Ralph's Boasting - pg 113:
"I hit him! The spear stuck in-"
[...]
"I hit him," said Ralph again, "and the spear stuck in a bit."
He felt the need of witnesses.
"Did not you see me?"
Maurice nodded.
Maurice nodded.
"I saw you on his snout right bang -.! Wheee"
Ralph talked on, excitedly.
Ralph talked on, excitedly.
[... Ralph continues to boast]
Reenactment 1 - pg 114:
"He was coming along the path I threw, like this -."
Robert snarled at him. Ralph entered into the play and everybody laughed. Presently there were all giving at Robert who made mock rushes.
Jack shouted.
"Make a ring!"
The circle moved in and round. Robert squealed in mock terror, then in real pain.
"Ow! Stop it! You're hurting!"
The butt end of a spear fell on his band as he blundered among them.
The butt end of a spear fell on his band as he blundered among them.
"Hold him!"
They got his arms and legs. Ralph, carried away by a sudden thick excitement, grabbed Eric's spear and jabbed at Robert with it.
"Kill him! Kill him!"
All at once, Robert was screaming and struggling with the strength of frenzy. Jack had him by the hair and was brandishing his knife. Behind him was Roger, fighting to get close. The chant rose ritually, as at the last moment of a dance or a hunt.
"Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!"
[... Continues to reenact]
Reenactment 2 - pg 136:.
This time Robert and Maurice acted the two parts; and Maurice's acting of the pig's efforts to avoid the advancing spear was so funny that the boys cried with laughter.
When Ralph first stuck the spear between the boar's snout, he continuously boasted about it. Not only did he bring it up several times, but him and the other boys even reenacted the scene. This kind of 'celebration' was then repeated in the next chapter. I feel like this repetition is foreshadowing some sort of significant event in the future. Flies are mentioned several times in this chapter, and they tend to roam around dead creatures. Judging by the book's title, there is most likely no coincidence in this . similarity I think that this is a big hint as to what may soon happen - except that the flies will be roaming around one of the boys.
I can completely see where you're coming from that Golding is using this repetition many times in the book. I just came across another repetition in chapter 9; "Kill the Beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!"
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I think your idea about the flies gathering around what's dead is a key one. When the pig was killed, the flies gathered around it, especially around the insides of the pig. I wonder if some of the boys are dying on the inside, causing something worse than flies to surround them. Flies live by feeding on death. The Lord of the Flies lives by feeding on the destructive illness of the boys' hearts.
ReplyDeleteGood job! :) I would like to comment on the picture you added with your post. I find it very interesting to see how as the pig head decays the more chaos there is in the island. Could this signify that the pig's head is the boys' souls? It decays because the flies eat the flesh. Could the flies signify the savagery the island has nurtured in the boys causing them to lose who they are as they slowly rot away?
ReplyDeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post! Like Gabi, I find the picture caught my attention most. You would think one side would symbolize order and the other chaos, and this is how it seems at first glance. However, when looking more closely, it is possible to see the dead parachutist and the war planes on the side that looked orderly, while there's a sun and beautiful mountains in the background. This is very much related to life, right away it may seem straight forward and divided, while really it's so much more complicated. In all "good" there is "bad", and in all "bad" there is "good".
Phoebe
Phoebe,
DeleteWhen you said "In all good there is bad, and in all bad there is good", it immediately made me think of the boys. In the boys we might look at to be the "good" ones like Ralph, they still had their bad actions like murdering Simon. And same with the boys we looked at "badly" - Jack still had moments of compassion or even friendliness with Ralph. Great point Phoebe! :)
Wow Megan really good connection! As stated before not only do I think the connection was good but that picture holds so much significance. We see the good side and the bad side and maybe if we put a person on the picture instead it would hold even greater significance. What do you think?
ReplyDelete