Oberlander 1

Tommy Oberlander
Mr.Plinske
English 2 Honors
7 November 2016
Ralphs Failure to Climb the Pyramid
In order to achieve something, whether it be a goal or basic needs, you have to take steps
to achieve it. Sports are a good example. You first have to learn the fundamentals of the sport,
then you learn different skills, next is teamwork, and so on. William Goldings Lord of the Flies
expresses this greatly. Ralph has difficulties with climbing the pyramid of Maslows Hierarchy
of Needs. At first he does well with climbing the pyramid but gets stuck to then fall down. Ralph
has failed to climb the pyramid because he get does not get past esteem needs, he falls down
different levels, and most of the problems with Ralphs downfall is caused by the actions of Jack
and his tribe.
Esteem needs for Ralph is difficult to achieve. As said by Maslow, esteem needs
involves both self-esteem and the esteem a person gets from the others (Maslow). With this
information in mind, Ralph does not get the recognition that he wants as a chief. Instead Jack
takes it all from him to the point where he asks why do you hate me? (Golding 118). Ralph has
many problems from this point on. The esteem needs for Ralph declines as he continues on this
journey. Ralph views himself as not being able to be a chief. Although Piggy and Simon disagree
with what Ralph has to say, Ralph still believes this is true. Ralph says that Jack has the tribe on
his side and every boy, except the three of them, follows Jack. Overall, Ralph cannot get past this
level of needs because of the lack of esteem in himself and others.
Ralph struggles even more after he started to slip on esteem needs. He eventually made it
down to the first level. But lets go to level 3 and how Ralph fell down. In order to achieve this

Oberlander 2

level, you must seek out love, affection, acceptance, and a sense of belonging(Maslow).
Although Ralph did achieve this at the beginning of his journey, near the end he failed to stay at
this level. Ralph is not accepted as a person by Jacks tribe. Samneric tells Ralph [Jacks tribe]
hates you (Golding 188). Since he did not achieve one need of the level, he cannot move up the
level. Events escalated quickly causing Ralph to move down another level. This level include
personal and family stability, stead[y] job or income, good health a safe living environment,
and adequate shelter (Maslow). Wounded from the spears thrown at him, Ralph is already in
bad health. He had bruised flesh with a swollen and bloody scar(Golding 183) around his rib
area. Clearly his is in a bad condition with no help. This contradicts personal stability for Ralph
since he is close to death and is being hunted. Ralph started at a good level to be at to crumble
back down all the levels.
The actions of other savages caused Ralph to struggle with his climbing of the pyramid.
Jack is a main savage to create problems. At first Jack tries to steal Ralphs authority throughout
the novel. With this happening, Jack gets a lot more popularity. The first event of this uprising is
[Jack] killed a pig (Golding 69). The boys like Jack more because of this. Therefore Ralph was
not getting much attention which contradicts with esteem needs. Jack soon created his own tribe
to then ask everyone wholl join my tribe and have fun(Golding 150). Ralph does not join and
falls down another level due to the lack of belonging. Lastly Jack simply tries to kill him, but
wounds him which puts Ralph below the safety needs. Overall Jack caused Ralph to tumble
down the levels.

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To sum things up, Ralph gets stuck on one level to then fall down multiple levels all
because of the actions of Jack. Even with the effort he put in to save everyone, everything falls
apart for him just for there to be a happy ending.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2016. Print.
(Maslow Hierarchy of Needs)
Simons, Janet A, Irwin, Donald B, Drinnien, Beverly A. Psychology - The Search for
Understanding.
New York: West Publishing Company, 1987.
Tay, Louis and Diener, Ed. Needs and subjective well-being around the world. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 101(2), Aug 2011, 354-365