Quote from Lord of the Flies Page 202

"...Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy."
-Lord of the Flies Page 202
Ralph is saddened and disturbed by the events on the island. During his time running from Jack, he had not had time to fully realize the magnitude of Jack's changes and it's effects on the island. He is bothered by the thoughts of what Jack and his groupd were going to do to him if they had caught him. Jack and the rest of the boys had landed on the island as sensible young boys, but had been transformed into bloodthirsty animals. The boys' characters had no innocence left and their hearts were cold as stone. Ralph also wept for the soul of Piggy, who was the only true friend he had never realized.
Song: Wish you were here - Pink Floyd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXdNnw99-Ic

Quote from Lord of the Flies Page 171

"I'm going to him with this conch in my hands...Give me my glasses, I'm going to say-you got too!"
-Lord of the Flies Page 171
Piggy asks Ralph to go with him to confront Jack about the theft of his glasses. Piggy believes that Jack may still have morals and give him back his glasses just because it's what's right. I don't believe Piggy realizes that Jack has no morals left. Jack does not care what Piggy has to say and would sooner kill him than return the stolen glasses. Piggy's bold decisions to go confront Jack lead to a dreadful end and give Ralph the realization that no common sense or civility is left on the island.

Quote from Lord of the Flies Page 111

''Ralph-we need meat even if we are hunting the other thing.'"
-Lord of the Flies Page 111
Even as the group is trying to hunt the beast, many of the boys can only thing of hunting, killing, and eating pigs. The thought of meat seems to put the boys in a trance where the sole objects in their minds is killing pigs. This obsession with meat is beginning to tear the island apart. Even Ralph's mind is beginning to embrace the ideas of hunting pigs. This obsession may eventually lead to the demise of the order on the island.

Final Words on Brave New World

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is an interesting insight into the primal characteristics of man. The characters in the novel progress from being civilized, English boys to savages on the verge of losing all of their civility. The book serves as an insight onto what might happen when humans are taken out of a world of law and government, and pushed into a world of total freedom and anarchy. The struggle for power between Ralph and Jack lead to the deaths of two of the more sensible boys. The book also possesses many symbols. The conch is one of the most common of the book. The conch represents order to many of the boys. It is what calls the boys to assembly and what dictates who is to speak at the assemblies. The stuck pig head that "talks" to Simon is also a symbol in the book. It represents the island’s overwhelming power. The pig’s head represents human nature. It tells Simon that it is the Beast, and it is inside him. Human nature was the Beast that the boys on the island should have feared, instead of some physical monster. Pigs were also a symbol of Jack’s regression into becoming a savage. The thoughts of hunting and eating meat possessed Jack, causing him and the rest of the boys to forget of being rescued. The signal fire was Ralph’s last connection to any civilized thought. The rest of the boys had reverted back to savages and forgot about the fire, but Ralph’s single-minded obsession was to keep the fire going to signal possible rescuers. Lord of the Flies serves as a testament to what may occur when law and order are removed and people are left to govern themselves.

Lord of the Flies Pages 160-180

The conch that Piggy holds so dear is destroyed in this section of the novel. The conch was a symbol of order and social structure on the island. It was what Ralph called assemblies with and what gave one the right to speak at said assemblies. When the boys in the tribe capture the twins and destroy this symbol, along with Piggy, the island is pushed into anarchy and chaos. Ralph's mindset is completely changed with this development of the story. He initially believed that the boys would come to their senses, but now he comes to realize that these boys have lost all traces of civilized life. Their time on the island has erased the civilizing marks of society and has instilled primitive thoughts and ways in the boys. I believe this is the point in the novel in which Ralph loses all hope in being rescued. He believes that because of the boys choice to be savage, he will die on the island.
Picture:http://www.museumeducation.bedford.gov.uk/Bedfordbytes/nature/images_nature/gallery_natural_objects/images/Common%20Spider%20Conch%20Shell_jpg.jpg

Lord of the Flies Pages 140-160

The divisions in the island become even deeper. Jack's group of boys continues to become more and more savage. They seem to be regressing to a primal human state. It is almost as if the boys are devolving mentally into simple hunters and gatherers. Ralph, Piggy, and the twins are the only ones on the island who seem to keep their wits about them in the face of the island. Simon, along with Jack and the savages, also seems to be losing his sanity. His thoughtfulness earlier in the story seems to be leeching out of his personality. His delusion of the talking pig may be a symbol of how man is his own worst enemy and biggest threat to himself. Simon's theory that man is the biggest threat is shown in Jack's hostile actions towards those who did not join his group. He acts as if he may attempt to kill them off soon.

Lord of the Flies Pages 20-40

The boys begin exploring the island. Ralph leads a pack of three around the island. It is clear that Ralph has emerged as the alpha-male of the group because all of the other boys seem to listen to him and do what he tells them to do. At first, Jack the choirboy seems very confrontational. He seems to take an aggressive stance against Ralph after Ralph has called all of the boys with the conch shell. This aggressive attitude eventually gives way to a submissive attitude when Jack goes along with what Ralph says. The other boy Simon is a very odd character. At first he seems quite melodramatic, but a little later in the novel he seems like a very quiet character who speaks only when spoken too. Piggy also begins to change as the story goes on. He seems withdrawn in the first few pages of the novel, but later in the novel, he seems to be outspoken and assertive.
Picture:http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/dynamic_images/naturelibrary_640_credits/downloads.bbc.co.uk/earth/naturelibrary/assets/p/pa/pack_hunter/pack_hunter_1.jpg

Lord of the Flies Pages 1-20

What seems to be the two main characters are introduced in this section of the novel. Ralph seems to have all the characteristics of a leader, and I believe he will lead the group of boys during their time on the island. The other boy, Piggy, seems to be much more subserviant. He also appears to be much more child-like than Ralph. The story hints that there has been a plane crash which stranded the boys on the island, but never actually tells of what happened to the plane or how the boys survived. I would've appreciated it if the story had told how all the boys survived. I find it odd that the boys survived, but no adults survived. I don't understand how a plane crash can lead to the deaths of the adults,without so much as an injury to any of the boys. I would also like the story more if the setting was described in more detail. I could not gain a full mental picture of the island from what was described in the novel.
Picture: http://nobelprize.org/press/nobelweb/press_releases/images/flies.jpg