Consider Pip from Great Expectations and Ralph from Lord of the Flies Essay

Which character do you think gives the around realistic passage of pincerishness?Both of these unexampleds contain depictions of childhood. An important fact to keep sure of is that in devil portrayal of childhood, there ar full-growns present to moulding blister through his encounters with them, whereas Golding leaves his characters free from any guiding bountiful heap. shoot downs sister beingness on the rampage when she felt Joe or fool a right smart had d wiz and only(a) the s let downest thing wrong, is different to Ralphs experience of childhood on the island as the closest thing he has to an adult trace is porcine, who whilst undoubtedly more than(prenominal) intelligent than the other boys, lacks the respect and authority an adult commands. wrap up and Ralph be a similar up to now in their longing for a lack of adults, vindicatory then the delight of a realized emulation overcame him. In the middle of the scar he stood on his head and grinned at th e reversed fat boy.No grown ups Is what Golding tells us of Ralph, and similarly hellions Pip c e very(prenominal)s them each(prenominal) toadies and humbugs. Although these views both come upm to concur that a lack of adults is definitely a vertical thing, they do differ mostwhat, I do not believe Ralph would go so far as to call all adults toadies and humbugs and this is certainly to do with their different backgrounds. Ralph is a class Counties lad with a father high up in the navy who knows that the queen has a drawer full of maps, whereas Pip is the adopted son of a blacksmith and although Ralphs lifestyle whitethorn not necessarily cave in been glamorous, it was much more homely and welcoming than the one Pip enjoys.The 2 novels are also curing over a greatly differing sequence span. Lord of the Flies lasts perhaps several weeks at the most, whereas Pips childhood lasts several years in Great Expectations. Obviously this result play a go bad in how realistic their childhoods seem as we see no more than the blinking of an eye of Ralphs, besides confound a much more in depth viewing of Pips.Adults mould Pip passim his childhood, and the most important adults dissembled in this are Pumblechook, Mr Wopsle and Pips sister. All of these have a inclination to look down on Pip, and it is for that reason that Joe is not included in the list, as he and Pip treat each other interchangeable equals. Ralph on the other hand has no guiding force bottom him throughout all the time the reader knows him. Whereas Ralph is a very expressive child, he stands on his head and laughs and looks golden, Pip is not, in the other(a) stages of the book, free from the tyranny of his sister. So there is a crucial diversion between the two novels in that Ralph and his companions are free to be children without adult i supervises being laid upon them, whereas Pip is expected to be a child the musical mode company expects him to be, be grateful boy to them which bo ught you up by hand being a good example of this.A severalise aspect of childhood is Fear, fear of the dark, fear of the unknown and fear of adults to pee-pee but a few. Both authors work this aspect of childhood into their novels somehow. two does this with Magwitchs young man a boy may secure his door, may be warm in bed, may tuck himself up, may draw the clothes over his head, may think himself comfortable and safe, but that young man ordain softly creep and creep his way to him and tear him open.All this to scare Pip into getting him some wittles and it works, from the linguistic process in that quote, it is obviously probable that monster had a very good idea of childhood and its workings, on of the few things universal to children is that they do think bed to be the ultimate haven. Pip is scared by Magwitch into stealing from his sister, who he is already afraid of, and this is significant in that it shows ogre had a very good grasp of what childhood was slightly, and is thus apparent to have a very good portrait of childhood in his novel. Possibly even more significant than this is that Pip steals a show from Joe his trusted fri pole, and this also shows more understanding on ogre part about children, they do not discriminate between close friends and others to the block older people do.And so we see the counter part to this in Lord of the Flies, when alone and with no adults on the desert island the children feel the aim for a fire and steal boorishs glasses to light it. Piggy is Ralphs main ally on the island, and certainly Ralph is Piggys only friend, so the situation is much akin to the one in Great Expectations but we do not see the very(prenominal) level of remorse from Ralph. kinda of Pips fearful I held tight to the leg of the table under the cloth, with both hands, and awaited my peck in anticipation of any retribution that may be dealt out, all that Golding says of the boys remorse at leaving Piggy blind and helpless is for Ralph to hand them back when done with them, and it is here that it seems as though Golding has a correct understanding of children, he appreciates that their consciences are not further fully authentic as they are unable to grasp the implications of what they have done.The fear that grows apparent on the island nevertheless is not the same kind of fear as Pip experiences. One of the little-uns complains of a beastie, nonsense is the response he gets from Ralph, and yet The vivid horror of this, so possible and nakedly terrifying held them all silent. And it is here where the crux of the argument begins to form for deuce having the remedy portrayal of childhood. The Beastie is in fact symbolic of the horror human races will create on the island, and the rest of Goldings novel is also for the most part symbolic, whereas Great Expectations isnt. The natural reaction for Ralph and company to have is to try and guard of the beastie somehow, and thus the fire begins to become mo re than simply a save beacon.The relationships between characters is also a major part in the views we are offered of childhood. Golding uses the views of others to reveal aspects of the main characters, and so influence how we feel about them, Piggys view of Ralph and the others Like a crowd of kids - is speculate to put one over the reader feel that Piggy is far more mature, and that in stoop Ralph is excessively immature, and childlike. Dickens however uses Pips perspective throughout the novel, and the language he uses differs greatly at the start as compared to the finish for the purposes of showing the transition between child and adult.For example I sacredly entertained that they had been born on their backs with their hands in their trouser pockets is understandably not the impression an adult would get from having dead brothers or sisters, and most apparent not the way they would describe them. However at the end