3rd Quarter

Synopsis

In the novel Lord of the Flies the boys decide they need to hunt out the beast to maintain peace within the group. The first voyage to slay the beast doesn't go well as they travel to the only unseen part of the island. When hunting the beast the second time they run into a boar that Ralph spears in the snout with his sharpened wood stick. Ralph's ego is then boosted to a maximum as he speaks of the moment as if he were a war hero that ended the fighting. The boys venture to the mountain and see the beast. Jack doubts Ralph's leadership and tries to form a mutiny that backfires and he strays away from the group. His hunters soon follow him and they kill a pig and skewer its head on a stick as a gift for the beast. Simon goes into a trance and begins speaking to the head which is evidently the Lord of the Flies. Jack invites the other group to join him with a bribe of a feast. They sing and dance of the killing of the beast and it soon escalates when Simon crawls from out of the jungle and they start beating him in belief that he is the beast. Simon's death brings protection and power to the minds of the savages.

Characters

Ralph - Protagonist, round character, leader. Fair haired boy. Body of a boxer, small and compact.

Piggy - Ralph's assistant, dynamic character(finally stood up for himself). Chubby, almost looks like a pig.

Jack - Antagonist, leader of the other tribe, dynamic character. Tall, lanky, red haired boy.

Point of View

The story is written in third person. The author could have done this so he wouldn't have to revolve the story around one character and therefore giving deeper explanation to what's happening on the island instead of one character. The story takes place on a deserted island where several young boys have been stranded on. They have to use the few resources on the island such as the spring, the pigs lurking around.

Notables on author's writing style

I think the author's writing style has a deeper meaning in many occasions and is very descriptive. He uses symbolism regularly and has a connection with most of the characters. Golding may have put his own traits into the characters as a realistic experimentation despite the unrealistic nature of the problem. This is only a thought but could very well be true. He uses characterization to create vivid imagery of the boys to the last speck of dirt on their faces.

Theme

The theme of Lord of the Flies is that humans are a dark race that show their true colours in everyday life no matter how pure you may be. Even a nasty remark protrudes darkness within people. Its understandable that we are the dominant race and use animals as resources to survive. But thats just a stepping stone to the savagery of our race.