the signal fire unattended and the boys miss out on an opportunity to be rescued when a ship passes the island. When Jack returns from a successful hunt, Ralph accosts him for allowing the signal fire to go out.Piggy intervenes and begins to criticize Jack and the hunters for acting immaturely. Jack slaps Piggy and ends up breaking one of the lenses in his glasses. Ralph then intervenes and continues to argue with Jack about being irresponsible. That night, the feelings of resentment are evident as the boys feast on the pig. Ralph announces that he will be holding an assembly the next day. By the end of chapter 4, Ralph is done dealing with Jack, and the two cannot agree on anything. Jack develops strong feelings of hate towards Piggy because he supports Ralph's decisions and Simon is relatively an afterthought because of his reclusive nature.

As the British schoolboys attempt to form their society on the island, they form different relationships with each other based on their personalities and roles. Here are the basic ways each boy relates to the other in these pairs.

Ralph and Jack, though they begin as friends, soon become competitors. Jack is jealous of Ralph from the beginning because he feels he should have been chief. Ralph wants to associate with Jack because he is the other boy who is most respected. However, when Jack begins to lose sight of the goal of being rescued, placing more emphasis on hunting, Ralph becomes more antagonistic toward him. Piggy and Simon have to inform Ralph that Jack hates him. Ralph seems unwilling to see the worst in Jack; even at the very end, he believes Jack will listen to reason and will negotiate with him. Jack will not be satisfied while Ralph exists as a challenge to his power; at the end, he hunts Ralph.

Ralph and Piggy have a one-sided friendship at first, but Ralph eventually begins to appreciate Piggy as an indispensable ally. First Ralph teases Piggy for being overweight and violates Piggy's request to not tell the other boys his nickname. Piggy remains loyal to Ralph despite Ralph spurning him at times. Eventually Ralph realizes that Piggy has the greatest intelligence of anyone on the island, but that Piggy cannot lead. Piggy is therefore the "brains behind the throne," so to speak. Piggy helps Ralph see things he is missing, and he helps keep Ralph focused when he starts forgetting about the signal fire. Ralph does stand up for Piggy, telling Jack it was a "dirty trick" to break his glasses, and eventually going to Castle Rock to try to get Piggy's glasses back. Ralph and Piggy are inseparable teammates from the time Jack leaves the camp.

Although Simon looks up to Ralph and wants to support him and be his friend, Ralph never really appreciates Simon's abilities. Ralph chooses Simon as one of the three explorers of the island, and he takes the advice of Simon and Piggy to continue being chief. However, he doesn't give credibility to Simon when he speaks up at the meetings; he mocks and belittles Simon's contributions and insights as much as the other boys do. He tells Simon to shut up and tells him he's batty. Ultimately, Ralph fails Simon during the feast and unwittingly takes part in his murder. He is plagued by guilt after that, although he and Piggy manage to rationalize away their part in the execution in order to be able to live with themselves.

Simon and Jack do not appreciate each other. Even when they are on the initial exploratory tour of the island together, Jack ignores Simon or belittles him. When Simon calls attention to the candle-bud bush, Jack overrules him by saying it can't be used for anything. When Jack states that the conch isn't needed anymore, an example he uses is that Simon's speeches haven't done any good. For Simon's part, he realizes that Jack would be dangerous as a ruler, so he encourages Ralph to go on being chief. Simon meets his death at the hands of all the boys, but during the dance that Jack has instigated.

Jack and Piggy hate each other. Jack is jealous of Piggy's relationship with Ralph, and he makes fun of Piggy for wearing glasses, being heavy, and having asthma. Jack punches Piggy in the stomach, breaks one lens of his glasses, and later steals his glasses. Eventually, under Jack's regime at Castle Rock, Piggy is murdered. Piggy is afraid of Jack. When Ralph suggests that he, Ralph, should no longer be chief, Piggy tells him that he must go on because Jack hates Piggy and also Ralph, implying that Jack's rule would be dangerous for all of them.

