Golding uses Ralph’s role in the mock fight to make ideas of ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ more complex than they seemed. From the beginning of the book, Golding has positioned the reader to see Ralph as the ‘hero’ and Jack as the ‘villain’ through various techniques, one of them being that Ralph is the focaliser. So far it has been quite clear to us who the hero is, however the mock fight changes our views on this. While it seems likely that jack would take part and enjoy hurting one of the boys, it is shocking and concerning for the reader when they find out that Ralph “was fighting to get near, to get a handful of [Roberts] brown, vulnerable flesh”. The noun phrase ‘brown, vulnerable flesh’ suggests that Robert was an innocent and easy target which positions the reader to feel sympathy for Robert and consequently feel a disliking towards Ralph.
…show more content…
Golding could be trying to communicate that even ‘heroes’ have some bad in them and that this idea of heroes and villains is much more complicated as there isn't just right and wrong. He could be suggesting that nobody is perfect and we all make
Golding could be trying to communicate that even ‘heroes’ have some bad in them and that this idea of heroes and villains is much more complicated as there isn't just right and wrong. He could be suggesting that nobody is perfect and we all make