Throughout William Golding’s novel ‘Lord of the Flies,’ we see a post apocalyptic scenario in which a group of young British schoolboys are stranded upon a desert island. The beast within, an evil longing for power, gradually begins to manifest itself inside each of the boys however they all deal with it in very different ways. Ralph is seen as one of the key characters to withstand this base evil nature and shows a strong sense of leadership and righteousness throughout the course of the novel. Although this is the general way in which Ralph would like himself to be seen, he occasionally succumbs to this sense of evil to achieve his ultimate goals. He is the epitome of the wealthy British schoolboy and is a fascinating example of how a civilised boy reacts to such atrocious circumstances as those presented in Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies.’
Towards the beginning of the novel, we begin to see Ralph’s intelligence and practical approach to situations through his summation of their situation. He states to Piggy, “This is an island; at least I think it's an island. That's a reef out in the sea. Perhaps there aren't any grownups anywhere.” Although this might seem to be stating the blatantly obvious, it displays keen observation and a willingness to dissect the situation to obtain the best possible outcome. It is largely this lateral thinking and observation that persuaded the other boys to elect him as their leader. The difference between Ralph and all the other boys on the island apart from possibly Piggy is his ability to remain calm in a situation and obtain the best possible outcome for all involved. He also possesses a certain characteristic most akin to charisma that forces all those surrounding him to sit up and listen to what Ralph has to say. Ralph defines this quality also in his first speech as leader; “Listen everybody. I've got to have time to think things out. I can't decide what to do straight off. If this isn't an island, we might be rescued...