Nate Gilliland Conversation

George and Ralph Conversation

This conversation is between Ralph from Lord of the Flies and George from Of Mice and Men. The conversation will also include Piggy and Lennie from the books.

Ralph: Being a leader is never easy George. It takes a lot of hard work and effort to be a successful leader.

George: It is just difficult having to deal with Lennie all the time, especially since he doesn't understand everything unless instructed specifically all the time.

Ralph: I understand what you are going through. I had to deal with trying to lead everyone on that island.

George: How did you put up with all of them?

Ralph: It took a lot of patience and a lot of hard work to come up with things to please everyone. Was it hard dealing with Lennie all the time?

George: Yes he can be a pain a lot of the time, but he is a good guy at heart.

Ralph: What was the hardest part of monitoring Lennie?

George: The fact that he needs to be told the same thing many times in order to understand a simple thing. Also he never learned the difference between what is right and wrong which made it hard for him to fit into society.

Ralph: Did you feel that all the traveling made it harder for him to fit in?

George: Yes, I think that all the traveling made it hard for him to settle down into an everyday routine. If we would have been able to live in one place our whole life it would have been much easier for him. He would have settled into a community where he was accepted for who he is and he would have felt more welcome. He wouldn't have had so many social issues and he may have been able to live the life he desired out in the country in a small house, tending rabbits.

Piggy and Lennie walk in together and join in on the conversation.

George: Piggy, did you think Ralph was a good leader while you were alive?

Piggy: Yes, I could see that Ralph had the characteristics of a good leader, and he was someone we could all look up to.

George: What drew you to Ralph over Jack?

Piggy: I could tell that Ralph had a better plan for the people on the island while Jack was more about hunting and only doing things that he enjoyed. Ralph always was thinking about others and he wanted what was best for us. Lennie why do you look up to George so much?

Lennie: Well, George is very nice to me and he tries to help me stay out of trouble. Also George is the only person who wants to spend time with me and be my friend. He doesn’t care that I have trouble understanding things. He always looks out for me and he makes sure I don’t get into any trouble.

Ralph: Why do you think George killed you even though you thought he was protecting you?

Lennie: Even when George killed me he knew it was the best thing for me. He would rather see me die peacefully at his own expense rather than see me get brutally attacked by a group of people who wanted to kill me. I am not mad at all that George killed me because I knew he was only doing it to protect me from an even worse death. Piggy why do you think Ralph didn’t try to prevent you from dying.

Piggy: There was nothing Ralph could have done to prevent me from being killed. He couldn’t have stopped that rock even if he had the chance. I know that if he could have prevented it he would have because he cared about others and he wanted to make sure everyone else was happy before himself. George, why did you stick with Lennie even though he made your life hard, when you could have just abandoned him and lived a better life?

George: I may have acted like Lennie made my life worse but I think without him my life would have been terrible. I would have had no friends and Lennie was as loyal as they come. Also, I knew that he had nobody in his life and he would have died without me to support him.

Ralph: I understand. I think we both realized that the people we cared about would have died without us there to guide them. We knew that they would have died without us and that is what kept us with them. I believe that we are both great leaders and together we would have made an even better leader.

George: I agree. Thank you for spending time and having this conversation with me. I really enjoyed it. Thank you.

Ralph: No problem. I enjoyed it too and I learned about the characteristics it takes to be a good leader.