears of everyone around him to gain power. Ralph tried his best to survive for a while - by partaking in killing Simon, by considering joining their tribe, by trying to talk to the twins and get them to help him, and by running for his life. However, Piggy did not adapt, so he had a boulder thrown at him.

No comments: