The human is, as many animals are, a social creature. Since the beginning of humanity we have worked in groups to ensure survival. Even to the most introverted people establishing connections with other people is primordial, and to a child that is in a stage when is developing a sense of identity on its own having it’s fundamental for the normative development of said child's psyche.
Both Ralph and Jack are at their age in a stage classified as early teenagehood. A stage where kids start to gain a sense of identity and start drifting from their families and prioritizing their relationships with their equals, these relationships are ESSENTIAL for the normalized development of a child's mind.
The first time they meet Ralph takes a very judgmental approach towards Jack, calling him ugly. This is interesting cause it’s common for individuals to attribute bad qualities to people we consider unattractive and not want to associate with them, however since the beginning Ralph seems interested in Jack, most likely because he sees how Jack has power over the choir and, in the context, he has similar power, it’s only natural that people with similar status to want to associate with one another and that’s how their relationship starts, as two kids that have power above the rest.
This dynamic however seems to change when they climb the mountain together they already start forming a friendship, as kids of the age are more likely to consider better friends those who they do most activities with, and it seems that what i’m guessing are the first few weeks it could be theorized the time they aren’t tending to their duties they spend a fair amount of it together. Using the example of the scene where before Jack hunts the first pig, when coming back to the tribe, goes to talk to Ralph, check how the shelter building is going. This scene follows the two having a conversation, and while it is normal for the two kids that have taken the role of leaders to discuss the problems they are having regarding issues that affect them all, Is curious how the very first thing Jack does is go talk to Ralph.
Ralph's admiration towards Jack is no secret if you’ve read the book, but is it reciprocated? Does Jack hold him to at least a similar standard? The most common reason why two kids get into a conflict is because of issues of power in a group, feeling like he has the right to more power was what mainly led Jack to drifting from Ralph's tribe. But just desiring a higher status than Ralph is not motivation enough for wanting him dead, and you could argue that at this point Jack was probably reaching some level of disconnection from reality, and while that could be true, there’s something else that could be a determining factor on the pure hatred he develops towards Ralph. “Favour piggy like you always do” There are studies show that the feeling of being left out can lead to conduct of aggression, and feeling rejected by a close friend is something that for a twelve year old that doesn’t know about emotional regulation is devastating, “like you always do” implies that in Jacks eyes to Ralph Piggy is a bigger priority, that he is going to prefer Piggy, someone he deems as inferior, over him.
We don’t get enough time of these two alone to really determine how deep the platonic connection this they had, but for what we can see they at least seemed to garner an admiration towards each other, and it’s a shame they never get to actually talk their issues without one of them being almost hunted..
Golding has absolutely no idea about how a child's mind actually works, so this falls flat as he probably wrote the scenes of those two without considering the psychological implications. I’m no expert on the topic either and it's been a while since the last time I read the book but child social development is one topic that fascinates me and all my claims are backed with sources that I can provide if anyone wants me to.
I'm sorry if this is messy and probably doesn't make much sense but I we all agree someone needs to bring the topic to the table.
he asked for no pickles
This fanart makes me cackle every time I see it like why is bro TWEAKING 😭⁉️
in the winter months, all the biguns get assigned a littlun to hold during the night to keep them warm (some get assigned two)
my deranged sons
jesus mustve spread his arms so many times to embrace others before he spread them to embrace death on the cross and i think about that a lot
draw Lord of the Flies, but make him sing the most random song and look at us like he knows were there
i was giggling in health class as i drew this (no idea why party in the USA was the first song that came to mind)
people who refuse to believe ralph was awful piss me off
PLEASE he fucking sucked just admit it
I don’t have a good caption for this
you’ll get back all right