Although Ralph is arguably the main character in the novel, one must look at Jack to see what role Ralph plays within the story. It is Jack that contrasts Ralph and makes him stand out as the lead character. Jack’s personality and actions that make him Ralph’s foil character.
In chapter four the hunters “let the fire out” ( Golding 71) while a ship is passing by their island. It immediately becomes apparent that Jack told his hunters to leave the fire so that he “could have them in the hunt” (73). This distresses Ralph because he is only interested in the practical things that will get them rescued; Jack is much more carefree, his interests are in hunting. In this case Jacks contrast of Ralph makes Jack seem to be almost evil, and Ralph becomes elevated to the reader as responsible leader of the children.
The contrast between Jack and Ralph also helps to illustrate a common theme in the novel. Jack and Ralph represent the struggle that Golding believes people have between good and evil. Jack valiantly describes how he “Cut[s] the pig[s] throat” (Golding 79) and how “blood spilled out” (78); Ralph halts his speech and immediately calls a meeting to discus the situation on the island. While Ralph is making a speech about the need for rules Jack loudly proclaims “Bollocks to the rules” (99), Ralph can only respond with “the rules are the only thing we’ve got” (99). This demonstrates what Golding believes to be the true nature of the human spirit. Through his contrast of the characters Ralph and Jack, Golding is saying that these boys are becoming more and more barbaric without human civilization.
The theme about human nature became fist apparent in the first three chapters, and was clearly established in chapters five and six. I believe that this theme will be instrumental in the development of the novel, it will be interesting to see how Golding develops it in the following chapters.
