Who are the round and flat characters in Lord of the Flies?

Round characters are well-developed characters that seem like real people; the author allows readers the opportunity to get to know these characters and sympathize with them. Flat characters, on the other hand, are less well developed and seem one-dimensional. They may be important to the story because of how they relate to other characters, but readers don't feel as if they know them to the degree they know the round characters.

In Lord of the Flies, Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and Simon are the round characters. Readers can see both positive and negative qualities in each of them. Ralph takes his leadership role seriously and sacrifices his own desires for the good of the others, yet he can still be mean to Piggy and gets caught up in the abuse of first Robert and then Simon. Jack has some magnanimous moments, especially near the beginning of the book, and Golding allows readers to feel some of the humiliation and rejection Jack feels, even though he is the main antagonist. Despite Piggy's intelligence and level-headedness, readers can understand how the other boys would find his frequent lectures to be irritating. Although Simon has deeper insights than the other boys, he suffers from shyness and isn't very persuasive or assertive.

Samneric, Roger, Maurice, the littluns, and the other boys are flat characters. Golding doesn't allow readers to enter very deeply into the thought processes of these characters. They behave consistently throughout the book--readers know what to expect of them. Samneric act and speak in tandem, and although they try to remain loyal to Ralph, they give in to Jack without much of a fight. Roger is the quintessential bully who only worsens as the book progresses. Maurice is a copycat and joker, but readers don't find out much else about him. The littluns are one-sided--so much so that many characters are lumped together under this designation.

Using flat and round characters, Golding allows readers to get to know a large group of boys, but most are known only at the surface level while a few are known more deeply.