Jack and Ralph are both brave and cowards at points in chapter 7. Ralph followed Jack out to get the monster not because he actually wanted to slay a monster but because he feared the other children would think less of him if he didn't go. Ralph is being very hard on himself in the beginning of chapter 7 after he notices he has bitten down all of his nails he says “be sucking my thumb next.” Ralph is worried that he looks like a baby in front of the others and doesn't want to show how frightened is. Ralph showed how brave he was later in the chapter when the pig ran toward him and he says “I hit him! The spear stuck in” Ralph was very proud of himself. He was surprised that he could throw the spirit toward the pig when it was only 5 yards away. He liked the way he felt when Marie's told him he did a good job getting the pick, he like their respect and felt like a leader. Ralph was one of the first children to grab the spear and job at Robert when he was pretending to be a pig. This is the first real cowardice act of Jack. When Robert began to cry Jack made a joke saying “oh my bum!” and everybody laughed, but Jack knew he went too far.


 

In chapter 7 you get to see the first real glimpse of Jack's savagery. Jack had the children make a ring and circle around Robert pretending he was a pig. Jack told Robert by his hair and was holding a knife chanting “kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!” Unlike Ralph Jack never figured out he went too far here with Robert. Jack attempts to leave the group by brandishing his spear and telling the other children he was going to kill the beast up there. Jack uses every opportunity to make fun of Ralph saying “We mustn't let anything happen to Piggy must we? He does this in an effort to show how weak and cowardly Ralph is.

Both Jack and Ralph are doing stupid and dangerous things to show the other children how brave they are. Even though night is coming to the mountain they decide to push on to look for monster in the dark. Both of them know on some instinctive level that this is moronic but their desire to lead the other children is more important to them than common sense.