Ralph would not have wanted to go back.

I think he would want to go back to the place with the books nicely arranged on the shelves, the place where only the ponies are wild, not the people. However, I think his return to society will be fraught with horror--the horror of what he experienced, what he became, and what he lost. The same is true for all the boys. They will never be the same. They have grown up too fast into men--like the men on the boat who are engaged in a grown-up war that is identical with the boys' war on the island.

What I mean is that Ralph would not want to go home. The other boys, maybe, but Ralph's been in one war and now he's going back to another.

What would he say to Simon and Piggy's families?

Ralph would probably just tell the Navy officers to just leave without him.

Also, Jack, Roger, and the few boys who were loyal to the two might also refuse to leave, seeing as how they love hunting and no rules and no adults.

Anyone agree?

Not at all. If you remember at the beginning of the novel if you remember Ralph says "Daddy will come and save us" and his dad was a naval officer. Through some twisted events he was saved by exactly the disillusion thought got him in the situation in the first place.

That Island was a wreck, no forest left, castle rock was turned into a savage's village. Now if you look at the imagery at the end of the novel it reduces jack from his High status. He is no longer the big bad scary chief he was a raggedy hair young boy with glasses hung on his waist.

Ralph wept for the end of innocence.

There is no way Ralph would have stayed. and how could he have found piggy's family? He didnt even know his real name, he was piggy.

"There is no way Ralph would have stayed."

Think about it, Leon. He escaped from one war, got involved in another and now is going back to a war. I don't think he'd want to do that. I know I wouldn't.

Not only that, but what if his home was destroyed? What if his family is dead?

Somewhere in the novel, Ralph said, "God I want to go home." He would want to be rescued. He knows he is being hunted "cause I had some sense." All civilization is gone from the island, and Ralph would want to get back to some semblence of order and discipline. No, he will never be the same, but anything is better than the island.

I guess you're right, Coco. But do you think they would take Ralph right back to England? He was trying to escape from there. He's already traumatized enough.

If they took him back the the place where he was being evacuated from, he might literally lose his mind.

If it were a NUCLEAR war taking place, then I'm sure all the boys would not want to go back, but that's not the case.

No I completely and utterly disagree for the very fact that Ralph is the only character who constantly talks about rescue. Half his sentences are about fire or smoke or return to the motherland. So why on God's green Earth would he turn down the opportunity to finally go home? And are you insinuating that Ralph would choose to stay on the island alone? Why would Ralph choose to turn away from what he's been dreaming about for the entirely of the book? Why would he be the one to tell Piggy and Simon's parents about their deaths? After all he is just a 12 year child. They would not entrust him to deliver such morbid information nor would the families of Piggy and Simon want a random kid who was friends with your son on the island to tell them that they're dead. I'm sorry but in no way, shape or form does this outcome seem even remotely possible. It's just not in Ralph's character design.