As fear about the beast grips the boys, the balance between civilization and savagery on the island shifts, and I took control over the group diminishes. At the beginning of the novel, Ralph’s hold on the other boys is quite secure: they all understand the need for order and purposive action, even if they do not always want to be bothered with rules. By this point, however, as the conventions of civilization begin to erode among the boys, Ralph’s hold on them slips, while Jack becomes a more powerful and menacing figure in the camp. In Chapter 5, Ralph’s attempt to reason with the boys is ineffective; by Chapter 6, Jack is able to manipulate Ralph by asking him, in front of the other boys, whether he is frightened. This question forces Ralph to act irrationally simply for the sake of preserving his status among the other boys. This breakdown in the group’s desire for morality, order, and civilization is increasingly enabled—or excused—by the presence of the monster, the beast that has frightened the littluns since the beginning of the novel and that is quickly assuming an almost religious significance in the camp.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Ralph#10
Ralph#9
The boys’ fear of the beast becomes an increasingly important aspect of their lives, especially at night, from the moment the first littlun claims to have seen a snake-monster in Chapter 2. In this chapter, the fear of the beast finally explodes, ruining Ralph’s attempt to restore order to the island and precipitating the final split between Ralph and Jack. At this point, it remains uncertain whether or not the beast actually exists. In any case, the beast serves as one of the most important symbols in the novel, representing both the terror and the allure of the primordial desires for violence, power, and savagery that lurk within every human soul. In keeping with the overall allegorical nature of Lord of the Flies, the beast can be interpreted in a number of different lights. In a religious reading, for instance, the beast recalls the devil; in a Freudian reading, it can represent the id, the instinctual urges and desires of the human unconscious mind. However we interpret the beast, the littlun’s idea of the monster rising from the sea terrifies the boys because it represents the beast’s emergence from their own unconscious minds. As Simon realizes later in the novel, the beast is not necessarily something that exists outside in the jungle. Rather, it already exists inside each boy’s mind and soul, the capacity for savagery and evil that slowly overwhelms them.
Ralph#8
The littluns, who spend most of their days eating fruit and playing with one another, are particularly troubled by visions and bad dreams. They continue to talk about the “beastie” and fear that a monster hunts in the darkness. The large amount of fruit that they eat causes them to suffer from diarrhea and stomach ailments. Although the littluns’ lives are largely separate from those of the older boys, there are a few instances when the older boys torment the littluns. One vicious boy named Roger joins another boy, Maurice, in cruelly stomping on a sand castle the littluns have built. Roger even throws stones at one of the boys, although he does remain careful enough to avoid actually hitting the boy with his stones.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.
Ralph #7
While Jack went out hunting, Simon and I worked on building huts for the younger boys to live in. I was getting irritated because the huts kept falling down before they were even completed and because, the huts were so important to the boys’ ability to live on the island, none of the other boys besides Simon would help. As we work, most of the other boys played in the lagoon. I gripe the few of the boys are doing any work. All the boys act excited and energized by the plans they make at meetings, but none of them is willing to work to make the plans successful. I noticed that Jack’s hunters have failed to catch a single pig. Jack claims that although they have so far failed to bring down a pig, they will soon have more success. I also worried about the smaller children, many of whom have nightmares and are unable to sleep. He tells Jack about his concerns, but Jack, still trying to think of ways to kill a pig, is not interested in my problems.
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.
Ralph #5
After Piggy scared everyone half to death, one of the younger children said that he saw a monster the night before. Though they are frightened, the older boys try to reassure the group that there is no monster. The older boys say that the little boy had was a nightmare. While everyone was scared thinking about this “mystical monster” I was thinking of the possibility of being rescue, I proposed that the group build a large signal fire on top of the island’s central mountain, so that any passing ships might see the fire and know that someone is trapped on the island. The boys ran off to the mountain, while Piggy and I stayed behind.
Ralph #4
When the explorers return, I sound the conch shell, to begin another meeting on the beach. I tell the group that there are no adults on the island and that we needed to organize a few things to look after ourselves. Then Jack tells me about the pig they found trapped in the vines in the jungle. Shortly after, that knew that we will need hunters to kill animals for meat. I declared that, at meetings, the conch shell will be used to determine which boy has the right to speak since it works so diligently. Whoever holds the conch shell will speak, and the others will listen silently until they receive the shell in their turn. Jack agrees with this idea. Then Piggy yells out of nowhere about the fact that no one is aware of the fact that we have crashed on the island and that we all could be stuck there for a long time. The idea of being stranded for a long period is too harrowing for many of the boys, and the entire group becomes silent, having everyone scared.