Ralph is a twelve-year-old boy stranded with a group of other boys on a deserted island. He is the athletic and charismatic character of Lord of the Flies. Ralph was elected the leader of the boys at the beginning of the novel and is the primary representative of order, civilization, and productive leadership in the book. While most of the other boys are concerned with playing, having fun, and avoiding work initially, Ralph starts with building huts and thinking of ways to increase their chances of being rescued. For this reason, Ralph's power and influence over the other boys are highly secure at the beginning of the novel. However, as the book develops and the group succumbs to savage instincts, Ralph's position declines abruptly as Jack's station rises. Eventually, all the boys except Piggy leave Ralph's group for Jack's, and Ralph is left alone to be hunted by Jack's tribe. Ralph never seriously considers joining Jack's tribe to save himself.
             Ralph's commitment to civilization and morality is firm, and his main wish is to be rescued and returned to the society of adults. In a sense, this strength gives Ralph a moral victory at the end of the novel; when he casts the Lord of the Flies to the ground and takes up the stake, it is impaled on to defend himself against Jack's hunters. Ralph understands, as Simon did, that savagery exists within all the boys, but he is determined not to let it overwhelm him. For much of the novel, Ralph cannot understand why the other boys would give in to the base instincts of bloodlust and barbarism. The sight of the hunters chanting and dancing is baffling and distasteful to him. But when Ralph hunts a boar for the first time, he experiences the exhilaration and thrill of bloodlust and violence. When he attends Jack's feast, he is swept away by the frenzy, dancing on the edge of the group and participating in the killing of Simon. This firsthand knowledge of the evil within him, as within all human ...