Ralph

"The buzz from the hunters was clearly one of admiration at this handsome behavior. Clearly they were of the opinion that Jack had done the decent thing, had put himself in the right by his generous apology and Ralph, obscurely, in the wrong. They waited for an appropriate decent answer.
Yet Ralph's throat refused to pass one. He resented, as an addition to Jack's misbehavior, this verbal trick. The fire was dead, the ship was gone. Could they not see? Anger instead of decency passed his throat."


Ralph is a pivotal character in the story. He adds a more mature aspect to the very young group of boys on the island and acts as a mediator between between the boys, deciding what is best for the group. In this passage, Ralph is the only boy thinking clearly; the only boy who has his priorities straight. He understands that all the boys' actions need to be geared towards getting themselves rescued, not getting caught up in hunting or fighting with each other. In the beginning, Ralph stresses the importance of keeping the fire lit in order to signal a rescue boat, but the other boys let it go out in favor of hunting.
The boys' actions demonstrate how children are unable to understand the broad picture of things; they forget their duties and are distracted by enticing activities in the moment. Ralph realizes the big picture: the boys need to focus on a way to get off of the island, which demonstrates his maturity compared to the other boys. He is angry at Jack for neglecting his duties even though Jack kills a wild pig. The other boys only focus on what rewards they are receiving in the present, not the long run. They see the pig Jack killed and are happy and excited because Jack is happy and excited, but do not consider the fact that Jack should not have left the fire unattended. The way the other boys act, showing favoritism towards Jack, justly fuels Ralph anger; being the only logically thinking person in a group is frustrating.