The relationships between the characters are realistic. Because no pair has a flawless relationship, the interpersonal conflicts add to the tension within the novel as the plot unfolds.

Ralph is elected chief on the island even though Piggy is the most intelligent of the boys and Jack is "the most obvious leader." Ralph's first decision as chief is to share power; he allows Jack to be "in charge of the choir" and to choose what duty they will perform. Thus Ralph is non-dictatorial from the beginning. During the second meeting when the boys run away to build a fire, leaving Ralph and Piggy behind, Ralph runs after them, following the will of the people. Ralph establishes rules for the good of the society, not to promote himself, and he pitches in to build the shelters himself rather than just giving orders. He enforces the rule of the conch at meetings, allowing everyone to have a chance to speak. When they go in search of the beast, he doesn't order others into danger; instead, he volunteers to go first. He reminds the boys they have voted him chief, but when the evening meeting deteriorates and the boys run down to the beach in a "random scatter," he refuses to blow the conch, not willing to impose order on the group by sheer command. He listens to others' opinions, including Piggy and Samneric.

Jack, on the other hand, is an autocrat. He believes he should be chief based solely on the fact that he is choir leader and "can sing C sharp." This is similar to the divine right of kings. Although he agrees to the rules at first, when others disagree with him, he wants to squelch their free speech rights. He says, "We don't need the conch anymore. ... It's time some people knew they've got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of us." He suggests an oligarchy where only those in power make the decisions.

When Jack leaves Ralph's group and draws boys away to his tribe, he creates a regime that brings honor to himself rather than benefiting the group. He has two boys punctuate his declaration by saying, "The chief has spoken." At his feast, he sets himself up as the central figure, sitting garlanded "like an idol." He beats Wilfred for no apparent reason other than to show his power over the boys. He uses theft, violence, and terror to maintain control, and his boys have no real say in their governance. Samneric tell Ralph that Jack is a "terror." Jack usurps so much control over the boys that he gets them to hunt another human being. 

Jack represents an autocratic form of government that puts the desires of the leader above the needs of the group, while Ralph seeks to institute a democratic society.

Jack, a tall, strong-willed, forceful ego maniac takes an immediate dislike to Piggy. 

"Piggy is a man of thought, not of action, and he is physically weak because of his asthma."

When Jack looks at Piggy, he sees everything that a typical bully loves to pick on, an overweight kid, with glasses, who doesn't like to fight and can barely defend himself against an insult.

From the start, Piggy is fearful of Jack, who after he strips away his last sense of civilized propriety, oozes with savagery.  He is frightening to be around, and Piggy makes sure to stick with Ralph. 

Jack tolerates Piggy in the beginning, but his clinging to the rules of civilized behavior start to irritate Jack as the novel progresses.  

As Jack becomes more detached from any form of social order, and assumes a primal nature, he and Ralph begin to fight.  The disputes encourage Piggy to insist on rules all the more.  This further separates Piggy from the group and ultimately the disconnect between the boys results in the death of Piggy.

At the beginning of the novel, Ralph finds Piggy to be annoying and is relatively unsympathetic to his situation. Despite Piggy's obvious affinity for Ralph, Ralph calls Piggy by his unflattering nickname and attempts to distance himself from the overweight child. As the novel progresses, Jack begins to antagonize both Ralph and Piggy by continually interrupting assemblies and disagreeing with Ralph's decisions. Jack immediately becomes enemies with Piggy, who only becomes closer to Ralph because he knows that Ralph will protect him. As Jack becomes increasingly savage, Ralph and Piggy's bond becomes stronger.

