Take a close look at how Jack and Ralph fight. What does their fight reveal about each of their characters and how they have changed over the course of the novel? Focus on how they fight and what they say to each other. Give proof from the novel; provide the page numbers and the paragraph numbers.

Since the question demands page and paragraph numbers, I am assuming you are using the Penguin Classics edition published in 2006. This edition has the same pagination as other classic editions of the novel.

The physical altercation between Ralph and Jack occurs when Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric (the twins) confront Jack’s tribe at Castle Rock. Immediately prior, Jack and a couple of his followers attacked the shelter in which Ralph’s group slept in order to steal Piggy’s glasses.

When Ralph calls Jack a “thief” repeatedly, Jack “made a rush and stabbed at Ralph’s chest with a spear” (paragraph 13, page 254). This shows that Ralph now condemns Jack as a moral violator, while underscoring the impulsivity and violence by which Jack operates. Once friends who explored the island together, Ralph and Jack have become total enemies.

However, Jack does hold back when the text describes how both he and Ralph begin using the spears as swords, “no longer daring the lethal points” (paragraph 3, page 254). The word “daring” suggests that neither boy is comfortable with mortally wounding the other, which implies that both still have a type of respect for each other and the rules of society.

Because neither is willing to kill the other, each boy taunts the other, hoping to maintain his masculinity and superiority in front of the audience of boys:


“Come on then—“
“Come on—“
Truculently they shared up to each other, but just out of fighting distance.
“You come on and see what you get!”
“You come on—“
(paragraphs 5–9, page 254)


It is only when Piggy reminds Ralph of his diplomatic mission—to get Jack to return Piggy’s glasses and offer peace—that Ralph “relaxes his fighting muscles” and the fight ends.

This scene reveals that Jack, while violent and resentful of Ralph, is reluctant to actually kill another person at this point in the text. Ralph is depicted as a strong, fierce fighter who possesses the skills necessary for combat but chooses instead to pursue diplomacy. This shows that Ralph favors the rules of a civil society despite his natural violent tendencies. Jack’s gradual descent into savagery contrasts with Ralph’s development as a pragmatic, just leader.