Ralph #6

We finally catch up with the rest of the kids and the boys some dead wood and use Piggy’s glasses to focus the sunlight and set the wood on fire. They manage to get a large fire going, but it quickly dies down. After some more complaining from Piggy, Jack volunteers his group of hunters to be responsible for keeping the signal fire going. In their disorganized efforts to rekindle the fire, the boys set a swath of trees ablaze. Enraged at the group’s reckless disorganization, Piggy tells them that one of the little boys, coincidently the same boy who told them about the monster was playing over by the fire and now he is missing. The boys are crestfallen and shocked, and I was struck with shame.Jack, obsessed with the idea of killing a pig, camouflages his face with clay and charcoal and enters the jungle to hunt, accompanied by several other boys. On the beach, Ralph and Piggy see a ship on the horizon—but they also see that the signal fire has gone out. They hurry to the top of the hill, but it is too late to rekindle the flame, and the ship does not come for them. Ralph is furious with Jack, because it was the hunters’ responsibility to see that the fire was maintained.