of the book the language use has progressed to statemen ts such(prenominal) as Oh, Joe, you break my bosom Look angry at me, Joe Strike me, Joe Tell me of my ingratitude. Dont be so good to me. This is a statement the younger Pip would have been incompetent of making, ti shows the complex differences in language that Dickens appreciates children use as compared to adults.In Great Expectations Pip is not treat as an adult, he is treated as a oddly execrable child, and as such he forms negative opinions of the adult world he will have to grow into, that ass Pumblechook being just one example of the way Pip views this world, however Dickens also understands that childrens attitudes change very quickly, as does Golding, and so when Pip obtains Great Expectations and Pumblechook starts playacting up to him, then he decides that maybe Pumblechook was a practical, sensible, good hearted gadfly. This is also shown in Lord of the Flies because although by the end Ralph and tinkers dam are literally at each others throats, when making the f ire at the start Ralph remembers a log that looks too heavy, but gets the reply of non for the two of us And so Golding shows the reader a glimmer of foretaste that the two may get along well, but they dont, and this demonstrates the difference of children.Ralph has responsibility for the other boys on the island, and this causes him in many aspects to grow up. Instead of being completely child like and swimming, diving and running about, he gets worked up because the shelters havent been made and the other are incapable of concentrating And they keep running off. You remember the meeting? How everyone was going to work voteless until the shelters were finished? This is not a very childlike statement, children get scotch because they dont get their own way, Ralph is not express Im the leader and they dont obey me but rather worrying that the community is beginning to tear apart, a concern more voiced on tabloid letter pages than childrens conversations.Pip however has no suc h responsibility, admittedly while he does some chores set him by his sister, or his lessons under Mr Wopsles great aunt that pathetic female, he is nowhere near as empowered as Ralph who has been voted to care for a few dozen boys. And so this also affects the childhood of the two we see, while Ralph had the easiest growing up previous to the novel (with his parents) as opposed to Pips dead parents and harsh sister, he is effrontery a far more demanding role to play.And the way he deals with it is not very childlike in fact it comes to eventually represent the way a tired adult may feel, worn down, beginning to desperation and wondering why on earth hes interpreted the responsibility at all. And this is another key point to con nerver, Goldings children are literary metaphors for mankind, whereas Pip, although he teaches the reader about aspects of the human character, is not supposed to be legate of the whole human race, and so more likely to represent childhood better.Yet anot her fact to remember is that Golding and Dickens were piece of writing in very different times. Dickens was writing in what was the height of strait-laced England and was teaching about society in those days. Whereas Golding was writing after the World Wars and so was trying to tell a more global message. So his Ralph is, although a child, not necessarily entirely representative of one. Pip however is forced to be a child by the constraining presence of his sister, Pumblechook and eventually the bond apprenticing him to Joe, all things that represent Victorian society, and yet things that still apply today even if in a different form, such as parental control and discipline and requisite education.Childhood on Goldings island is also not really something enjoyed particularly by Ralph and his peers, instead it is the littleuns who are the children, Ralph and the other bigger boys find themselves in the positions of adults simply because they are the biggest ones on the island. Per haps because they are not completely mature at the time this does not help them deal with the events that happen on the island. There is possibly a case for saying that Pip too, is no ordinary child and has to grow up very fast in his attempts to impress Estella and grows up even more quickly once he has his expectations laid upon him. However this is most likely a part of his childhood akin to the beginning of school and as this has been a part of life for every child in the last hundred years and more, this is not something that can be argued as not being a part of childhood. And most certainly at the start of the novel Pip is a child plain and simple, with no more worries than his sisters rampages.another(prenominal) aspect of childhood to consider is trust and loyalty. Children are usually swear unless something happens to make them otherwise. In Lord of the Flies, loyalty is shown by the twins and Piggys dedication to Ralph and their faith in him to get them through. Ralph h owever displays a special kind of loyalty, a loyalty to the good side of human nature and a deep trust in sane play. Pips trust however is in Joe and his own learning, but the trust is very temporary with Joe, it is more of a mutual intellect to be equals. And Pip is more than happy to trade his oldest friend for some cash and a life in London. Here again we see that Dickens understands children are rarely consistent, whereas Golding is trying to use children as a metaphor for something much bigger.To conclude I believe that Pip is by far the better portrayal of childhood. Childhood does not generally involve the lack of adult presence to so huge an extent as it does in Lord of the Flies, however the battles of child against adult and adult society such as are seen in Great Expectations do hap almost universally. I think that some qualities the reader sees in Ralph, such as the headstands, do display the kind of innocent glee a child might express, but other than that Ralph and is peers are all examples of the human race and so representative of those who rule the world, adults, and not of children who merely inhabit it.Goldings book is a political message of its time, whereas Dickens was writing a novel, but his was free from the idealism that contaminates Goldings work. Dickens novel still had a point, but this point was made about the way in which his society worked and in particular his belief that money is a great corrupter. Therefore I believe that Dickens Pip is the most realistic portrayal of childhood as he behaves like a child, his expressions and attitudes are all those common to children. Dickens also displays a deep understanding of how children work, and this comes across in Pips actions. Goldings children however are only just recognisable as children, they could tardily be replaced with full grown adults and still the story would work just as well.