Ralph and Piggy see eye-to-eye on important issues, such as maintaining a signal fire, building huts, and preparing to be rescued. Piggy often encourages Ralph to continue challenging Jack's reign and reiterates important issues whenever Ralph appears to be forgetting them. Towards the end of the novel, Piggy and Ralph stand side by side as they approach Castle Rock to addresses Jack's savage behavior. Ralph allows Piggy to carry the conch on the journey to the other end of the island and even defends Piggy during his climactic argument with Jack. Piggy and Ralph are the two characters who stand in the most stark contrast to Jack and his band of savages. They support civility and challenge Jack's tyrannical reign throughout the novel. Unfortunately, Ralph cannot prevent Piggy from becoming another victim of Jack's brutality when Roger hurls a giant boulder towards him. 

In the opening of the story, Ralph and Piggy are the first two boys to be introduced.  It is just the two of them on the beach after the crash.  Piggy, the first to speak, wants to be friends.  Ralph just seems to glory in being alive and on the beach.  Ralph makes fun of Piggy's size, giving him the only name by which he's known in the story, and of Piggy's asthma.  This doesn't seem like the beginning of a good friendship, but it is.  Many times, Ralph appears frustrated with Piggy because Piggy continually is that nagging voice of reason and common sense. He often reminds Ralph of the need for basic necessities and of the need for order.  Part of Ralph would like to ignore Piggy and be an irresponsible kid, but a greater part of him realizes, that the time for irresponsibility is over and he must take charge.  Through this back and forth the friendship grows.  By the beginning of chapter 10, the bond between Ralph and Piggy is strong as they sit in shock and despair over Simon's death.  By the end of the story, Ralph is weeping over who he now realizes was his "true, wise friend".

They absolutely need each other in their attempt for leadership.  Piggy needs Ralph's charisma and natural leadership, and Ralph needs Piggy's rationale and intelligence.  However, Ralph also recognized the downfalls of Piggy(physical appearance, un-usable ideas) and didn't always trust what Piggy had to say.

One of my students last year paralleled President Bush and VP Cheney to Ralph and Piggy.  At the risk of starting a political argument, that's probably not a bad example...

Ralph is the leader. Think of him as something like the chief of the tribe that is forming on the island.

Piggy is the equivalent of the tribal priest or medicine man. He is the thinker. He isn't Ralph's match in charm or physical prowess, but he can come up with key ideas and symbols (like the conch). Ralph needs him for his brain and spirit, just as Piggy needs Ralph for his body, his charisma, and his ability to act.

For one thing, Ralph wants to play fair and to have it put to a vote before he or anyone else becomes the leader. In the beginning he wields a natural authority over the boys which he loses little by little to Jack, the more audacious and outspoken of the two. It is his idea too that the holder of the conch is the person who can "be heard out," much after the model of a public forum (or a Congress filibuster, if you like!). Ralph functions by structure and order, and he tries to impose these norms of society for the well-being of all the survivors.

Ralph, in the true democratic spirit, also protects the interests of the more vulnerable, particularly "the littl'uns." He encourages the older boys to protect (instead of bullying) them and to be aware that their needs are not the same as those of the older ones. He is aware, for example, that the  younger ones are susceptible to nightmares and also that their health is more fragile.

Ralph is also democratic in that he doesn't try to do the job alone but seeks the help of Piggy and Simon.  These two characters have their respective weak points (Piggy is nearsighted and Simon suffers from epileptic spells), but Ralph knows he can count on them just the same.

In all these respects, Ralph symbolizes democracy.

In Lord of the Flies, the relationship between Roger and Piggy is one of predator and prey.  Roger, described once as being "furtive," is a boy who delights in the suffering of others.   Roger is a classic bully.  He derives enjoyment and a feeling of power from the suffering of others, like when he throws rocks at Henry or destroys the sandcastles of the little boys.

Piggy, easily one of the weakest boys on the island due to his short-sightedness and overall out-of-shape physique, becomes a natural target for Roger.  If a bully such as Roger likes to prey on the weakest individuals in the camp, then Piggy would be his largest target (figuratively and literally, unfortunately).  Moreover, Piggy's alliance to Ralph clearly sets him against Roger and Jack.  Roger, as Jack's evil henchman, takes great delight in ending Piggy's life. 

