The Coral Island
By R.M. Ballantyne
The Coral island vs. Lord of the flies
R.M. Ballantyne's The Coral Island is a novel written in 1858 depicting three young British boys who crashed on an island with no one to rescue them. The boys find food on the island and manage to build a shelter for protection. As the boys become accustomed to the island and each other, they begin to form a governmental structure appointing certain jobs for each boy. They then come in contact with native Polynesians and British pirates. These pirates capture Ralph, one of the three boys, and he comes in contact with the savage ways of the pirates. Once Ralph returns to the Coral Island and finds his friends, they all go to an island and try to help convert the people of the island to Christianity. William Golding's Lord of the Flies, written in 1954, is almost like a parody to The Coral Island. Golding mocks Ballantyne's use of proper British men as the main characters, so Golding creates his characters opposite of Ballantyne's. In Lord of the Flies, the British boys who crash onto a mysterious island do not act proper and create their own form of government, but they turn into savages and kill each other. Golding's purpose of this parody is to show the realistic effects of isolation among a population of young men.
Jack Lord of the flies vs. jack the coral island
Both The Lord of the Flies and The Coral Island, have a main character named Jack. In The Coral Island, Jack Martin is a handsome young boy of age eighteen. He is tall, clever, and the eldest of the three boys. Jack presents himself in a friendly manner, suggesting he could be a great leader especially due to his age. He plays an important role on the island, and he helps to keep Ralph and Peterkin alive. In Lord of the Flies, Jack Merridew contrasts to Jack Martin because he has a need for power and control, and even though he is one of the eldest on the island, he still does not provide the leadership qualities that is needed for that large group of boys. Jack Merridew uses violence to get his way which leads to his savage behaviors later on in the novel.
Ralph lord of the flies vs. ralph the coral island
The Coral Island and Lord of the Flies also have a main character named Ralph. In The Coral Island, Ralph Rover is a quiet, handsome, and young British boy who was raised with good morals and etiquette. Ralph acts polite towards both Peterkin and Jack. He is a few years younger than Jack, yet he still acts mature while handling situations. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is an athletic and hard working boy. Ralph, one of the eldest on the island, starts off being childish in the beginning of the novel, but he then acts serious and governs the boys of the island. He provides great leadership and civilization to the island and the boys that now live there. Unlike Jack Merridew, Ralph does not believe in the savage ways of the rest of the boys.
"Evil is inherent in the human mind itself, whatever innocence may cloak it, ready to put forth its strength as soon as the occasion is propitious. This is Golding's theme, and it takes on a frightful force by being presented in juvenile terms, in a setting that is twice deliberately likened to the sunny coral island of r.m. ballantyne." - John Peter, 1957
John Peter, author of The Fables of William Golding, makes a good point in saying that Golding presents the theme of evil in a juvenile way that emphasizes the significance of evil. The savage ways of the boys makes the island setting more intense and realistic than the island setting of British boys forming a government structure like in The Coral Island. While Lord of the Flies focuses on the human capacity of evil, The Coral Island focuses on the good in people and their ability to function in society.
The Coral Island & How to Read literature like a professor
In The Coral Island when Ralph, Jack, and Peterkin eat and drink together in order to survive on the foreign land, it is an act of communion. All three of the boys become more comfortable with each other as the story progresses and with this progression, more meals and drinks are shared together. Whenever of the boys finds a new food resource on the island, all of the boys eat the new food or drink together and share their rations among each other. This shows a further bond between the boys which is essential to their survival on the island.