All through the story, Lord of the Flies, Ralph is the centerpiece of the group. Every character represents some portion of the story. He is the civilization part of it. He wants to organize and civilize the group of boys trapped on the island, but unfortunately for Ralph his plan does not go as expected. He tried his hardest to be a fair and respectable leader, but he simply could not do everything. Ralph represents the change of the civilized, British boys to savages, the overall theme of the book.

When the plane crashes on the island the first thing they do is get together. This is important because during the story numbers play a key role in the battle for power on the island. Then they meet Jack and his choir. They decide to do a vote for the leader and Ralph is voted in as the leader of the tribe. This angers Jack. Ralph responds to Jack’s anger by saying "The choir belongs to you, of course." Ralph shows that he is a leader, but also a people pleaser. This is a bad combination for someone in a leadership position and will eventually come back to haunt him. That quote also demonstrates that Ralph is extremely civilized and wants to avoid conflict if possible. Ralph and Jack will constantly clash on different subjects throughout the story.

Every good leader has a top priority and a direction to take the group in. Ralph thinks getting off the island is most important. He tells the group that his father is in the British navy and that he is probably coming at that exact moment to save them. Ralph doesn't realize that back in the UK, a war is waging and they are the least of their problems. This is such a childish thought, but then again they are only about ten years old. So with hope, he sets his top priority of getting off the island by using a fire to signal passing ships and planes to come and rescue them. He is quoted saying, "There's another thing. We can help them find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire." Little did he know, the fire would play an essential job in the story. It would serve them a sense of comfort when sleeping, a signal for passing ships and planes to save them, and it would also help them cook their food. Ralph tried to contain the jealousy and evils inside people that was spurred by the fire.

In addition to the fire, Ralph had other priorities, such as containing the evil side of everyone. He uses rules to organize and civilize all of the boys. One of the important rules was to never let the fire burn out because it is the only thing that will get them off the island. It would also cook their food and calm them down. Another rule was to not interrupt someone that was talking when they had the conch. It is also used to bring chaos down when it is blown, similar to the gavel for the judge. Although sometimes Ralph does not do that because he does not want it to lose its power. There is a constant struggle between Ralph trying to eliminate the chaos and Jack just stirring up more.

Ralph’s relationship with Jack is extremely close to a mother and father relationship. Mothers and fathers have their differences and fight from time to time, but they ultimately need each other to survive. Ralph is the mother of the relationship; he knows they need shelter. Jack is the father because he provides the food for the tribe. In the beginning, most of the children think that Jack is quite a jerk and decide to side with Ralph, but when he cannot provide food for them, they leave Ralph in one big group and join Jack's hunter tribe. As the children start to change from their civilized nature to Jack's savage behavior, so does Ralph.

Ralph is constantly evolving through the story. At the beginning, he is remarkably civilized. Ralph makes it clear that he does not want to fight or kill the pig. He first starts to change back to a more primitive time when he goes on the hunt with Jack. He starts chanting "Kill the pig! Cut its Throat! Spill its blood! But, once Simon is killed, it is evident that Ralph has changed, and he only changes more. At the end of the book, it is clear that he is a savage when he stabs someone. That is not a civilized way to handle things, and it is completely different to the way that he started out.

Throughout the story, Ralph represents civilization and how it changes to a more savage form. He tries to keep the peace and get off of the island in a mannerly way, yet the evil in him comes out and he is a killer. All of us have some sort of killer instinct, some more potent than others. But ultimately, Ralph is change and he is us.