Early in the novel, you see the conflict between hunting and keeping the fire going - Jack is for the former, and Ralph for the latter. You see in here, I think, the key differences that Ralph and Jack offer as Chief of the island.

Ralph's approach is undoubtedly the common sense approach. Ralph, thinking long term, is focussed on being rescued, and on getting the boys of the island. This is a clever, and useful thing to do - but unfortunately, it provides no short term returns. It's just an endless watch over the fire, in the hope that one day someone will rescue the boys - and, of course, ironically, it is indeed because of a fire that the boys are eventually rescued.

Ralph's approach to leadership is similarly long-term: rules, the conch, democracy, assemblies, and so on. It's all very worthy, and very grown up - but it bores the boys, and when Jack decides to say "Bollocks to the rules", it's all too easy for them to go with him.

Jack presents an alternative approach to the island. He's not interested in the fire, in the rules, or in democracy - all the things associated with Ralph, and which make him boring. Jack's approach is far more glamorous: the thrilling, heady rush of the pig hunts (which even Ralph is drawn into) which provide a short-term reward to the boys - delicious food. Jack is also impulsive, dark, strong and  brooding - a far more glamorous, scary and charismatic leader than Ralph, who is sensible, but dull.

This is a good question.

From one point of view, Piggy is an outsider in the group. He is intelligent, logical, but he lacks social skills and leadership. The boys do not accept him. Jack, on the other hand, possesses leadership skills and a desire for exploration and danger. Just from these points, we can see that the boys will not like each other at all. 

Jack gains more power as the leader of the hunters and he begins to pick on Piggy. At one point he even steals his glasses. 

On a deeper level, the two boys represent two different parts of humanity. Piggy represents civilization and logic and Jack represents savagery and our baser natures. Therefore, these aspects of our humanity are always in conflict. As the story progresses, Jack takes over. Piggy actually dies. This means that Golding had a dark and pessimistic view of humanity. Piggy and Jack tolerated each other but in the end they could not coexist. 

Jack is the natural, instinctive leader and Ralph is the fair-haired boy who doesn't know how to lead.  Jack represents the defects of human nature that lead to the downfall of the boys on the island - savagery.  Ralph represents morality and order. Jack is the leader of the choir at the beginning of the story, a role which lets the reader know he has leadership abilities.  He is tall and that helps him lead others by intimidation.  Ralph is more reasonable and is nicer to the boys, so he is elected leader.  It isn't long, however, before the boys are peeled away from Ralph's leadership to go follow Jack.  Ralph does not have the natural ability to lead that Jack possesses. The moral, reasonable way to solve problems isn't always the popular way and that leads to the disintegration of Ralph's troop of boys and society as a whole.  Jack instinctively knows to play on the boys' desires for fun and meat, and he knows to surround himself with protective ranks of big, strong boys to intimidate others.  He is a natural dictator.

In William Golding's novel about a group of young boys stranded on an island and forced to survive while confronting the divisions that emerge between them, Lord of the Flies, Jack and Piggy represent vastly different ends of the humanitarian spectrum.  Piggy is something of a sad figure insofar as he is neither physically nor emotionally suited to the hardships that the boys must endure.  While smart and helpful, he is highly dependent upon the kindness of Ralph -- a situation highlighted by Piggy's need for the eyeglasses that will constitute his most serious "Achilles heel."  Jack, in contrast to Ralph and Piggy, represents the more hostile, confrontational and dictatorial side of the spectrum.  An early indication that he will be a problem as Ralph attempts to organize the boys into a coherent unit with basic rules occurs during the newly-stranded youngsters' first such meeting.  Piggy, helping Ralph to organize the meeting, is abruptly cut-off by Jack:

“You’re talking too much,” said Jack Merridew. “Shut up, Fatty.”

As Golding's novel progresses, the divisions separating the group led by Ralph, which invariably includes Piggy, and the one led by Jack, with its more violent and confrontational tendencies, provides one of the Lord of the Flies' central conflicts.